Tag: UQP

The Line Formation, by Pat Flynn

The coach looked up at the stand. ‘Let me say this, girls. I know y’all are as pretty as pictures, I can see that with my own eyes. But what I want to know is this: can you tackle? Because I tell you right now, I need some people who can tackle on my team and I don’t know if these boys can.’
Some of the girls gave a nervous giggle.
Then the coach spotted Ozzie. ‘How about you, boy. I know you can talk to all the purdy girls, but can you tackle? If you can, come down here right now, ‘cause I need some players who can tackle on my team.’

The Rugby League season is over and, before he decides what to do next with his life, Ozzie Eaton is off to Texas, for a year as an exchange student. He doesn’t know what he will find there – Hope, Texas is about as far away from Yuranigh, Queensland, as he could get. But the last thing he expects is to find himself playing football, American style.

Still, that’s exactly what happens. Ozzie proves that he can tackle and despite knowing nothing else about the sport, is given a spot on the team. Soon, he discovers he has skills he can teach his team – but equally, he can learn from his time as a team member, even if the hardest lessons have little to do with what goes on out on the field.

The Line Formation is a high-sport read aimed at teenage boys, who will enjoy the twist of an Australian showing the Americans how to play their own game. At the same time it also a novel about loyalty, trust, friendship and growing up. From the creator of the popular Alex Jackson skateboarding series, The Line Formation is a coming of age novel suitable for high school age readers.

The Line Formation, by Pat Flynn
UQP, 2006

Fergal Onions, by John Harrison

Through the window he heard a faint, sweet sound. Fergal stopped eating and listened. He turned down the volume on the kitchen TV.

Fergal Onions loves television so much that he has a set in every room of his house. He spends all his time watching whatever is on. Then, one morning, as he sits watching television and eating his breakfast, the sounds of a violin float in through his window. It is a tune that is strangely familiar, and, gradually, Fergal’s love of music is reawakened. Suddenly, television isn’t so important.

Fergal Onions is a whimsical tale with gentle humour and an important message. Fergal is isolated by his attachment to the television but, through music, enjoys new friendships and even goes outdoors. Children will love the story and adore the images of Fergal who is delightfully bald and huge-nosed.

Fergal Onions was awarded a CBCA Notable Book in the 2005 CBCA awards.

Fergal Onions, written & illustrated by John Harrison
UQP 2004, this edition 2005

The Best Australian Poetry 2005, guest edited by Peter Porter

‘Best’, the editor of this collection tells us, is a difficult concept, because once you pass the number two , the comparative disappears into a mass of superlatives.With forty poems included in this collection, there are a lot of ‘bests’, but Porter (the aforementioned editor) tells us he had an embarrassment of riches to choose from and has chosen from them those he sees most worthy of the title. As an expatriate Australian with eighteen published volumes of verse and prizes including the Forward Prize and the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, Porter is well qualified to act as Guest Editor and judge of what constitutes the best of Australian poetry.

To qualify for selection in the volume, poems must have been written by Australian poets and published in an Australian journal in the preceding year. The poems selected came from forty poets, published in 14 different journals – ranging from The Age and The Australian to Island, Meanjin and Southerly.

The poems on offer range from short and whimsical (in Bee Season Kirwan Henry that he likes bees
If not for their sting
Then for their stripes.)
to the long and serious, such as Under the Shaded Blossom in which John Jenkins details an imaginary meeting between poet Wallace Stevens and mafia boss Meyer Lansky.

For those who like to read and digest poetry, this is a fine collection and for those who would like a taste of what is on offer, this is an excellent starting point. Other poets represented here include Fay Zwicky, Les Murray, John Kinsella and Bruce Dawe.

The Best Australian Poetry 2005, Guest Editor Peter Porter
UQP, 2005

An Accidental Terrorist, by Steven Lang

When Kelvin takes the wrong road heading out of Melbourne, he ends up in Eden, the town he was born in. Now, though, he doesn’t belong and doesn’t particularly want to. He takes a job planting trees then finds himself staying with a group of hippies. He is drawn to the beautifully Jessica, a would-be writer who is passionate about the environment, and soon finds himself caught up in the anti-logging movement. The drama builds as characters with much to hide work against each other with devastating consequences.

An Accidental Terrorist is an exciting debut novel, set in rural New South Wales in the early 1980s. Whilst it gathers pace in the second half, it is not immediately obvious that this is a book moving towards very dramatic moments – but that is the pleasure of it. There is plenty of time to get to know the flawed yet intriguing characters who populate its pages, to explore their relationships and to be drawn into the events as they unfold.

An Accidental Terrorist was the winner of the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for Best Manuscript from an Emerging Queensland Author in 2004. Readers will look forward to more quality offerings from Steven Lang.

An Accidental Terrorist, by Steven Lang
UQP, 2005

Nightpeople, by Anthony Eaton

I’ve come a long way to get you. You’re special. More than you realise. A lot of people have been suffering for a long time so you might have a chance to live. Some have even died for it.

Saria has grown up in the secluded valley, Ma Lee her only companion and the old Dreamer Gaardi the only visitor. But that changes when Dariand arrives to take her away. Only now does Saria start to understand how special she is – the last of her kind and the final child of the Darklands. In a dying world, she is the last hope for her people. But how can she fulfil this hope when nobody understands just what it is she must do?

Nightpeople is an outstanding beginning to a new fantasy trilogy from award-winning West Australian author Anthony Eaton. Set in a sparse desert, quarantined because it has been contaminated many years ago by the mysterious Nightpeople, the story explores a future, which although it is fantasy, is frighteningly believable. The landscape, too, will be eerily familiar to many Australian readers.

This is fantasy at its best – a well-woven, absorbing tale with characters that are likeable yet flawed enough to make the story real.

Nightpeople, by Anthony Eaton
UQP, 2005

To the Light, by Pat Flynn

School. It’s not that I hate it. It’s just that I don’t exactly fit in…And I have a sister who has all the kids and teachers fooled into thinking she’s the best thing since sliced cheesebread. Okay, I do hate it.

Jamie loves surfing. Jamie doesn’t like school. At the beach there’s best mates Mitchell and Scott, but at school there’s bullies like Rory, who insists on calling Jamie ‘James’ and Jamie’s sister, Sky, who is ranked most popular girl in the school. How can Jamie compete?

With the final surfing event of the year approaching, Jamie is determined to do well, and a chance meeting with a stranger who rides a Malibu may just be the catalyst.

To the Light is a fun book about surfing, school, siblings and what it means to be ‘in’. The interest of the surfing lessons is supplemented by some gentle life lessons, wrapped in an entertaining package. There is a surprise twist at the end that will have readers leafing back through to see how they could have missed it.

Great reading.

To the Light, by Pat Flynn
UQP, 2005

The True Green of Hope, by N. A. Bourke

he closes her eyes, trying to remember more perfectly, trying to get the smell and the feel of that one afternoon clear in her head.

When she was thirteen, Sam’s mother abandoned her at the beach. One minute she was there, watching Sam surf, the next she was gone, and Sam was on her own, fending for herself.

Years later, Sam is in is a steady relationship and has a job in a hospital. When a coma patient is brought in who has the same name as her mother, memories start to return. What did happen on that day and what has happened in the intervening years?

As Sam struggles with her past she must also face her future as her relationship with Em, her partner of seven years, seems to be crumbling. Will she be able to find the truth and a way forward?

In this evocative and provocative novel, author N. A. Bourke explores the nature of truth, memory and love. Sam is a flawed character who seems unable to trust or to love with any completeness, and must recognise this for herself before she can move forward with her life.

The True Green of Hope is a resonant read.

The True Green of Hope, by N. A. Bourke
University of Queensland Press, 2005

The World That We Want, by Kim Michelle Toft

The World That We Want is an awe-inspiring offering, with a message about caring for the environment which is neither preachy nor watered down. Instead it combines a simple, but catchy text with some of the most beautiful illustrations to grace a picture book.

The text is a repetitive rhyme, in the style of The House That Jack Built. The first page, showing birds flying against a deep blue sky, tells us: This is the air, that circles the world that we want. The next spread moves to the rainforest, with a cassowary, frogs, snakes, butterflies, trees and more, and the text: This is the forest that filters the air that circles the world that we want. From here, text and illustrations move from forest to the river, beach, water and more, with young listeners quickly picking up on the repetition and joining in.

Each double page spread features detailed images of the animals and plant life of the particular environment. The final spread folds out into a four page spread and shows all of the different environments, moving from air and forest through to ocean and reinforces the message that all the different environments are connected to make one world.

The illustrative technique is unusual for a picture book – each illustration has been hand-painted on silk – but the print quality is superb, with vibrant colours and life-like definition throughout. The adition of a four page guide, providing the name of each animal pictured and giving further information, adds an extra educational benefit.

This picture book is simply breathtakingly beautiful, and sure to delight children and adults alike.

The World That We Want, by Kim Michelle Toft
UQP, 2005

Licking Lizards, by Toni Risson

Luke and Alex don’t want anyone to discover their secret base down near the river, so when they see a light down there late one night, they have to investigate. Hidden in the bushes, they see a man catching purple lizards in the river.

In the days that follow, members of the football team start disappearing. The boys don’t see a connection, until Luke finds a purple lizard hidden in his lunchbox. It seems that the lizards are being used to catch the boys – but where are the boys being taken, and why?

Licking Lizards is a fast-paced adventure, with plenty of action and humour. The illustrations by the talented Johnny Danalis, scattered throughout the book, are a perfect complement.

A fun read for children aged ten to twelve.

Licking Lizards, by Toni Risson
UQP, 2005

The Plum-Rain Scroll, by Ruth Manley

Taro, the odd job boy at the Tachibana-ya (the orange Tree Inn) isn’t looking for adventure, but adventure, it seems, is looking for him. When his Aunt suddenly disappears from the inn, Taro goes looking for her. Soon, he finds himself in an unlikely group of companions, including Prince Hachi (Lord Eight Thousand Spears), a ghost named Hiroshi and an Oni with a taste for poetry.

Together, this group searches for Taro’s lost Aunt Piety who, they discover, is the only person able to translate the Plum-Rain Scroll. Aunt Piety is hiding from the evil Black Iris Lord, Marishoten, who seeks to capture her and have her translate the Scroll so that he can meet his aim of overthrowing the Mikado.

Set in folkloric Japan, this classic story has wonderful elements of fantasy, adventure and suspense. Young fantasy lovers will love the style and be endeared to the fantastical creatures who Taro befriends.

The Plum Rain Scroll was first published in 1978 and was the Children’s Book of the Year in 1979. It has been re-released in 2005 as part of UQP Children’s Classic Series. This delightful offering is suitable for readers aged 10 to adult.

The Plum-Rain Scroll, by Ruth Manley
First Published by Hodder & Staughton, 1978. This edition published by University of Queensland, 2005