August 2012 – Aussie Reviews

Sam the Cat, by Sam Bowring & Andrew McLean

‘We never had this problem when you were a kitten,’ Jane told Sam. ‘We agreed to call you Sam right away. It was our favourite name.’
‘That’s right!’ said Ian. ‘We didn’t need to think about it at all. Maybe we should call the baby Sam, and give the cat a new name!’

Sam the cat is very happy living with his owners Jane and Ian – until Jane brings home a baby. Not only do Jae and Ian spend all their time doting on the new addition – but they also give it his name. Now Sam is expected to answer to Jack – and he’s not happy. In disgust, he takes a walk, the longest walk he’s ever taken, and before long he’s lost. Far from home. When Ian finally finds him, Sam doesn’t care wha they call him – as long as he can be home with his family.

Sam the Cat is a picture book based on the true story of how the author got his name. Trues story or not, youngsters will enjoy the idea of a cat facing an identity crisis, with echoes of the familiar story of sibling rivalry between toddlers and new babies. Illustrations, in pen, ink, watercolour and pastel, show a big-eyed ginger and white cat whose expressions evoke both sympathy and smiles.

Very cute.

Sam the Cat, by Sam Bowring & Andrew McLean
Working Title Press 2012
ISBN 9781921504297

This book is available from good bookstores or online from Fishpond.

Mortimer Revealed, by Asphyxia

Crumpet has the gift of magic – a gift I wish I had myself. I haven’t given up on finding my own magical talents, though – I believe they’re lurking just below the surface, even if no one else believes it, except maybe Crumpet.

Intorduced in Hatched, the Grimstones are back in a second Gothic adventure in Mortimer Revealed. This time, narrator Martha Grimstone looks for answers to the mystery surrounding her father’s death when she was a baby. Martha longs to know more about her father, and what happened to him, but Mama and grandpa won’t speak about it. Perhaps Crumpet, the baby brother Martha had a hand in creating in the first installment, will be able to shed some light on the mystery.

This Gothic inspired diary offering is a delight, blending pathos with humour and whimsy for a final product which is uniquely appealing. Illustrations combine photos from the creator’s puppetry with sketches and illustrations, and the story, told from young Martha’s prespetive is a touching tale of self-discovery and mysetry.

Suitable for middle primary aged readers, Mortimer Revealed is a delight.

Mortimer Revealed (Grimstones), by Asphyxia
Allen & Unwin, 2012
ISBN 9781742376899

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

Sister Madge's Book of Nuns, by Doug MacLeod & Craig Smith

Convents are religious places
Peaceful and sublime
Full of nuns with solemn faces
Praying all the time.
Through the arches dark and lofty
Meek as they can be
All the nuns are treading softly –
All except for me.

So begins Sister Madge’s Book of Nuns a book of irreverent verse which has delighted young readers since its first edition in 1986. Sister Madge Mappin and her fellow sisters from the Convent of Our Lady of Immense Proportions are now back in a new hardcover picture book edition, ready to be discovered by a new generation of readers.

The rollicking poems are silly, irreverent and naughty – but they are laugh out loud funny, cleverly crafted by the talented Doug MacLeod, and brought to life in the illustrations of Craig Smith. As well as Sister Madge, there is Sister Stephanie, a diminutive nun who gets her own back on a store manager who teases her for her shortness, Sister Christabel who adds laughter to the convent with a whoopee cushion and Sister Isobel who innocently (or not) feeds the children to the animals on a zoo visit.

Suitable for primary aged readers right through to adults, it is wonderful to see this old favourite back in print.

Sister Madge’s Book of Nuns, by Doug MacLeod & Craig Smith
This edition Working Title Press, 2012
ISBN 9781921504433

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

Gertie the Witch, by Valerie Thomas ill by Janet Wolf

‘Hee, hee, hee,’ cackled Gertie, as she turned the postman into a pig.

Gertie loved being a witch. She had so much fun.She thought that a pig trying to ride a bicycle looked very funny, and she always enjoyed a good laugh.

‘Oink, oink,’ said the postman. He fell off his bicycle and the letters spilled into a puddle.

‘Hee, hee, hee,’ cackled Gertie.

One of the letters was for her. She picked it up out of the puddle, wiped it on her dress and opened it.

‘Dear Gertie,’ she read.

‘Oink, oink,’ said the postman.

‘Do be quiet,’ said Gertie, ‘or I’ll turn you into a pork chop.’

The postman picked up the other letters with his mouth, stuffed them into his bag with his snout and rode away as fast as his little hind legs would go.

Gertie is not a very nice witch. She’s selfish and thoughtless. Only her sister, Susie, is worse. But where Gertie seems to get away with her pranks, Susie is always in trouble and needing help. But what about the postman pig? He’s gone home to his family. Understandably they preferred their husband/father as a man rather than a pig. Things get worse when the postman’s wife tries to get Gertie to reverse her spell. Now it’s up to twins Will and Annie. They’re a trifle more cautious than their impulsive mother and make their plans carefully. Gertie the Witch is sprinkled throughout with colour illustrations, and widely spaced text is designed for newly independent readers.

Gertie the Witch is one of four new novels for young readers from New Frontier Publishing. They are designed for young readers making the transition from fully illustrated texts to longer stories. ‘Gertie the Witch’ is from Valerie Thomas, well known for her wonderful ‘Winnie the Witch’ picture books. Main characters Will and Annie behave in more mature and thoughtful ways than most of the adults. The action trots along at a crackling pace, humour and puns abound. Recommended for early-mid primary readers.

Gertie the Witch, Valerie Thomas ill Janet Wolf New Frontier Publishing 2012 ISBN: 9781921928222

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

Hubert & the Magic Glasses by Candice Lemon-Scott ill Joe Spellman

Hubert sat on the bench in the change rooms and slowly put on his T-shirt and soccer boots. He was so nervous he could barely tie his laces. He was goalkeeper for Goodview’s Under 12s Able Ants soccer team; and he was hopeless.

They were about to play the Wandering Wombats, the worst team in the region. But that just made Hubert feel even worse. If he couldn’t keep the ball out of the goal with that team playing, the Ants had no chance of making it through to the next round.

Hubert loves soccer. Unfortunately, although his best friend is the team star, he is dreadful. He’s the goalkeeper and the ball always seems to find a way past him. Hubert tries, but the ball is always faster. He’s not sure what to do, and spends his waking and sleeping moments worrying about it. There’s one thing he is sure about though, and that’s that glasses will not fix his problems. Mum takes him to the optometrist, despite his protests, and he is issued with a pair of magic glasses. How can a pair of glasses turn his life around?

Hubert and the Magic Glasses is a new title from the ‘Little Rockets’ series from New Frontier Publishing. They are short chapter books for newly independent readers, designed to help the transition from fully illustrated books to longer works. There are colour illustrations scattered throughout, and text is large and widely spaced. ‘Hubert & the Magic Glasses’ explores the relationship between skill and confidence. Hubert does need help from those around him, but to really succeed he needs to take charge of his own responses. And a little bit of magic doesn’t hurt. Recommended for newly independent readers.

Hubert and the Magic Glasses, Candice Lemon-Scott ill Joe Spellman New Frontier Publishing 2012 ISBN: 9781921928246

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

The Ink Bridge by Neil Grant

Omed had the Buddha’s eyes and a tongue that refused words. His was the silence of caves; the false peace that descends when a mortar shell rips apart a building. His was the stillness of bald mountains and long beards and the paths cleared by bullets; the quiet of a long-bladed knife.

Did all this begin with Omed? Or did it start with me at fifteen, shouting for answers; words running sour in my mouth, bleeding to whispers in my throat, evaporating in numbed ears. Those ears: my dad, my invisible friends, teachers that either didn’t care or cared too much.

Omed, a boy, flees Afganistan after a run in with the Taliban. He leaves behind his family and all he knows. His agonising and protracted journey leads him to Australia. There he is supposed to find peace and prosperity. Hector is an Australian boy, locked into silence by trauma. He’s gradually withdrawing from all he has known. Their lives intersect in a candle factory in the suburbs. It is a place of numbing boredom, but also a place of secrets. Dangerous secrets. Hector and Omed are linked by their stories, by their experience and by the secrets they uncover.

Hector and Omed are from very different worlds. Both are silent, although it’s not always obvious why that is. Candles are supposed to light up the darkness, but illumination leaves shadows, even when two candles combine. There are dark corners in the worlds these boys encounter, separately and together. Meeting each other is a turning point, although neither could have predicted the direction. Grant takes the reader into the enduring horror of Afganistan’s wars and shows the complexity of the challenges, the realities for a people so long the focus of aggression and hate. He also shines a light on the desperation that impels refugees to seek homes elsewhere, and the barriers that make the journey so much harder than it should have to be. Hector’s rites of passage journey contrasts with Omed’s, but shows the power of empathy and shared experiences. Recommended for mid-secondary readers.

The Ink Bridge, Neil Grant Allen & Unwin 2012 ISBN: 9781742376691

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

This book is avaialble for purchaes in good bookstores or online through Fishpond.

The Mapmaker's Apprentice, by Peter Cooper

The monks were gone. Three creatures stood in their place, twisted and hunched, skin pale green in the light of the cave mouth, tongues as red as blood as they leered and grimaced and brandished heavy iron swords at the travellers.
‘Rock-demons!’ Koto yelled, and lunged forward.

Now that they are free of their cruel masters, Dillen, Koto and Tajni are ready to pursue their dreams. For Dillen, this means seeking an apprenticeship as a mapmaker. But when he visits the mapmakers house to see if he will be chosen as an apprentice, Dillen finds that competition for the position is fierce. The mapmaker decides to set a challenge for the candidates: to travel to a watch tower and read what is written on its walls. Soon Dillen is travelling across the land, with Koto and Tajni by his side, on a journey filled with danger. The tower guards a mountain pass which is closed to travellers because of the presence of a fearsome beast terrorising those who dare to make the journey. But this will be only one of the challenges the trio have to face if they are to complete the quest – and do it before any of the other candidates.

The Mapmaker’s Apprentice is the second in the Tales of the Blue Jade series, and picks up soon after the first left off. The three friends once again must work together, each drawing on their talents and overcoming their fears as they face new challenges and old foes. The twists and turns of the journey are well paced with development of individual characters and their relationships, creating a satisfying whole.

Best read as a follow on from the first book, but could be read on its own.

The Mapmaker’s Apprentice (Tales of the Blue Jade), by Peter Coper
Omnibus Books, 2012
ISBN 9781862919303

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

Fallout, by Chris Morphew

Luke turned his attention to the truck. I watched him cycle through the keys, dirty fingers fumbling in the cold, and the low-grade dread I carried everywhere with me swirled up to the surface again, clawing holes in my stomach.

He was going to die.

If that old surveillance video of Kara’s was to be believed, he’d already died.

There are only 14 days until the end of the world, and Luke and Jordan are desperate to find the answers which will save the human race. They are among the last free people in Phoenix, with the rest of the town trapped in the concentration camp which used to be the town centre. In the Vattel Complex where they are hiding, tension is high. The one person who could help them is unconscious, and lack of food and the constant stress is testing relationships. Of course having the man who they know will murder Luke in the rapidly approaching past captive in the complex doesn’t ease the tension.

Fallout is the fifth title in the popular Phoenix Files series. There is plenty of action, and plot twists that keep the reader guessing, as the story builds towards the final installment on the series. Of course the book will work best for those who have read the earlier offerings, but there is lots happening here which will draw a new reader in and have them looking for numbers one to four. Author Morhphew’s ability to pace the story whilst building character and mystery is a winning blend for young teens.

Good stuff.

Fallout (Phoenix Files), by Chris Morphew
Hardie Grant Egmont, 2012
ISBN 9781921502439

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

The Little Book of Anxiety, by Kerri Sackville

‘But I can’t sleep, I shrieked. What if this is a horrible mistake? What if I can’t think of any times I’ve been anxious? What if I haven’t been anxious enough to write a book about anxiety?'<br>T propped himself up on one elbow, rolled his eyes and gave me a pitying smile. ‘Kerri, if there is one thing I know for certain, you are anxious enough to write a book about anxiety. Now go to sleep!'<br>I didn’t sleep, of course.

Kerrie Sackville is a mother, wife, successful author, columnist and blogger. And she suffers anxiety. She doesn’t get just a little bit anxious – she suffers crippling anxiety, which hampers her daily life severely, even though she manages to hide it from many people. Her fingernails are well bitten, her husband dies on an almost daily basis (in her fretful imagination) and she becomes hysterical in lifts – among other places.

In The Little Book of Anxiety: Confessions from a Worried Life Sackville shares her experiences with a highly readable blend of honesty, humour and practical information. A wonderful help for anyone who has suffered anxiety, and a tool for anyone who wants to understand the condition, The Little Book of Anxiety: Confessions from a Worried Life is also simply an entertaining, highly accessible read.

The Little Book of Anxiety: Confessions from a Worried Life, by Kerri Sackville
Ebury Press, 2012
ISBN 9781742755366

This book is available from good bookstores or online from Fishpond.

Pookie Aleera is Not My Boyfriend, by Steven Herrick

My new teacher
…casually sits on her desk
before asking us
to tell her something, one thing,
that we like about ourselves.
Selina, Mick, Cameron, Pete and Rachel
immediately
raise their hands
while I sink as low as possible
behind my desk.

Verse novels have the ability to take the reader right into the heart of characters’ lives and thoughts in a very special way. And few verse novelists do it better than Steven Herrick. In Pookie Aleera is Not My Boyfriend he presents the life of a class of year 6 students in a small country town. Mick is the school captain, and a leader, but seems to always be in trouble. Pete is struggling to cope with his grandpa’s death, and Laura fights shyness as she tries to find a way to fit it. Selina is popular buts he’s obsessed with Cameron who in turn is obsessed with the mysterious Pookie Aleera. New teacher Ms Arthur is new to this world, but the school groundskeeper Mr Korsky has been around for ever, and has seen it all before – almost.

The use of the verse novel form allows the reader to see the story form multiple perspectives, and each character has a perspective both unique and endearing. There are moments of poignancy, of sorrow and of humour, in a tale of friendship and belonging and of grief and moving on. Each character must find his or her place in the shifting world of the school and beyond.

This is a welcome return to the verse novel form for Herrick, and fans will be delighted.

Pookie Aleera is Not My Boyfriend, by Steven Herrick
UQP, 2012
ISBN 9780702249280

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