January 2012 – Page 5 – Aussie Reviews

The Golden Door, by Emily Rodda

Like all the other citizens of Weld in skimmer season, Lisbeth and her sons went to bed early. What else was there to do, when sound was dangerous, and the smallest chink of light might lead to a skimmer attack?
Rye lay in the room he shared with his brothers, listening to the rush of wings outside the shutters, the occasional scrabbling of claws on the roof.
He prayed that the wings would pass the house by. He prayed that he, his mother and his brothers would not wake, like those ill-fated families in Northwall, to find skimmers filling the house, and death only moments away.

Every night vicious flying creatures – Skimmers – attack the city of Weld, flying over its towering walls and eating anything alive they can get to. The people cower in shuttered, darkened houses, listening to the terrifying attacks, powerless to stop them. Then the Warden calls for volunteers to leave the walled city and find out who is sending the skimmers, and how they can be stopped. Rye is too young to go, but first his oldest brother, then the second one, leave and do not return. Rye believes that they are both out there waiting for help – and becomes determined to find them

The Golden Door is gripping fantasy by one of the finest creators for this age group, Emily Rodda. Rye is an unlikely hero – not strong, not smart, the youngest son – with the courage to try for the sake of his brothers, his mother and his city. He is accompanied on his journey by a girl who claims to be a resident of the Warden’s keep, but who readers will suspect is perhaps the Warden’s daughter. The tale is full of the things which Rodda fans have come to expect – weird and wonderful creatures, seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and lots of action.

The Golden Dooris the first in a trilogy. Readers will look forward to the next.

The Golden Door, by Emily Rodda
Omnibus, 2011
ISBN 9781862919129

This book is available in good bookstores, or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Froi of the Exiles, by Melina Marchetta

Beside their own balconette was another that belonged to the room next door. After a moment the girl with the mass of awful hair stepped out onto it. She peered at Froi, almost within touching distance. Up close she was even stranger looking and it was with an unabashed manner that she studied him now and with great curiosity. Her brow furrowed, a cleft on her chin so pronounced it was as if someone had spent their life pointing out her strangeness. Her hair was a filthy mess almost reaching her waist. It was straw-like in texture and Froi imagined that if it were washed, it might be described as a darker shade of fair. But for now, it looked dirty, its colour almost indescribable.
She squinted at his appraisal. Froi squinted back.

Once he was a foundling, and growing up Froi had no idea where he belonged – only that he needed to be quick and wily to survive. Now, though, he is happy living in Lumatere, serving the Queen and her consort, Finnikin. This is where he belongs. But a stranger arrives, seeking someone to go on a mission in the kingdom of Charyn. And, Froi, it seems, is the perfect candidate. Soon he finds himself at the palace of the enemy king,w here he assumes the disguise of one of the young men chosen tot ry to impregnate a princess and thus break a generation long curse. But the princess proves a surprise packet, and Froi is also drawn to others in the court, threatening to steer him away from his mission. It seems the kingdom of Charyn may hold the key to Froi’s mysterious past, as well as his future.

Froi of the Exiles is an emotional roller coaster of a book. There is the joy – such as seeing Finnikin and Isaboe working together to restore Lumatere, anguish – of women separated from children, of lovers forced to live apart – and horror. Lots of it. There are mysteries of parentage, bonds and betrayals. And there is Quintana, the troubled, trapped princess who nobody likes or understands, but on whom the future of a nation rests. It isn’t an easy book, with so much emotion, but the characters, and their troubles, are so finely drawn that it is a tough ride the readers wants to take.

Lengthy, at almost 600 pages, the gripping sequel to Finnikin of the Rock,stands alone, so not having read the former should not stand in the way of reading this one.

Outstanding.

Froi of the Exiles, by Melina Marchetta
Penguin, 2011
ISBN

This book is available in good bookstores, or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Button Boy, by Rebecca Young & Sue deGennaro

It’s amazing how many buttons you can find when you’re looking.

Banjo loves collecting buttons. While the other children are playing chase, or swapping stories, or laughing, Banjo is looking for buttons. Each day he takes his finds home to Grandma Woolly, who sews the buttons onto Banjo’s jumper, until there is hardly any room left for more.

Then, one morning, as Banjo plays in the park, he meets a little girl sobbing because she is missing a special button. Banjo hands the button back. The next day he meets an old man missing a button from his coat sleeve. Banjo hands this one back, too. Soon, he has no buttons no his jumper – but there are lots of happy people around him. At home, Grandma Woolly has a surprise – a nice new jumper. And the next day he discovers that collecting friends is as easy as collecting buttons was!

Button Boy is a delightful picture book with plenty of whimsy as well as a lovely message about friendship. The text is simple, with pieces of repetition with which young readers will enjoy joining in, and the illustrations also appear simple, though this is a clever deception, with plenty of little details for readers to discover. Illustrator Sue de Gennaro has used acrylics and coloured pencils with blues and greens predominant as well as details in black lines and grey shading, for an overall whimsical effect.

A gorgeous picture book.

Button Boy, by Rebecca Young & Sue deGennaro

Scholastic Press, 2011
ISBN 9781741697971

This book can be purchased in good bookstores or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Animal People, by Charlotte Wood

Stephen has a fairly mundane existence. He lives alone, works in a cafe at the zoo, and has few friends. The only shining light in his life seems to be his girlfriend Fiona and her two little girls, a fact that will surprise the reader initially, because Stephen is planning to break up with Fiona at the end of the day. First, though, he must get through the day, a day which promises to be anything but ordinary.

He could not find a single thing more to say. I just want to be free. He could not say those stupid words. They had already withered in his mind, turned to dust. He did not even know, he marvelled now, what the hell those words had meant.

From having his bum nosed by the next door neighbour’s dog, to annoyingly inane conversations with his mother about the television she insists she ins’t buying, Stephen’s day meanders through a series of misfortunes. On the way to work he hits a woman in his car – then discovers she is a drug addict who refuses t go to hospital. At work he is forced to attend a bizarre team-building exercise, and after work he attends a party where it seems everyone, even the little birthday girl, despises him. Throughout all this Stephen is already mourning the loss of Fiona, who he clearly still adores, and worrying about how he will break up with her. A lot to happen in one day – yet, as I’ve already said, the plot meanders. there is no rush, no sense of this being a lot to fit into one day, though the reader feels the sense of impending doom as each new thing goes wrong in Stephen’s life, and wonders just when he’ll reach snapping point.

Animal People is a heart wrenching read. Stephen is a flawed, inept character, and it is hard to know just why he is so likable, yet by the end of the book the reader’s sympathies are definitely with him, to the point of anguish as it reaches its conclusion. He is also a character who stays with you after those final pages, wondering what happens next. The other characters in the book – both minor and major – are deftly drawn, with small details to draw them quickly in the reader’s mind, even if they don’t stay long in the story’s path. The mad man who sist next to Stephen on the bus, the possibly lesbian ladies who live next door, the paramedic moonlighting as a party fairy to help out her daughter, all come alive.

Animal People is a sequel of sorts to Wood‘s earlier novel The Children, but stands independently, though readers will find themselves wanting to read the former.

Brilliant.

Animal People, by Charlotte Wood
Allen & Unwin, 2011
ISBN 9781742376851

This book can be purchased in good bookstores, or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

A Big Welcome

Welcome to the new look Aussiereviews! Having been here on the world wide web sharing reviews for over ten years, the site was well overdue for a bit of a facelift. And now, after a redesign and manually transferring all of the old reviews (over 2000 of them) from the old html based files to the new WordPress based management system, it is ready to go live. Hurrah!

A screenshot of the old Aussie Reviews layout — The old website

So, what’s new?

The look and layout of the pages, especially the pretty new banner designed by Murphlet 2
The easier to navigate menus, with the ability to browse the categories easily from the top menu.
This blog, which will allow me (and, perhaps, guest bloggers) to chat about the running of the site as well as news and views aboutAussie books and publishing.
The use of tags at the end of each review which will make it easier to find books by publisher, author, illustrator or topic
The new website

What is unchanged is that Aussiereviews will continue to review as many new release Australian books as possible.

So, have a look around, see what you think, and please keep enjoying our reviews.

Lots of Love

Sally

May I ask one favour? If you are an author, illustrator, publicist, website manager or blogger who has previously linked to this site or, especially, particular reviews, could you take a few moments to update your links? If you have linked to the homepage your link should still work, but if you have linked to particular pages or reviews, it will need updating. You should be able to locate the new page using the search box in the menu bar above. Once you’ve found the right page, simply copy and paste the new url wherever you had an old one. Thanks heaps!

Nanberry, by Jackie French

Nanberry had expected great warriors to come from such extraordinary canoes. But instead they had been poor strange creatures, small and hunched over, with pale, pinched faces.

The white ghosts chopped down trees. They built big huts. They lived in them all year, until they stank. Their women didn’t know how to fish and when they gathered oysters they threw away the flesh and kept only the shells.

Nanberry is fascinated when the white men arrive in Tumbalong (now known as Darling Harbour) in extraordinary boats, but incredulous at their inability to survive and to respect the land. But a year after their arrival, Nanberry’s whole family is struck down by a mysterious illness and Nanberry, fighting for his life, is taken in by the new colony’s doctor. Soon he is Nanberry White, the adopted son of Surgeon White. He is used as an interpreter and learns white men ways, but feels torn between his new life and the life and family he has loss.

Later Nanberry has a new brother – a white brother, born to the surgeon and his housekeeper. The story follows both brothers as they grow and learn in the fledgling colony.

Nanberry: Black Brother White is based on the true story of Nanberry, one of the first of the Eora people to live with the English settlers following colonisation. Told from differing third person viewpoints – chiefly that of Nanberry, but also the perspectives of the Surgeon, his two housekeepers and his younger adoptive brother Andrew – the book offers an insight into the times, exploring the impact of white settlement on the Aboriginal people, the difficulties faced by the settlers, and the growth of the colony. Mainly though it is Nanberry’s story based wherever possible on historical records, but fictionalised to make Nanberry an authentic character with whom readers can connect.

Suitable for teens and for confident readers in upper primary school, Nanberry: Black Brother White is an outstanding read.

Nanberry: Black Brother White, by Jackie French
Angus & Robertson, an imprint of Harper Collins, 2011
ISBN 9780732290221

This book can be purchased from good bookstores or online from Fishpond/a>. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Crow Country, by Kate Constable

Far below, the crow saw a tiny speck move along a muddy track. It was a human girl-child. She tramped along, her head down, ignoring the country around her and the small town at her back. The girl did not see the paddocks, the railway line, the trees, the birds, the clouds. Her eyes were fixed on her own muddy shoes and the boggy road she walked on.

Sadie isn’t happy that her mother has brought her to live in Boort, a small country town where she doesn’t know anyone and where there’s nothing to do. She’s lonely at school, and at home she fights constantly with her mother about the change. But on a walk around the town Sadie discovers a a sacred site, and soon starts hearing the local crows talking to her, telling her she must tell the story of what happened here. With two local boys – Jamie the son of the wealthy land owner, and Walter, an Aboriginal boy sent to live in Boort to keep out of trouble – Sadie starts to uncover events that happened in the twon in the years following WW1. The crows tell her she must find a way to rght the wrongs of the past, to avoid history repeating itself.

Crow Country is an intense time slip tale, set chiefly in the modern day, with Sadie slipping back int ime several times and living events through the eyes of her great aunt Sadie at a similar age. Sadie is the unwitting witness to a killing and cover up, with three modern day friends all related to the three invovled in the murder – the victim, the killer and the man who helped cover it up. There are lots of issues explored here including racism, respect of indigenous culture and connection with the land, loyalty and honesty.

Suitable for readers in upper primary and teens, this is an absorbing read.

Crow Country, by Kate Constable

Allen & Unwin, 2011

ISBN

This book is available in good bookstores, or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Ships in the Field, by Susanne Gervay & Anna Pignataro

A small girl is secure in the love of her parents and her toy dog, Brownie. Her parents work very hard in Australia, but are scarred by the memories of the war that forced them to flee their homeland. Her mother was a teacher, her father a farmer, but here in Australia, they take the jobs they can find. The girl (who is unnamed) notes that her father works very hard and her mother seldom smiles. Except on Sundays when they take a trip out of the city to where they see the ‘ships in the fields’. Illustrations are soft, loose and whimsical watercolours and pencil, apart from the picnic tablecloth endpapers, bright red and white check.

On the surface, Ships in the Field is a story about a young girl wanting a pet dog. But there is so much more here. The girl is the child of European refugees, who now struggle to establish a new home in Australia. With few words, the reader paints a picture of the challenges faced by families who flee with little but their clothes and who must reinvent themselves to find a place in their new country. Anna Pignataro’s soft illustrations tell their own story of both sadness and hope. This is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book which will provide the basis for conversations about migrants from all over the world. Highly recommended for pre-school and early- to mid-primary readers.

Ships in the Field, Susanne Gervay Anna Pignataro
Ford Street Publishing 2011
ISBN: 9781921665233

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

I Love My Mum, by Anna Walker

Little zebra, Ollie, takes the reader through a normal sort of day, the sort of day familiar to many mothers and small children. There are everyday tasks like washing and going for a walk. But everyday tasks are new to little people and there is mystery and adventure in the simplest of tasks. The text here is very simple and there is magic in the illustrations. Anna Walker has used watercolours and ensured plenty of white space remains. Ollie is a small stuffed toy, perhaps a zebra, and Mum is a slightly larger version. I Love My Mum is a small format hardback book, perfect for little hands.

Anna Walker’s illustrations are just beautfiul. Her gentle watercolours set in white space allow plenty of room for the reader to bring their own story. It’s easy to imagine sharing I Love My Mum with a small child and revisiting their day or their way of doing things. Walker’s use of an androgynous toy as main character allows wide appeal, although with the pink detail on the cover, it’s most likely this will be a treasured book for a small girl. A lovely book. Recommended for 3-5 yo children. First released in small format hardcover in 2009, it is now available in larger format paperback.

I Love My Mum, Anna Walker
Scholastic 2009
ISBN:9781741693331

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com.

This book can be purchased online at Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

When We Have Wings, by Claire Corbett

When We Have Wings is a debut novel of originality and powerful, beautiful writing. It took me longer than usual to finish because I didn’t want it to finish, and, yes, it’s quite long.

Reviewed by Judi Jagger

When We Have Wings is a debut novel of originality and powerful, beautiful writing. It took me longer than usual to finish because I didn’t want it to finish, and, yes, it’s quite long.

Told in two voices; the first is the jaded first person of Zeke, in the great tradition of the noir ex-cop turned detective. He lives in a dystopian not-too-far-in-the future City (Sydney?) where the rich and powerful have access to Flight through expensive medical manipulation that gives them custom wings. They live in extraordinary constructions high above the rest of the overcrowded city. Who are the non-fliers? The five Rs: ‘Retarded, Retired, Religious, Rationed and Regional. In other words anyone too poor, or too old or too disabled for Flight.‘ The City is multicultural (loved that Murni’s Warung – hello Ubud – had its moment) and inaccessible to anyone from RaRA-land (Remote and Regional Areas) and without an almost impossible-to-obtain permit. Zeke’s world includes Taj, his amazing car (even more cynical than Zeke – yes, it is a true ‘smart car’ and it talks) and the underbelly of the city. It’s also the world of the Perpetual Pup (forever cute) and the modified, miniaturised pet lion. Zeke’s case concerns Peri, nanny of one of the most powerful of the privileged, Peter Chesshyre, who has vanished with Chesshyre’s child Hugo.

The other voice is third person, but is Peri’s point of view. The complex plot is impossible to summarise but Claire Corbett gives us a bold novel that explores, among other things, genetic modification, trafficking, surrogacy, child rights, ethics and social justice woven with religious allusion and imagery. The writing is breathtakingly beautiful, particularly when we too become Fliers and begin to understand the intoxication that makes Flight so desirable. Corbett has researched meteorology and the science of flight to give her descriptions great authenticity.

We finish this thought-provoking book wondering what the future holds for our children. There is no question that technology is taking us to a point when we will have wings, metaphorical wings that can substitute for any of the modifications we are already scientifically capable of. It’s not a question of ‘if’, it’s ‘when’ we have wings. Read it.

When We Have Wings, by Claire Corbett
Allen & Unwin, 2011
ISBN 9781742375564

This book was reviewed by Judi Jagger, and first appeared at Goodreads. It is reprinted here with the author’s permission.