UQP – Page 3 – Aussie Reviews

Bleakboy and Hunter Stand Out in the Rain, by Steven Herrick

My name is Jesse James Jones. Call me Jesse. Don’t call me triple j. I’m not a radio station, I’m an eleven-year-old boy.
Trevor looks down on me with understanding eyes. It’s pretty tough going through life with a name that people make fun of. ‘ven though I walk through the valley of the shadow -‘
‘Mum! Jesse’s talking to himself again!’ yells my sister Beth, from the next room.
‘Jesse.’ Mum’s voice is reproachful, as though I’ve been caught doing something sinful.

Fitting in to a new school is rarely easy, and when there’s a school bully with you firmly in his sights, it’s definitely going to be difficult. Lucky for Jesse there’s also a girl called Kate who has curly black hair and a beautiful smile. While Jesse’s helping her to save the whales, he’s also trying to save starving orphans in Africa, and his family from financial ruin.

Bleakboy and Hunter Stand out in the Rain is a funny story about standing up for beliefs, friendship and fitting in. Told from the first point viewpoint of Jesse, interspersed with a third person look at Hunter’s perspective, the reader is thus able to see the complexities of the boys’ interaction as well as what is happening in each boy’s life. This adds a depth which a single viewpoint would lack.

Young readers will enjoy the silliness of scenes including Jesse’s interaction with a poster of Jesus (who he calls Trevor to appease his atheist parents) and Hunter’s ability to find sponsorship for the Save the Whales cause , whilst appreciating the poignancy of the tougher moments of the story.

Herrick is a powerful storyteller. Bleakboy and Hunter Stand out in the Rain will not disappoint.

Bleakboy and Hunter Stand out in the Rain, by Steven Herrick
UQP, 2014
ISBN 9780702250163

You can read an interview with Steven Herrick here.

This book is available from good bookstores or online.

Grace's Table, by Sally Piper

Families were like sand dunes, Grace decided. They shifted shape and position with even the gentlest of forces. Even a tiny puff – a shrug – could bring about change, move a handful of thoughts to a new understanding, a new authority. A gale, like today’s, and whole dunes – lives and futures – were relocated, reimagined.

Grace is turning 70 and, rather than a party or a trip to a restaurant, has chosen to cook for her family and friends in her own home. It’s been a long time since she had twelve people at her table, but she’s sure she is up to the culinary challenge. She is perhaps less prepared for the play out of personalities and the memories which surface as she navigates the day. As she confronts a terrible event from her past, she comes to realise how others have been affected, and to reach new understandings.

Grace’s Table is a heart-filled tale of growing older, confronting the past and moving forward. As Grace celebrates her milestone birthday she also examines the lives of four generations of women – her mother, herself, her adult daughter and her two granddaughters, as well as the female friends who have played a large part in her life. Food too plays a central role in the novel, with traditional dishes such as roast lamb and mint sauce and more exotic delicacies.

In parts gentle, humorous and confrontational, Grace’s Table is a finely baked story.

Grace's Table

Grace’s Table, by Sally Piper
UQP, 2014
ISBN 9780702250040

Available from good bookstores or online.

Meet My Book: Bleakboy and Hunter Stand Out in the Rain, by Steven Herrick

I’m always excited to have a visitor here to the blog – but I’m extra excited today, because my visitor is one of my all-time favourite authors, Steven Herrick. Steven is here to tell us all about his latest book. Welcome, Steven.

1. Give us the details – title, publisher, illustrator, release date.

Bleakboy and Hunter Stand Out In the Rain by Steven Herrick.

University of Qld Press. May 2014.

2. Why did you write the book?

I’m always interested in telling a story from multiple perspectives – it’s certainly what I’ve most enjoyed when writing my verse-novels. I wanted to try the same idea through a prose novel for children. Although I’ve published twenty-two books, I’m still a novice when it comes to prose fiction – this is only my fourth prose novel, so I thought I’d experiment with the narrative by telling the story through two eleven-year-old boys – Jesse, narrated in the first person; and Hunter, told in third person.

3. How long from idea to publication?

Over a year as the early drafts were much more gloomy and downbeat than the finished manuscript.

4. What was the hardest thing about writing it?

I’m never sure how to answer this question? Everything from location to creating character to dialogue is ‘difficult’ and yet everything is a joy. It’s a privilege to be able to engage in such a pleasant activity as writing a novel and to call it my ‘occupation.’

5. Coolest thing about your book? Bleakboy and Hunter Stand out in the Rain

The cover! If I tried to even attempt to write something ‘cool’ I fear the result!

6. Something you learnt through writing the book?

It’s the thing I learn from every book, which is how much I value the sensitivity, expertise and devoted attention of a good editor. My books would be garbled gibberish if it wasn’t for my editors (and publishers). It is a honour to work with people so devoted and involved in a project that has sprang from the peaty bogged recesses of my imagination.

7. What did you do celebrate the release?

With all my books, I can’t remember ever having an outward celebration – no special dinner or wine or launch. But, I always hold a new copy in my hands and feel immense pride at having been a part of creating the book and as I mentioned above, enormous good fortune at being able to do this for a job. I’m pleased to say this feeling doesn’t disappear over time. Sometimes I hold one of my books written ten or twenty years ago and still feel such pride, even if I wonder where the story originated.

8. And how will you promote the book?

Like every book, I’ll stand up in front of over one hundred and fifty school audiences each year and talk about the characters or maybe read a short section and hope that it meets with an approving response.

9. What are you working on next?

Firstly, a book of poetry for young adults, but not a verse-novel. Perhaps it’ll be a follow-up to my first poetry book for teenagers ‘Water Bombs’ which was published 21 years ago.

Secondly, a prose novel for young adults about two young men who live in a rundown fishing village which is slowly being gentrified by weekenders from the city.

10. Where we can find out more about you and your book?

At my web-site – http://www.stevenherrick.com.au Or better still, invite me to your school! http://www.youngaus.com.au

Twitter: @steven_herrick

Thanks so much for visiting, Steven. It’s been an honour to have you.

Word Hunters: The Curious Dictionary, by Nick Earls & Terry Whidborne

While stories build from words, it’s true,
The words themselves have stories too.
Who dares to read? Who dares to look?
Who dares to hunt within this book?

When Lexi and Al accidentally find an old dictionary, their lives change dramatically. They are whisked back into history to hunt the origins of words which are in danger of disappearing from our past and our present. Each successful stop in time pegs down a key usage of an evolving word, thus ensuring its survival. And, as the twins discover, it isn’t just the words that are important – it’s their impact on the path of history, which shapes the modern world in many ways. But ensuring the survival of those words could come at a cost. Will they be trapped in the past because they miss the clues? Or will one of the many physical dangers they face prove too much.

The Curious Dictionary is the first in a new series from the team of writer Nick Earls and illustrator Terry Whidborne. The concept is clever – blending time travel with an examination of both the evolution of language and its impact on the world as a whole. The children travel through many time periods and major moments in history, and at times this was so rapid the reader may struggle to grasp what has gone on, or may be left wanting to see more of a particular setting. There are enough questions left unanswered – particularly that of a missing grandfather who was also (unbeknownst to them) a word hunter, and also other missing word hunters – to draw readers back to the next instalment in the series.

A sound start to the series.

The Curious Dictionary (Word Hunters), by Nick Earls & Terry Whidborne
University of Queensland Press, 2012
ISBN 9780702249457

Available from god bookstores or online.

City, by James Roy

The only water out this way was the river and the reservoir and the twin pipes that fed the city. Huge and dark, as thick through as a small car, they rose and fell across the plains towards the glowing sky and the shimmering skyline.

Cities are big, cities are too small, cities are full of people, cities are lonely, cities are full of variety, cities are all the same. James Roy’s City is a title for young adult readers, that explores the bustling tapestry that is a city through twenty-two stories of young city-dwellers. The characters of City don’t always tell stories of triumph, or even stories of failure, these are stories of real people just living their lives and learning as they go.

City is the follow up to James Roy’s acclaimed 2007 book, Town. Like its predecessor it takes place in an unnamed, fictional, location but is grounded in the real world. The characters of City aren’t necessarily connected directly, but they all exist in the same space, they might never meet or acknowledge one another, but they know the same people, the same places, the same items. The format works well in providing a snapshot of a city whilst also providing the personal stories of the characters.

A masterfully crafted exploration of both the city environment and the people who live there.

City by James Roy
University of Queensland Press, 2012
ISBN 9780702249266

Available from good bookstores or online.

Chook Chook: Mei’s Secret Pets by Wai Chim

Pip!

I was lying on my back in the garden, hidden among the colourful wildflowers, staring up at the big silver sky. It was a lazy spring afternoon and the clouds were drifting lazily through the air.

Pip!

Sitting up quickly, I strained my ears to listen again.

Pip!

I was lying on my back in the garden, hidden among the colourful wildflowers, staring up at the big silver sky. It was a lazy spring afternoon and the clouds were drifting lazily through the air.

Pip!

Sitting up quickly, I strained my ears to listen again.

Nothing.

I went to lie back down.

Pip!

Mei’s father has died and the family is mourning on their farm in rural China. Mei’s father kept animals but since his death, her ma refuses to have any animals at all. So when Mei finds two little chickens she knows she can’t tell her ma. She looks after them secretly, feeding and playing with them. But secrets are difficult to keep and her ma discovers them. She sells Mei’s beloved pets to the one-eyed butcher at the market. That should be an end to it, but of course, it is not.

When Mei’s father died, each member of the family grieves separately and differently. Mei’s adoption of the two chickens is her way of bringing her father close again. ‘Chook Chook: Mei’s Secret Pets’ is a lovely story about wanting and caring for pets. It’s also about loss and learning to live again through the eyes of a young girl. It paints a gentle portrait of rural China at a time of change and celebrates the characters who habituate markets. Readers are able to gain in insider’s view of a small community. Recommended for mid-primary readers.

Chook Chook: Mei’s Secret Pets, Wai Chim UQP 2012 ISBN: 9780702249464

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

The Messenger Bird by Rosanne Hawke

I remember what I was doing when I first heard the news; I was playing Mozart’s ‘Sonata in C’. Would I ever be able to play that again? During the coda I heard the cow bell at the back door, a silence, then Dad’s voice raised in question. They didn’t come into the lounge to tell me. Unsuspecting, I went out to the kitchen when I’d finished playing. Mum and Dad were sitting there barely touching, staring at nothing.

When you first realise the unfairness and randomness of death it eats into your thoughts like acid. I didn’t believe in God the way Mum did, but I still screamed at him in my head, ‘You’ve picked the wrong family to do this to.’ I knew I wouldn’t be strong enough, Mum wasn’t either. Then there was Dad, a crumbling pillar trying to hold both of us up.

How does a family deal with death? In The Messenger Bird the short answer is ‘not well’. Set in outback South Australia, three members of a family mourn the loss of the fourth. Separately and in very different ways. It is as if a piece of a puzzle is lost and without it, nothing makes sense. Mum retreats into herself, and Dad spends all his time and energy restoring their old stone house. They three are side-by-side but alone. Tamar, the main character, can see this but there seems to be no fixing it, and she seems to be the only one trying to change things. Nothing that once gave her pleasure can touch the emptiness and pain. Including – or perhaps particularly – her music. Then she finds a piece of sheet music that somehow links her with the past and helps her to begin to imagine a future.

A house holds in its walls the memories of all who live there. In The Messenger Bird, Tamara discovers the history of the house as surely as her father does as he renovates. For each, the discoveries also allow them time and perspective in coming to terms with the loss in their lives. Truths that are too big to imagine are broken down into smaller bites and piece by piece, the characters can put their lives back together. The Messenger Bird is full of mystery. Or mysteries. Some are intended to be uncovered, others will remain forever out of reach. And the business of life is to decide which ones are which. A moving story about death and life and the choices people make. Recommended for mid- to upper-secondary readers.

The Messenger Bird by Rosanne Hawke UQP 2012 ISBN: 9780702238826

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

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.

Edsel Grizzler 3: Ghostly Shadows by James Roy

Multi-dimensional

It was silent out on the plain, except for the scratch of the shovel against the sides of the hole. Some time ago, Edsel had heard the distant wail of the train as it headed back, reversing along that pencil-straight track from Widen. The train he and Jacq had planned to be on. The train they’d meant to catch. The train that would have taken them back to Verdada, back to the stagnant place of weary, hungry children held captive by the crazy Ben. but, though no fault of their own, they’d missed that train and now it had gone, leaving them alone out her to dig a hole in the dry earth under the wide, silent sky. Digging for what seemed like hours.

Edsel and his friend Jacq are digging a hold for no reason that they can fathom. Except that a machine they’re calling Andy somehow indicated it was a good idea. Then they’re in a train tunnel deciding which way to go, what to do. They think they’re being led somewhere, but they have no idea why, or what for. And when they get there, things become even more confusing. Trains seem to play a part in their journey, but what part? There are dreams and not-dreams and it’s becoming difficult to tell the difference. Edsel needs to learn more if he is going to be able to rescue the children in Verdada from the despotic Ben. But it’s going to be a wild ride.

Edsel is back in a third adventure, to wrap up this extra-dimensional series. Reality and fantasy combine to bring a time-and-place-shifting adventure. Edsel learns to trust his own judgement, and to understand just what’s important to him. ‘Ghostly Shadows’ reads like the mirror room at a fun fair, where the world stretches and shrinks, distorting all around you. There are themes of friendship, trust, power and betrayal. A wild ride through more worlds than can be imagined. Recommended for upper primary readers.

Edsel Grizzler: Ghostly Shadows, James Roy
UQP 2011
ISBN: 9780702238819

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

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

First Kids in Space, by Tristan Bancks

‘Dash Campbell. You ready?’
I nod.
‘3, 2, 1…Engage.’
I feel the pod move under me. My head and shoulders are thrust back into the red leather seat.
The washed-out monitor in front of me shows a live video image of my face. Numbers jitter across the top of the screen. The number on top right flips quickly from 1G to 1.5G, up to 2G. Then 2.5G to 3G. 3G means that the pressure I’m feeling on my body is three times my regularly body weight. My arms are pinned to the armrests. I feel like I’m being fired from a cannon directly into the air, but I haven’t even left the ground.

Dash, and four other young teenagers have been given the opportunity to see if they have what it takes to go into space. What an adventure! Dash has wanted this as long as he can remember. Even before his Mum left, leaving him with his perpetually worn down stepfather, he’s wanted to go into space. He’s made rockets in his house, but nothing could prepare him for this. And there’s not much time. Dash, Yada, Scott, Rafaela and Zarif have their work cut out for them. They will have a month to train. In that time, they need to learn about all the different elements of space travel. Their teacher, Chuck Palatnik, has worked with both Russian and American space programs. The only thing is, Palatnik doesn’t seem to like any of them much, but he seems to save his worst for Dash. He says they only need one of them to go on the rocket, and it seems he’d be quite happy if they all fail.

How many kids dream about travelling into space? Only a very small proportion maintain the dream and make it reality. But winning a prize that gives you that chance, how good would that be? But what could prepare you for the danger, the physical challenges that you need to master if you are to take that final step and leave earth bound for a space station. Tristan Bancks holds on to the excitement while detailing some of the obstacles to be overcome. For Dash, it’s not only a dream come true, but a chance to break free of the relentless drudgery that is life with his stepfather since the disappearance of his mother. If you’ve ever wanted to know what goes on in an astronaut training program, or wanted to prepare for space travel, without abandoning your teenage sense of humour or bravado, this is the novel for you. Recommended for upper-primary and early-secondary readers.

Galactic Adventures: First Kids in Space, Tristan Bancks
UQP 2011
ISBN: 9780702238697

Available from good bookstores, or online from Fishpond.