Armin Greeder, The Mediterranean, Allen & Unwin, Feb 2018, 40pp., $29.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9781760630959 The Mediterranean is a powerful and distressing portrayal of the current global refugee crisis. A single sentence on the first page is the only text within the book and clearly conveys this is not a children’s book: “After he had finished drowning, his body sank slowly to the bottom, where the fish were waiting.” In this devastating story, Greder reinterprets the cycle of life by evoking a strong emotional response from the reader. In this portrayal, it is those involved with the arms trade who sit at…
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Michelle Cooper, Dr Huxley’s Bequest: A History of Medicine in Thirteen Objects, Self-published, 15 Jan 2018, 350pp., $28.59 (pbk), ISBN: 9780648165132 The school summer holidays have not been that exciting for thirteen-year-olds, Jaz and Rosy. Jaz’s father and Rosy’s mother both work at the university and the deserted campus does not offer much in the way of entertainment for teenagers. As a result of circumstance both girls are tasked with organising and presenting a bequeathed collection of unusual items. Through a mishap, Jaz and Rosy no longer have the labels to provide any indication of what the items may be, nor…
Martin Jenkins (text) Richard Jones (illus.) Bird Builds a Nest: a Science Storybook about Forces, Walker Books Australia, 1 March 2018, 32pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781406355130 Bird Builds a Nest is a ‘science storybook about forces’. It is a picture book for young children telling a story about a bird building a nest but in the process, it imparts information about pushing and pulling. The deceptively simple story which can be read to very young listeners follows Bird as she finds a worm for breakfast and then embarks on the tasks involved in building a nest. In the course of doing this,…
Chris Butterworth (text) Charlotte Voake (illus.) The Things That I LOVE about TREES, Walker Books Australia, 1 April 2018, 32pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781406349405 The Things That I LOVE About TREES is another Walker Books science picture book written and illustrated by two very talented creators. Chris Butterworth has written over 60 non-fiction books for children and Charlotte Voake is an author/illustrator of over 40. They have each won awards for previous titles and this collaboration is a celebration of trees. The main tree in this story is a plum tree. The young narrator begins her reasons for loving trees in spring…
Sue Whiting, Missing, Walker Books Australia, 1 March 2018, 272pp., $17.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760650032 Twelve-year-old Mackenzie da Luca’s mother is missing. It has been 116 days since they last heard from her, and Mackenzie’s father has just woken her at 4am to fly to Panama, where her mother was last seen. Her father is sure that they will find his wife, he’s desperate and determined not to leave the country without tracking her down. However, Mackenzie is sure she knows what happened to her mum and worries that her father will ruin everything. This is a taut, suspenseful novel. It is told…
Shirley Parenteau, Dolls of War, Walker Books Australia, 1 Feb 2018, 320pp., $19.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9780763690694 This historical novel set in Oregon Coast in WWII features eleven-year-old Macy James who faces a dilemma possibly common at that time – expressing her genuine patriotic feelings for her country but remaining loyal and true to what she loves. Her best friend is Miss Tokyo, one of the 58 exquisite friendship dolls given to America by Japan in 1926. Miss Tokyo is on display in her father’s small museum but now that the two countries are at war neighbours demand that the doll be…
Dhonielle Clayton, The Belles, Hachette Australia, 13 Feb 2018, 448pp., $19.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781473223967 Clayton’s debut solo novel is an original fantasy set in a world where beauty is everything. Her previous published work includes Tiny Pretty Things written in collaboration with Sona Charaipotra. In The Belles we enter the strange world of Orléans where sixteen-year-old Camillia is a Belle, one of the six girls who are the current generation of those who can manipulate beauty in humans. They alone possess the power, the arcana, which allows them to alter appearance for those who can afford it. The Belles are the…
Rebecca Ross (text), Virigina Allyn (illus.), The Queen’s Rising (The Queen’s Rising #1), HarperCollins Australia, 19 Feb 2018, 464pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780008245986 Rebecca Ross has a poetic and captivating style, at times whimsical and romantic, then subtly spotted with gore. Although the first book in The Queen’s Rising series, this reads well as a stand-alone. The language was skilfully structured to enjoy at a fast pace. Although the conclusion is easily predicted, it felt satisfyingly resolved and yet holds the promise of much more to come. Reminiscent of Renaissance France, The Queen’s Rising is about Brienna Colbert, a young…
Mac Park (text), James Hart (illus.), Mega Hatch (D-Bot Squad #7), Allen & Unwin, Feb 2018, 80pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760296032 Mac Park (text), James Hart (illus.), Dino Corp (D-Bot Squad #8), Allen & Unwin, Feb 2018, 80pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760296049 These are books 7 and 8 in the D-Bot Squad series. Hunter, Charlie and Ethan are wrangling real dinosaurs in their D-Bots, dinosaur robots which can be built in different ways for different purposes. In Mega Hatch they need to capture six velociraptors, six ankylosaurs, and four triceratopses. In Dino Corp they need to deal with three tyrannosaurus rexes and an injured…
Joanne Crawford (text), Kerry Anne Jordinson (illus.), I Remember, Magabala Books, March 2018, 36pp., $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781925360769 The delightful, transient memories of childhood camping holidays for an Aboriginal elder are brought to the present in this poignant story with evocative text and velvety illustrations. In I Remember, Joanne Crawford highlights the special echoes of family trips through the vast West Australian landscape. For the elderly woman telling the tale, her memories may fade in and out, but her spirit never ceases. Beautiful sentiments send us back to times when she and her family drove across the sandy plains that…