UQP – Page 4 – Aussie Reviews

Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers, by Briony Stewart

t night when it gets cold, tiny beads of water turn to ice, making everything glitter like the jewelled belongings of an empress. Even the tiles of our roof sparkle as I climb onto them from my bedroom window in my warmest hanten coat. Tomodo is waiting for me, his spines shining in the moonlight from his tail to his steps. Once I am sitting safely between his shoulders, he throws his black wings open to the air of the night and leaps into the sky.

Kumiko is tired of living in fear. Since she learnt about the dreaded Shadow Catchers, powerful sorcerers who will stop at nothing to steal dragon magic, she has known that she, her family, and her dragon Tomodo, are in danger. But instead of waiting for the Shadow Catchers to find her, Kumiko has decided she will find them – and stop them once and for all.

Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers is the third and final story in the Kumiko series, and is as enchanting as the first two. What is wonderful about this series is that it shows a child who sees herself as nothing special, and scared of everything, uncovering her own strengths and, as a result, blossoming. In each instalment the stakes have been raised – and as a result Kumiko has had to dig ever deeper to overcome the troubles that beset her and her friends.

The writing is poetic and utterly enchanting, with such gems as the breathtaking line: sometimes one short hug is like a long conversation between friends.

Whilst it is sad to see the series end, Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers is a perfect conclusion.

Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers, by Briony Stewart
UQP, 2011

ISBN 9780702238741

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

The Trophy Kid, by Pat Flynn

This is your chance. Take it.
I straighten my strings, blow out a lungful of air, and try to forget the score.
But it’s impossible. The score is all that matters in tennis, the signpost that leads to only one of two destinations.
Winning or losing. Glory or failure.

Marcus is a junior tennis star. He is state champion and dreams of winning Wimbledon. But something is holding him back. It isn’t his backhand, his forehand or even his serve. It’s his mind. At inconvenient times he starts to second guess himself, often with disastrous results. And now he’s in real trouble. He’s convinced that if he doesn’t win the next state title he’ll lose his grandfather. Could it be that his mate Matt, a tuckshop expert, and the girl he has a crush on, Kayla, are the ones who’ll give him the right advice to solve his dilemma – even though neither knows anything about tennis?

The Trophy Kid is a companion novel to The Tuckshop Kid and The Toilet Kid, and readers of the earlier two will enjoy this one too, though it equally stands on its own. Dealing with issues of OCD, competitiveness and friendship it is an entertaining, often funny read for upper primary aged children.

The Trophy Kid, by Pat Flynn
UQP, 2010
ISBN 9780702238406

This book can be purchased in good bookstores or online at Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Kumiko and the Dragon's Secret, by Briony Stewart

‘What about the girl?’
I look up, my skin prickling. How hadn’t I noticed? Sobs and sighs tumble from every dragon around the temple as Rahzoo breathes the word, ‘Taken.’
‘What do you mean taken?’ I say. The dragons are silent. I turn to Tomodo. ‘What do they mean?’

Kumiko’s little sister Arisu is a pest. Kumiko would much rather spend time with her guardian dragon Tomodo. But when Arisu disappears, Kumiko realises how much she loves her. The dragons must find her and rescue her – if they can. It soon emerges that Kumiko herself is the only one who can rescue Arisu, by facing a foe even the dragons fear.

Kumiko and the Dragon’s Secret is a beautiful chapter book and sequel to Kumiko and the Dragon. Kumiko and her family are the last of the ancient royal bloodline of dragons. As such they have powers which they are still uncovering, and guardian dragons. Kumiko’s dragon, Tomodo, tells her that her secret gift is courage, but Kumiko isn’t so sure.

With gorgeous black and white illustrations by the author, Kumiko and the Dragon’s Secret is an excellent read for children.

Kumiko and the Dragon’s Secret, by Briony Stewart
UQP, 2010

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

What Now Tilda B? by Kathryn Lomer

Jamie and I have got the whole thing down to a fine art by now. I say goodbye to Nan and Pop in the morning, head off on my bike for school, chain the bike up with all the others, then make a quick getaway. I take a change of clothes in my school bag, do a Clark Kent/Superman change wherever I can manage and, by the time Jamie swings by in his old Kombi, board in the back, I’m ready.
I never know where we’re going to end up. Today it’s Clifton. It’s a beautiful clear spring day and the waves are perfect small cylinders of green glass. Today I find myself feeling a bit jealous of the surfers. Usually I’m content to walk the beach or read, but today I’m restless and the waves look smooth and inviting. I try to imagine the power of the wave lifting me, whisking me through the air. Jamie’s so into it out there. I find myself envying his absorption. There’s just him and the wave.

Tilda is nearly sixteen, in Year 10 in a school that doesn’t offer Year 11 or Year 12. She has no idea what she wants to do next. She’s living with Nan & Pop, like she has been since Mum left to study. Mum’s back again, living in the house with Dad and Tilda’s younger brother, Luke. She has a boyfriend, Jamie, and a best friend Shelly. When an elephant seal beaches itself near her house, Tilda witnesses the birth of its calf, her life begins to change. For the first time in a while, she’s committed to something. Somehow focussing on just the one thing – keeping mother and baby elephant seal alive – helps Tilda to begin to take control of her life and to plan her future.

When the reader first meets Tilda, she’s a likeable but fairly directionless teenage girl. Her family life is in a sort of limbo and it seems that she is holding her breath to see what will happen with her parents. It’s given her an excuse to not focus on school, and to defer any decisions she might be considering. Tilda tells her story in first person, present tense, keeping the reader close. There are themes of family and choice, friendship and more. What Now, Tilda B? is a heartening coming of age story and Tilda begins to realise that the world is bigger than just her. There are opportunities for her but she needs to choose them. As she does, she also begins to see more of what’s happening around her. It helps her get perspective on her life and the lives of those around her. Recommended for secondary readers.

What Now, Tilda B? Kathryn Lomer
UQP 2010
ISBN:9780702237782

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond . Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

What Next, Tilda B? by Kathryn Lomer

Everywhere the ground was shifting under my feet.
Suddenly people thought I was old enough to figure things out for myself.
Yeah right.

Tilda Braint is nearing the end of year ten and has no idea what she wants to do next year, or with the rest of her life. When she finds a mother elephant seal on the local beach, though, things start to change. As the seal and its young cub shelter on the beach, Tilda becomes involved in their protection.

At the same time, Tilda finds her relationships are changing. She’s no longer so sure about her boyfriend, Jamie, and her best friend Shelly is acting strangely. Then there’s her family – her parents who are sleeping in separate bedrooms, and her little brother who wants everything back to normal. It could be that navigating through all these upsets might help Tilda figure out what it is she wants, and how to go about getting it.

What Now, Tilda B? is a beautiful story about growing up, focussing on a teen character who is likeable and believable as she navigates the divide between being a teenager and being a young adult. There is some humour and plenty of action, but this is predominantly a gentle exploration of a few eventful weeks in Tilda and her friends’ lives.

Especially likely to appeal to teen girls.

What Now, Tilda B?, by Kathryn Lomer
UQP, 2010

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

One Perfect Pirouette, by Sherryl Clark

‘You can do it. You know you can.”
Trouble was, I wasn’t sure I could. What if Mrs Calzotti had taught me badly? What if I had a million bad habits to fix? No, that was silly. My absolute best – every time. I focussed totally on Ms Ellergen’s voice, shutting out Mum and my jumbled worries, and placed my feet in first position.

Brynna’s dream is to attend the National Ballet School, and her family is helping her follow that dream. They have all moved to Melbourne so that she can learn from a top teacher and prepare for her audition. But the move isn’t easy. Money is tight, her parents have had to get new jobs and her brother Tam is angry and upset about the move.

As Brynna struggles to fit it at school and at ballet classes, she wonders if the price of pursuing her dream is too high, for herself and her family.

One Perfect Pirouette is a story about following your dreams and, especially, about finding the determination to follow those dreams in spite of the obstacles and challenges which arise. As well as having to work hard to learn the skills required, Brynna must also solve dilemmas of time and space to rehearse, money for lessons, and fitting in to the ballet class. Away from ballet she also faces issues common for most teens, including peer pressure, family conflict and time management. There is a lot happening in her life, but author Sherryl Clark manages to give each area of Brynna’s life due focus, so that none are glossed over.

Whilst ballet fans will enjoy this book, it is not just for them – Brynna’s dilemmas will absorb readers of differing backgrounds.

Likely to appeal to girls aged 10 to 14.

One Perfect Pirouette, by Sherryl Clark
UQP, 2010

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

After January, by Nick Earls

This begins in January, and January is okay. It begins like December as though their join is seamless. Sometimes as though the bright days of summer will last forever. But the end of January is the end of the known world. This is when I stand at the edge. It’s been easy till now, relatively. I’ve had a new school year to face each January, but not this year. School is over, so there is not the usual symmetry about the holidays. The feeling of days leading up to Christmas and New Year and then away. Across the slow heat-heavy weeks of January and back to school
This January I’m waiting for my offer, waiting for the code that will tell me what happens next.

Alex Delaney has finished school and is waiting to hear about his options for next year. Meanwhile, he’s at the beach house at Caloundra where he and his family always spend summer. The long, hot days are passed slowly, reading, swimming, body-surfing and waiting. Waiting for the days until ‘what happens next’ happens. Then Alex meets a girl. A girl who is different from anyone he’s ever met before. A girl who won’t even tell him her name at first. Gradually the endless days shorten until there are not enough hours in the day. The deadline of university offers that had seemed so far away, now seems to be coming too close too quickly. The decision he will have to make about university diminishes in importance as others decisions are calling. After January was originally released in 1996, but this new edition also includes ‘Juliet’, a short story Alex wrote and which is referred to several times throughout.

Life is a series of climbing to the top and then beginning again at the bottom. The end of school is a major milestone in life and the holidays immediately afterwards are a time of limbo. The onus of decision-making changes. Where progression from year to year at school was ordered and largely inevitable, things change. To go to university or not? To take a break or to go straight on? Alex has been on this trajectory towards university a long time and now the time of decision is here. There has been no doubt in his mind that this is his pathway. Meeting a girl slowly changes everything. Not because she advocates he abandon his path, but because she shows him that there is more than one way. ‘After January’ is told in first person and the reader travels with him as he begins to open his eyes and see the world around him in a new way. Recommended for mid- to upper-secondary readers.

After January, Nick Earls
UQP 2010
ISBN: 9780702237652

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

The Flying Orchestra, by Clare McFadden

Some days are so windy that even the angels lose their balance from the top of City Hall. It’s always a day like this when the Flying Orchestra blows into town.

This is a delightfully whimsical picture book offering about a magical orchestra which flies the skies playing music for every occasion – a symphony for a returning traveller, a concerto for someone who stays awake all night thinking, or a sonata for a sad moment at a birthday party. Whatever happens, happy or sad, the orchestra is there playing.

Whilst the magical orchestra seems sheer whimsy, this is also a story about the music of life, and the idea that there is always an orchestra playing for us. The illustrations, using acrylic and pencil on rag paper, show seemingly everyday scenes, with musicians and instruments tucked away for young eyes to discover and delight in.

This debut picture book is sheer delight.

The Flying Orchestra, written and illustrated by Clare McFadden
UQP, 2010

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Schumann the Shoeman, by John & Stella Danalis

One grey, wintery morning, a shoe factory opened in the town. Before long, everyone was wearing the shoes that spilled from its conveyor belts. The shoes came in just one style – sensible. They came in just one colour – salmon. And they wore out after just one season.

Schumann the shoemaker makes whimsical shoes that are not only works of art, but are also comfortable and long lasting. His customers love him and the shoes he makes. But when a shoe factory opens in town, Schumann’s world changes. Suddenly, everyone is wearing the sensible shoes produced by the factory.

When Schumann leaves the town he moves to a forgotten forest, where his skills are soon once again in demand – making shoes for the animals. He makes shoes for rabbits, flamingos and even elephants – but it is an order from a centipede that really tests his craft.

Schumann the Shoeman is a beautifully wrought fable which contrasts traditional workmanship with modern production and throw-away culture. Schumann’s tale is poignant, blending the humour of his whimsical shoes of all shapes and sizes with the sorrow of the loss of his craft and the silliness of the ironic ending.

Author John Danalis’ clever text is perfectly teamed with illustrations by Stella Danalis, in a collage technique which embodies the book’s message about workmanship.

A lovely offering which will speak to readers of all ages.

Schumann the Shoeman, by John & Stella Danalis
UQP, 2009

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

What the Sky Knows, by Nike Bourke and Stella Danalis

I want to know what the sky knows
How to be blue
Or grey
Or pink
How to make clouds

This beautiful, whimsical book is an invitation to children and adults alike to share the wisdom of the sky which knows how to change colour, how to be loud and quiet, how to make clouds and rain, and so much more.

With simple, lyrical text and gorgeous collage and bright paint illustrations the book is short and gentle enough for reading with infants, but clever enough to captivate older readers and even adults.

First published in 2005 in picture book format, it has now been rereleased as a board book. A wonderful gift for a new baby or for any lover of beauty.

What the Sky Knows , by Nike Bourke and Stella Danalis
UQP, this edition 2009

This book is available online from Fishpond. Buying through this book supports Aussiereviews.