Author: Admin

Meg Medina, Burn Baby Burn,  Candlewick Press/Walker Books Australia,  1 June 2016,  310pp.,  $24.99 (hbk),  ISBN 9780763674670 1977, New York. The Son of Sam serial killings haunt everyone’s lives. The familiar streets of Nora’s neighbourhood are suddenly full of places where Son of Sam might be hiding with his .44. Worse than that threat, though, is Nora’s home situation where her mother has just lost her job and her brother Hector’s violence is becoming routine. At 16, Hector is out of control, abusing his mother, stealing, and taking drugs. Nora keeps her home life a secret from best friend Kathleen and…

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Randa Abdel-Fattah, When Michael Met Mina, Pan Macmillan,  28 June 2016,  360pp.,  $18.99 (pbk),  ISBN: 9781743534977 In Year 11 Mina moves with her Afghani parents from a multicultural western suburb to Sydney’s north to take up a scholarship at a private college. Although Michael is knocked for six at first sight of Mina, this is not to be a Romeo and Juliet scenario. These characters are drawn realistically and of their age and times. They are both close to their parents, but Michael’s just happen to run a group called Aussie Values whose current aim is to fight the good fight…

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Peter F. Hamilton,  The Hunting of the Princes (The Queen of Dreams Trilogy #2),  Pan Macmillan,  9 August 2016,  304pp.,  $14.99 (pbk),  ISBN: 9781447291145 The Hunting of the Princes is the second title in The Queen of Dreams trilogy from Peter F. Hamilton. I have not read the first so I was curious to see if it was possible to pick up on the threads of this story in the second book — and that was a double-edged sword if ever there was one. The Hunting of the Princes might be the perfect title to enter into this trilogy, it just kind of…

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Tim Hopgood (text),  David Tazzyman (illus.),  The Truth According to Arthur,  Allen & Unwin,  July 2016,  32pp.,  $14.99 (pbk),  ISBN: 9781408864999 Arthur is having a bad day. He has done the very thing his mum told him not to, and now Arthur has to find a way to explain the resulting damage. Guilt-ridden, Arthur invents stories to try to bend, stretch and hide the truth, only to learn that telling The Truth is alright after all. Touted as “a funny book about fibbing”, The Truth According To Arthur presents the issue of lying in a humorous and easy to understand way.…

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Alison Jay,  Bee & Me,  Walker Books Australia,  1 July 2016,  32pp.,  $24.99 (hbk),  ISBN: 9781910646052 Inspired by Alison Jay’s own encounter with a bee, Bee & Me is a wordless picture book which captures a blossoming friendship between a girl and a bee who has flown in through her window. As the girl nurtures the bee it grows and grows, becoming her friend and playmate. But when the sight of flowers in a florists’ window provoke homesickness in the bee, the girl and the bee devise a plan to bring flowers to the city. Bee & Me elicits feelings of joy…

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Kiersten White, And I Darken (The Conqueror’s Saga #1), Corgi Children’s/Penguin Random House Australia, 28 June 2016, 496pp., $19.99 (pbk) ISBN 9780552573740 Do not be misled by the opening reference to Vlad Dracul. This is not a vampire novel, though the heroine is certainly prone to biting. It’s also not a fantasy novel, as some reviews claim. And I Darken is historical fiction set against the backdrop of the 15th century Ottoman Empire. It features Vlad the Impaler, only in this novel the Impaler is not Vlad Dracul III, but the young Ladislav (Lada) Dragwlya, and what a girl she is!…

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Susannah McFarlane,   EJ Shines! (EJ12 Girl Hero #21), Scholastic Australia,  1 June 2016, 126pp.,  $12.99 (pbk),  ISBN: 9781925206043 Emma (EJ12) is rather disturbed by thoughts of impending changes in her life, because soon she will be a year older and moving on to high school – but before she can become too down-hearted, she is drawn into the lively action and cliff-hanging adventures of her final mission as EJ12, Girl Hero. The Head of SHINE went missing, just after she uncovered a secret laboratory that illegally and cruelly uses animals for cosmetics-testing. Emma is soon off to the Great Barrier Reef to…

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Shannon Horsfall, Was Not Me!, Angus & Robertson/HarperCollins Australia,  1 July 2016, 32pp.,  $24.99 (hbk),  ISBN: 9781460752463 An amusing tale told from the point of view of a young boy as he tries to put all the blame for his riotous escapades onto his invisible ‘twin brother’ Not Me.  This wild romp is told through rhyming text and lively illustrations, as Not Me’s cheeky, naughty adventures cause mess and mayhem throughout the house. The author/illustrator uses many interesting design arrangements of text and illustration as lively action is depicted in a range of layout spreads with extensive use of white space, while…

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Alison Binks, Caspar and the Night Sea, Windy Hollow Books,  1 June 2016, 32pp.,  $25.99 (hbk),  ISBN: 9871922081629 Beautiful streaky blue/grey seascapes flow from the endpapers and throughout the book, capturing the sea in a variety of moods and greatly enriching this gentle story of Casper as he ventures out one night and confidently sets sail in his little boat over the moonlit sea, accompanied only by Dog. They encounter many creatures on their journey out into the Channel but when they get there, they see an amazing sight! This engaging story encourages children with enquiring minds to investigate nature at…

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Roger Priddy,  Wiggle and The Whale: a tale of funny friends,  Priddy Books/Pan Macmillan Australia,  28 June 2016,  32pp.,  $12.99 (pbk),  ISBN: 9781783413522 Wiggle and The Whale: a tale of funny friends is a simple Alphaprint story with a strong message. It is a colourful and engaging celebration of diversity and friendship for children aged two to five. The friendships are sweet if not fantastical. A lion and a zebra? Regardless, the message was clear with my Miss Five commenting afterwards on how size, shape and colour don’t tell us what makes a good friend. Basic rhyming is perfect for keeping…

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