angels – Aussie Reviews

Unforgotten, by Tohby Riddle

Nobody knows where they come from.
But they come.
Impossible birds of the big sky
and the long night …

Unseen, angles come to Earth to watch over, to warm and to mend. But the harshness of the world, and the vastness of the work required proves too much for one of these silent comforters, and it falls to Earth where , sorely in need of comfort itself, he is at risk of not being able to move any more. His plight is seen and acted upon by an unlikely group of rescuers including a clown, children, even a patched donkey.

Unforgotten is not a story – it’s an experience. And a lyrical, beautiful experience at that. The text is a poem, a line or two to some pages, and no text on others,whisping its way in white font across black backgrounds. The illustrations are an intriguing montage of photographs and drawings, so that the viewer can explore in detail or simply absorb the whole. An initial reading leaves the reader thinking; rereading provides depth and enhances the wonder of the work.

Suitable for readers of all ages.

Unforgotten, by Tohby Riddle
Allen & Unwin, 2012
ISBN 9781742379722

Available from good bookstores and online.

The Littlest Angel 1: Lily Gets Her Wings and 2: Lily Has A Secret by Elizabeth Pulford ill Aki Fukuoka

Lily rolled over in bed. She stared up at the starry painted ceiling. Today was the big day. The day she tried out for a place in Amelia’s Angel Academy.

Lily rolled over in bed. She stared up at the starry painted ceiling. Today was the big day. The day she tried out for a place in Amelia’s Angel Academy.

The trouble was, there were two of them trying to get into the academy. And there was only one place left. It was between her and Tisa.

With an anxious sigh, Lily glanced over at Tisa’s bed. It was empty. Oh no! She was probably practising already.

Lily really, really wants to be an angel. That means being accepted at Amelia’s Angel Academy. There are two candidates and only one place, and from her late morning waking, things just keep going wrong. Tisa, the other girl vying for the Academy place, is ultra-determined that she will win. Whoever wins the place will learn all there is to learn about being a proper angel. As the testing progresses, Lily becomes surer that Tisa is going to win. But there is more than one way to test a trainee angel.

In ‘Lily has a Secret’, Lily does a good deed, but it seems sure to get her into trouble. She rescues a kitten, but having a kitten in the Academy is Against The Rules. And her former nemesis, Tisa, is becoming more and more impatient with her as their rehearsal for the concert is constantly disrupted. Illustrations of Lily and her adventures are scattered throughout.

The Littlest Angel is a new series from New Zealand writer Elizabeth Pulford. They are shiny-covered, with coloured pages and will surely appeal to young independent readers, particularly girls. Who doesn’t long to be able to fly and to help people achieve their dreams? Lily is exceptionally pure-hearted, but this same heart that endears her to almost all at the Academy also gets her in all sorts of scrapes. She tries valiantly to follow all the rules, but there always seems to be a reason to break them. If it’s not her wings being torn, then it’s some other calamity. Fortunately there are people to help her when she thinks she is in trouble. Slowly she is coming to know and understand Tisa, a very different child/angel, who bends the rules in other ways and always seems to be cross. Recommended for early primary independent readers.

Lily Gets Her Wings , Elizabeth Pulford, ill Aki Fukuoka Scholastic NZ 2012 ISBN: 9781775430223

Lily Has a Secret , Elizabeth Pulford, ill Aki Fukuoka Scholastic NZ 2012 ISBN: 9781775430230

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

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.