One More Friend by Bill Condon ill Lucinda Gifford

Here I am, heading off on the bus for my first day at Cordo Hill Primary. The weather is rainy and gloomy, which is exactly how I feel. Starting at a new school is scary.

The trip is long and boring. I feel myself drifting into a daydream.

Here I am, heading off on the bus for my first day at Cordo Hill Primary. The weather is rainy and gloomy, which is exactly how I feel. Starting at a new school is scary.

The trip is long and boring. I feel myself drifting into a daydream.

Jack has just started at a new school and he’s a little apprehensive. His first attempts to make friends and to fit in are a bit rocky, but he’s soon making people laugh and seems to be settling in. There’s only one boy, Mark, who doesn’t think Jack is funny. No matter what Jack does, Mark seems determined not to like him. It’s going to be a big first day. Colour illustrations appear on every opening, and there are headers and footers reflecting elements of a school day.

‘One More Friend’ is part of the ‘Mates’ series from Omnibus Books. Each title offers a particularly Australian story, full of humour. Jack is a relatable character, his early nervousness manifesting in a certain clumsiness. This makes others laugh at him, but soon he’s realised he can make them laugh with him. Only Mark doesn’t laugh, and it takes a while for Jack to realise why. Rather than laugh at Mark, Jack quietly helps him and in the process makes another friend. This is a realistic depiction of school life as it should be, with characters having the insight to look behind bullying behaviour to see the world from the perspective of the bully. Go Jack! Recommended for newly-independent readers.

One More Friend, Bill Condon ill Lucinda Gifford
Omnibus Books 2016 ISBN: 9781742991184

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com

The Simple Things, by Bill Condon

The door opens and Dad and Mum sneak out.
Somewhere in the darkness a clock ticks off the seconds. I silently count each one – five…fifteen…twenty five.
Maybe Aunty Lola will go to sleep. Then I can sneak out, too. Thirty five…forty fi-
‘So you’re Stephen.’
Busted.

Stephen is shy, but never so shy as when he meets his great aunt Lola for the first time. She’s really really old and she’s very grumpy too. Stephen is scared, but Mum and Dad say they have to stay with Aunt Lola because she’s lonely and they’re the only family she has. It’s only three weeks, after all.  Stephen gets to meet the neighbours, learn how to fish, play cricket and climbs – simple things. He also starts to learn about his family, and especially about Aunt Lola. And when there’s an emergency Stephen realises maybe Lola isn’t so scary – maybe she’s his friend.

The Simple Things is a beautiful tale of family, friendship and generations. Stephen is a quirky, loving boy and Lola is an intriguing character who readers will be keen to get to know. Their developing relationship is a pleasure to witness.

Condon has a gently humorous touch as an author, and the focus on a child who is gentle-natured but brave in his own way, makes for a heart warming read.

 

The Simple Things

The Simple Things, by Bill Condon
Allen & Unwin, 2014
ISBN 9781743317242

Available from good bookstores and online.

Stories for 7 Year Olds, edited by Linsay Knight

What do seven year olds like to read about? Lots of things! And this book aimed at seven year old readers, covers lots of different subjects, in different forms. There is a story about a mother on a diet, one about surfing in an outback pool, another about a young emperor with a headache, and yet another about an author visiting a school. Whilst all are prose, one is interspersed with poetry and others use fairytale, mythology, first person narration and even the format of a school report, meaning there is plenty of variety.

The 11 stories are illustrated by Tom Jellett, giving a uniformity to the volume, and back of book biographies introduce each author who include some of the biggest names of Australian children’s literature, including Morris Gleitzman, Paul Jennings and Margaret Clark.

Suitable for newly independent readers to read on their own, the stories are also suitable for reading aloud.

Stories for Seven Year Olds

Stories for Seven Year Olds, edited by Linsay Knight, illustrated by Tom Jellett
Random House, 2012
ISBN 9781742756622

Available from good bookstores or online.

Stories for 5 Year Olds, edited by Linsay Knight

Some of the best-known names in Australian children’s literature, with offerings new and old, combine in this wonderful new anthology targeted at, as the name suggests, five year old readers. Contributors include Ursula Dubosarsky, Janeen Brian , Mark Macleod and more, and Tom Jellett  provides grey scale illustrations

A couple of the stories (The Two Gorillas, by Dubosarsky and The Gorilla Suit by Victor Kelleher) were previously published as part of  Penguin’s Aussie Nibble’s series, and others have been published in School Magazine or by other publishers. Two stories (Charlotte the Explorer, by Dianne Bates and Look! by Lizzie Horne) appear here for the first time.

Good stuff.

Stories for Five Year Olds

Stories for Five Year Olds, edited by Linsay Knight
Random House, 2012
ISBN 9781742756660

Available from good bookstores or online from Fishpond.

All are well targeted for five year old readers, each suitable for reading aloud in a single sitting. Early independent readers would also find the stories accessible.

A Straight Line to My Heart, by Bill Condon

Tiff loves to read – but she’s pretty surprised to meet a boy who likes to read, too. What’s even more surprising is that Davey seems to want to get know her. Maybe things are about to turn around for her. But it’s not going to be plain sailing for Tiff…

There’s nothing quite as good as folding up into a book and shutting the world outside. If I pick the right one I can be beautiful, or fall in love, or live happily ever after. Maybe even all three.

If you can’t get a boy, get a book, that’s my motto.

Tiff loves to read – but she’s pretty surprised to meet a boy who likes to read, too. What’s even more surprising is that Davey seems to want to get know her. Maybe things are about to turn around for her.

But it’s not going to be plain sailing for Tiff. She’s just finished school for ever and is about to start work experience at the local paper, a stepping stone to the career as a journalist she’s always dreamed of. The reporter there, Shark, is hard-nosed and seemingly unimpressed to have a new recruit to take under his wing. Tiff’s best friend, Kayla, has some big news to share with her that she’s nt going to like. And at home, Reggie – part grandad, part father, part mart – is coughing  alot, and giving up smoking because, as he declares, he’s cactus.

A Straight Line to My Heart is a brilliant, touching, story of life, first love, and family – in its different forms. Tiff’s mother died when she was born, and there’s no mention of her brith father, but Reggie and his step son Bull are family enough for her. Kayla, her best friend, also has a mixed up family, finding a way to be together, and Tiff’s new family at the newspaper proves to be an unlikely source of support for her.

Bill Condon has a reputation for excellence. His previous novel, Confessions of a Liar, thief and Failed Sex God, was the winner of the inaugural Young Adult Fiction prize int he Prime Minsiter’s Literary Awards, and No Worries was an honour book in the CBCA Awards. A Straight Line to My Heart will not disappoint fans of Condon’s  work, and will win him plenty of new ones as well.But that doesn’t mean it’s an easy book to read. There is humour and warmth, but there’s tough stuff, too, and if you’re prone to crying at sad bits, you’ll need tissues for this one.

Just brilliant.
A Straight Line to My Heart

A Straight Line to My Heart, by Bill Condon

Allen & Unwin, 2011 ISBN 9781742377308

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

No Worries, by Bill Condon

I covered her shoulders and leaned against her.
People passing by stared at us, then turned away when I stared back. There must be an embarrassment cut-off point somewhere in the brain. When so many things have happened, you stop caring what people think any more. I even put my arm around her shoulder, although I’m sure she didn’t know it was there.

Brian (Bri) Talbot is seventeen and has just dropped out of school. Fed up with being picked on my other students and by the teachers, he’s decided he’s had enough. Now he’s working nightshift in a milk factory. But Bri’s employment woes are probably the least of his worries. His dad lives in a shed in the backyard and his mum is losing it, spiralling out of control. More and more Bri is taking the role of responsible adult in the family and he’s not sure he can cope.

No Worries deals with some uncomfortable situations with humour and directness, taking the reader on a roller-coaster journey of the emotions. The language, characters and emotions are easy to access but it is not an easy read, because of the gut-wrenching impact of the story.

When a book can make a reader laugh out loud in places and sob bitterly in others, it has had an impact. This is one such tale and is likely to have this impact both on teen readers and on adults.

Whilst the first person voice of the book takes us inside Bri’s head and shows us his version of events, we are still able to develop sympathy for and understanding of the other characters, a testament to the skill of author Bill Condon. It is also a testament to his skill that readers will not want to let the character of Bri go when they reach the end of this book.

No Worries, by Bill Condon
UQP, 2005