Month: April 2015

Dropping in, by Geoff Havel

Across the street a person is framed in a watery yellow square. It’s a kid looking out – like me – except his head is wobbling about all over the place. He sort of tips it back and then it nods forward on a different angle. I can’t see his eyes, but I know he’s watching, checking out his new neighbourhood.

When a new boy moves in across the road, Sticks isn’t sure what to think. He already has a best friend, Ranga, who lives down the road. Sticks and Ranga love getting into mischief, playing on the Playstation, and skateboarding. James has cerebral palsy, and is in a wheelchair – so he can’t do any of those things. Or can he? Where there’s a will there’s a way, and with James’ determination and try-anything attitude, plus the ingenuity and friendship of Sticks and Ranga, James could soon be flying. Unless something goes wrong.

Dropping in is a funny, moving story of friendship. The three friends are as different as they are good mates, and each battles his own set of challenges – including bullying, ADHD and disability. What they have in common is their loyalty and their love of life, a blend which makes this a really satisfying story.

 

Dropping in

Dropping in, by Geoff Havel
Fremantle Press, 2015
ISBN 9781925162219

Available from good bookstores and online.

A Small Madness, by Dianne Touchell

Rose didn’t tell anyone about it. She wondered if it showed. She looked at herself in the mirror and turned this way and then that way. She stood as close to the mirror as she could, leaning over the bathroom basin, looking into her own eyes until they disappeared behind the fog of her breath. Looking for something. Some evidence that she was different.

Rose and Michael are good kids. They work hard at school, are popular, and do what their parents tell them. But they are in love, and not as careful as they should be, and soon Rose is pregnant. The problem is, she is having trouble admitting it, even to herself. Michael struggles with the reality, too, and events spiral beyond his control. What happens is utterly devastating.

A Small Madness confronts the issues surrounding teen pregnancy in a way that will shock readers to the core. This is not a happy ever after story by any stretch of the imagination, but is absorbing and feels very real, exploring the possibilities of what can happen when teens feel shut off from support. Touchell does not try to cover all eventualities or to demonstrate how such a situation can be ‘fixed’, but the book will hopefully leave readers pondering how things can be, and the importance of finding ways through terrible situations.

An important, haunting, breathtaking book.

 

A Small Madness

A Small Madness, by Dianne Touchell
Allen & Unwin, 2015
ISBN 9781760110789

Available from good bookstores and online.

The Warlock’s Child Bk 2: Dragonfall Mountain by Paul Collins & Sean McMullen

The greatest naval battle in all of history looked trivial from a hight of three miles, but for a dragon the height did not matter. Everything that humans did or build was insignificant.

Dravaud had folded his wings back and was dropping like a stone. Far below, he sensed a dragon chick in distress, but had no clear view. The wind had dropped away to almost nothing and the smoke from burning ships hung over the fighting. The ship holding the chick was nowhere to be seen.

The greatest naval battle in all of history looked trivial from a hight of three miles, but for a dragon the height did not matter. Everything that humans did or build was insignificant.

Dravaud had folded his wings back and was dropping like a stone. Far below, he sensed a dragon chick in distress, but had no clear view. The wind had dropped away to almost nothing and the smoke from burning ships hung over the fighting. The ship holding the chick was nowhere to be seen.

Dragonfall Mountain opens with dragon, ‘Dravaud’, observing from great height the aftermath of a great seabattle. He turns away from the wreckage and sets his sights on the nearby city. Alternating viewpoints of Dantar and his sister, Velza take up the story as they find themselves in the city, Savaria. While the sea battle may be over, there are still many mysteries for Dantar and Velza to navigate, dangers to identify and alliances to understand. Their father is here, but it’s unclear just what his purpose is and whether or not he is to be trusted. All Dantar knows for sure, is that something or someone is looking out for him.

Dragonfall Mountain is Book Two in ‘The Warlock’s Child’, a six-book fantasy series, with fantastical cover art from Marc McBride. All six are slated for 2015 release. Dantar is new to war and has much to learn, although he learns quickly. His older sister, Velza, is a warrior, striving to achieve in a man’s world. Together and separately, they adventure and fall, racing to understand what’s happening before a dragon (or more) decide their fate and that of all of those around them. Recommended for mid-primary readers.

 

Dragonfall Mountain (Warlock's Child)

The Warlock’s Child Bk2: Dragonfall Mountain , Paul Collins & Sean McMullen Ford Street Publishing 2015 ISBN: 9781925000931

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com

The Warlock’s Child Bk 1: The Burning Sea by Paul Collins & Sean McMullen

Even an invasion fleet of five hundred ships is not very impressive from three miles above, and the watcher was not impressed. This was because he was bigger and more powerful than any of the warships below.

Drvaud circled lazily on vast wings, reaching out with senses that even the most learned of human wizards could never understand. Something familiar was down there, its presence faint but distinct. It was as tiny as a spark, yet a spark could set an entire city ablaze.

Even an invasion fleet of five hundred ships is not very impressive from three miles above, and the watcher was not impressed. This was because he was bigger and more powerful than any of the warships below.

Drvaud circled lazily on vast wings, reaching out with senses that even the most learned of human wizards could never understand. Something familiar was down there, its presence faint but distinct. It was as tiny as a spark, yet a spark could set an entire city ablaze.

The Burning Sea opens with a dragon’s eye view of a warring world. But there is something confusing about the fleet below, something dragon-like. For Dantar, on one of the ships of the fleet below, life as a cabin boy is hard work. Even though he is son of a battle warlock, no one gets a free ride aboard ship. His sister, Velza, aboard another ship in the fleet has gained a foothold in the male dominated forces, but she knows just how tenuous leadership is. And into battle they go.

The Burning Sea is a collaboration between two well-known fantasy authors, Paul Collins and Sean McMullen. It is Book One of a six-book series, all slated for 2015 release. Cover art from accomplished dragon-conjurer Mark McBride ensures that young fantasy readers will be immediately engaged. Dantar is an underdog who for reasons slowly evolving is marked as important. There are three viewpoint characters: Dantar, his sister Velza; and Dragons. They take turns in allowing the reader into their world view. Although they have different experiences, this world is full of magic, deception, betrayal – all elements of a grand tale. Recommended for mid-primary readers.

 

The Warlock’s Child Bk 1: The Burning Sea , Paul Collins & Sean McMullen
Ford Street Publishing 2015 ISBN: 9781925000924

Bridget, by J. Moloney

‘You don’t want to be stopping here, me young colleen,’ he said. ‘In England, the Irish are bottom of the heap – kept poor and treated like eejits ’cause of our Catholic faith. Go someplace where you’re as good as the rest. That’s what I’d do, if I was young like you.’

Life has been tough for Bridget, but now she setting sail for Australia, where she is to start a new life. She isn’t afraid. Nothing could be worse than staying in Ireland and starving to death. Still, she cries for what she is leaving behind – her mother and brothers in the work house and her father and grandmother, both dead. In Australia, too, she finds that though life might be better, her strong spirit might land her in trouble.

Bridget, part of Omnibus Books’ New Australian series is set in and after the time of the Irish potato famine of the mid nineteenth century, and shows both that famine’s effects as well as the resultant scheme which saw poverty stricken Irish shipped to Australia. Although not convicts, Bridget and her fellows travellers have few rights and must adapt to life in a very foreign land.

Suitable for readers in middle primary and older, Bridget is historical fiction with broad appeal. Bridget is a likeable narrator who readers will enjoy getting to know.

 

Bridget (New Australian)

Bridget, by J. Maloney
Omnibus, 2015
ISBN 9781742990989

Available from good bookstores and online.

Bad Seed, by Alan Carter

Cato could recall exactly the moment he no longer wanted to be Matthew Tan’s godfather. It was warm sunny afternoon in late spring…

When Cato Kwong is called in to a brutal murder scene, he quickly realises that this investigation is going to be very personal. The victims are his old friend Francis Tan and his family. the sole survivor is Tan’s eldest son Matthew, who has moved out of home, and is the first suspect. The investigation takes Cato places he never expected to go – including to Shanghai, where he learns about the country of his forbears = both its highs and its lows.

Meanwhile, his boss, DI Hutchens, deals with health issues and ghosts from his own past, and Lara Sumich too has plenty of distractions of her own, even if they are of a very different kind.

Bad Seed is the third title featuring Cato (Phillip) Kwong, a Fremantle based detective with a strong sense of justice and a determination to uncover the truth. Each title stands alone, though Cato is a character you want to read more about, so going back and reading the other two is no hardship.

 

Bad Seed

Bad Seed, by Alan Carter
Fremantle Press, 2015
ISBN 9781925162257

Available from good bookstores and online.

Black Light, by K.A. Bedford

“I have been having the most frightful dreams, Ruth. Something was happening to you – something terrible. I saw someone trying to kill you, someone with the most enormous hands – “

Twelve years ago Ruth Black’s husband was killed in mysterious war-time circumstances. Since then she has built herself a new life, resettling in rural Western Australia and forging a career as a novelist. But the arrival of  her Aunt Julia heralds the start of a series of unsettling events. Julia has travelled from England to warn her niece that she has forseen her murder. Ruth is not sure whether to believe her Aunt’s eerie premonition, but is startled by her knowledge of Ruth’s home, without ever having visited it.  As events unfold, Ruth must take her Aunt’s warnings seriously – but how is she to stop her enemies, and who is she to trust?

Black Light is a spine-tingling supernatural crime thriller, set in 1920s Western Australia. The town of Pelican River is fictional (though loosely modelled on Mandurah, south of Perth), and populated with an intriguing cast, including the eccentric Ruth herself; her widower neighbour Gordon, who copes with his grief by inventing things and surrounding himself with dogs; and a parish priest who believes Ruth is evil.

An intriguing blend of mystery, thriller and the supernatural, Black Light is absorbing, though at times a little confusing. For example, Ruth – and it seems everyone else – is acceptant of the fact that elves populate the neighbourhood, and that Gordon can cast protection spells, but struggles with other paranormal or supernatural possibilities. Still, it is perhaps this unpredictability which make the book intriguing.

Recommended for lovers of the paranormal.

 

Black Light

Black Light, by K. A. Bedford
Fremantle Press, 2015
ISBN 9781925161410

Available from good bookstores and online.

Onesie Mumsie by Alice Rex ill Amanda Francey

‘Onesie Mumsie!

Onesie Mumsie!’

‘Whose bedtime is it?’

‘Onesie Mumsie!

Onesie Mumsie!’

‘Whose bedtime is it?’

A small girl is resisting bedtime. Although it might be bedtime for little girls, and even for little rabbits, it’s clearly not bedtime for some of her other onesie-inspired friends. Mum, who may or may not be planning a sit down with a mug of hot chocolate, is happy to play along. Illustrations move from the realistic to the imaginary as different onesies inspire imaginative play. Mother and child enjoy their play until it seems the little girl is finally content to stay in bed. Now Mum can also go to bed. Illustrations are watercolour and pencil, set mostly in white space, although there are hints about what ‘adventure’ will follow. Cameo roles are played by the little girl’s favourite soft toys.

Onesie Mumsie! is a celebration of pre-bedtime games, a celebration of the one-on-one time that is so important for parent and child. The child initiates an activity and Mum rolls with it, joining in to vanquish the animals that appear on her bed. Cue cuddles, tickles and more. Young children will love the playfulness, and the illustrations offer an introduction to different habitats and potential discussions about animals and their habitats. (Tired parents might want to schedule reading to the weekend!) Recommended for pre-school children.

 

Onesie Mumsie!, Alice Rex ill Amanda Francey New Frontier Publishing 2015 ISBN: 9781925059243

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com