Meg McKinlay, Catch a Falling Star, Walker Books Australia, March 2019, 240 pp., RRP $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781925381207 To Catch a Falling Star is generally understood as figurative language – no one really ever catches stars falling from the sky…or do they? It is 1979, and Skylab, one of the world’s first space stations, is rushing back to earth. For 12 year Frankie Avery, who lives in a small town in a remote part of Western Australia, this is not the only calamity rushing towards her. As she, her little brother Newt and her mother deal with the unaddressed grief…
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Chrissie Michaels, Castle Hill Rebellion, Omnibus Scholastic Australia, May 2019, 240 pp., $16.99, RRP (pbk), ISBN 9781742991863 The popular and long-running My Australian Story series has a new entry, Castle Hill Rebellion. Told through the eyes of young Jonothan Joseph Daley, Castle Hill Rebellion is the story of the first and only major convict uprising in 1804. The complexities of the political climate at the time, the sheer distance and drama of transportation to the Southern Hemisphere, and the hard living conditions endured by the convicts in the early 1800’s are brought to life by the interpretation of events by…
Marc Cohen (text), and Kia Maddock (illustrator), The Beautiful Mare and the Boy Who Gave Thanks, Pronoia Press, December 2018, 48 pp., RRP $36.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780648421429 This is an uplifting tale about a man, his son and their beautiful mare. The boy loves the mare and gives thanks. When one day the mare runs away, the boy discovers that it is wonderful to spend time with the village boys, and gives thanks. Throughout the story, as bad fortune befalls the boy, there is always something positive to be thankful for. In this retelling of a classic tale, Marc Cohen…
Lauren James, The Quiet at the End of the World, Walker Books Ltd, March 2019, 335 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781406375510 The Quiet at the End of the World is a wonderfully apt title. This is a story about the human race slowly and quietly becoming extinct. This is not another YA dystopian horror story, where the superhero saves the world. This is a story about love and the sacrifices made for those we love. “You don’t remember the perfect things when you think about the people you love. You think of the them things. The little habits or…
Jon Agee, The Wall in the Middle of the Book, Scholastic Australia, April 2019, 48 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760663490 It’s very easy as an adult to read too much into a children’s picture book. But it is hard to ignore the relevance of this book with what is happening around our world right now. The wall in question is used as a clever visual device, running down the gutter of each double-page spread. On the ‘right’ side; the ‘safe’ side, we meet our little knight. On the ‘other’ side, we see wild animals. Jon Agee gently reveals the…
Astrid Scholte, Four Dead Queens, Allen & Unwin, March 2019, 432 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760524418 Four Dead Queens is Astrid Scholte’s debut novel. It is a YA murder/mystery set in a fantasy/sci-fi world. Quadara is a world divided into four quadrants, each represented by their own queen. These four queens work together, devoting their lives to maintaining peace and harmony. Scholte has endeavoured to create a unique world. Many aspects of this world work very well, however, some don’t. The sketchy background history she gives doesn’t adequately explain the differences between the quadrants; who would want to live…
Anna Ciddor, 52 Mondays, Allen & Unwin, March 2019, 208 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760523480 52 Mondays is Anna Ciddor’s charmingly nostalgic memories of growing up in Melbourne in the 1960s. Each chapter is a brief vignette, easy to read and simply told, and strung together with the thread of Anna’s search for a special doll to call her own. Ciddor takes us through memories of the time she saved an icy pole in her school bag for later (that didn’t go too well), and the birthday party she shared with her younger sister, to hunting through the local…
Kamilla Benko, Secret in the Stone (The Unicorn Quest, #2), Bloomsbury Publishing, March 2019, 336 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 978140889851 Claire and Sophie are sisters who have found their way into the kingdom of Arden and released the last unicorn from a stone prison. In this second book in The Unicorn Quest series, the sisters travel from one part of Arden to another, trying to help their friends while escaping from their enemies and uncovering more about the plot to bring back evil Queen Estella and start a war between the different magic guilds. And the key seems to…
Nick Bland, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Scholastic Australia, March 2019, 24 pp., RRP $17.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781743815885 Most of the librarians and children’s book sellers that I know regard anything by Nick Bland as an automatic buy. He’s an Australian author with a book list that is both extensive and instantly recognisable to anyone who spends any time around children and picture books, from the Very Cranky Bear series to A Monster Wrote Me a Letter. The Three Billy Goats Gruff is a fabulous new entry on this list. The cover is an excellent start, with the face-off between…
Paul Russell (text), and Aśka (illustrator), The incurable imagination, EK Books, April 2019, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925335972 Paul Russell is a primary teacher who is passionate about the value of imaginative play in children’s development. This ties in neatly with research published recently confirming the value of traditional play in developing the skills children need, such as resilience and problem-solving. In this picture book we meet Audrey, who has always had a vivid imagination. Once she starts school, things become ‘worse’ with invisible friends and adventures. Her teacher diagnoses her with a disease called imagination – and…