Simon Higgins, The Forest of the Night (Tomodachi #2), Eagle Books March 2019, 211 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780994528087 Simon Higgins, a former police office and private investigator specializing in murder cases, and one of the world’s best martial artists (in the sword art of Iaido), is as it happens also a novelist of meticulous and respectful detail. His new novel is set in a fanciful historical Japan, and it comes with a long glossary at the end which introduces readers to many terms that are important to Japan’s history, its culture and the popularization of art forms such…
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Jo Simmons (text) and Sheena Dempsey (illustrator), The Dodo Made Me Do It, Bloomsbury Publishing, September 2018, 294 pp., RRP: $12.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781408877777 Fast-paced, full of slapstick humour and impossible situations, this lively and highly readable book takes young readers on an enjoyable journey. Protagonist Danny must reluctantly spend the summer alone with his porridge-making, crossword-solving Granny in Scotland. She lives in a remote town where nothing ever happens and there is no Wi-Fi. With only one other child, Susie, within cooee as a possible companion, things look grim. Despite his reluctance, and armed with a supply of his favourite…
Emery Lord, Open Road Summer, Bloomsbury Publishing, September 2018, 342 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781408898703 Don’t expect any gritty realism in this Chic-lit novel for teens. Despite the world-weary tone of girl protagonist Reagan, the wholesome American Midwest values, sunny optimism and country music style of her best friend and superstar Lilah Montgomery keep the story clean and sanitised enough for librarians and teachers in conservative schools. Reagan’s relationship with her single father has been disrupted by the advent of a strict stepmother. Going on tour with Lilah is a way of removing herself from the restrictive family home and making…
Meg McKinlay (text) and Leila Rudge (illustrator), Let Me Sleep, Sheep!, Walker Books Australia, March 2019, RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925381887 Let me sleep, sheep is the latest children’s book from the partnership of author Meg McKinlay and author/illustrator Leila Rudge. Amos is counting imaginary sheep at bedtime. Without warning, they tumble right into his bedroom! The sassy opinionated sheep don’t hesitate to share how they feel about Amos calling them by numbers. They seize control of Amos’ bedroom, making themselves at home in chaos. Their cajoling soon has Amos doing all manner of activities unsuitable for bedtime. McKinlay has…
C.J Ferick (text) and Liza Donnelly (illustrator), Be the Person your Dog Thinks you are, Back Inc., October 2018, 96 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760641023 Seen from the vantage point of ‘man’s best friend’ and least critical of admirers, his dog, this little book of homilies encourages us to be the kind of person we’d most like to be whether that’s through getting fit and ‘exercising’ regularly, learning to be more ‘patient’ or discovering our light-hearted side and ‘breaking the rules’. Acclaimed New Yorker Magazine cartoonist and writer Liza Donnelly fleshes out Ferick’s sly humour through her funny, gentle and…
N.L King, Jenna’s Truth, Serenity Press, August 2018, 98 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780648212768 Many books have tackled the contemporary issue of bullying, and this story is another one, aimed at the teen market. West Australian author N. L. King has written a straightforward plot about Jenna Wilson, whose life is altered by one humiliating event. Jenna wants to be accepted by the popular crowd at school. A weekend party seems like an opportunity to achieve popularity, but it all goes horribly wrong. The story is not sugar-coated. The narrative is straightforward and clearly written in first person. The…
Jackson Pearce (text) and Tuesday Mourning (illustrator), The Next Level (Ellie, Engineer #2), Bloomsbury Publishing, December 2018, 165 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781547601097 Ellie, Engineer: The Next Level follows on from the success of Ellie’s adventures in Ellie, Engineer by Jackson Pearce. Ellie Bell is a girl who strives to invent solutions that help to improve life for the people around her. Ellie is well-equipped to make an impact, with ingenuity, a tool-belt and her invaluable friends, Kit and Toby. Ellie applies her creative thinking to everything, from designing cookie cutters to elevators. Illustrations by Tuesday Mourning depict Ellie’s solutions…
Phoebe McArthur, Lucy Newton Little Witch, Christmas Press, November 2018, 70 pp., RRP $13.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780648194507 Lucy Newton, Little Witch is the first book by author/illustrator Phoebe McArthur. Lucy Newton is an eight-year-old apprentice witch, who finds herself in a spell of bother. One evening, Lucy’s mother leaves the house on important witch business. Lucy decides to experiment with a bit of her own magic. This leads to some unexpected slimy complications. Lucy seeks help from her only companions. A spell book that can talk and a black cat called Thomas, who belongs to the scary witch next door. Not…
Matt Davies, This Thing of Darkness, Scholastic Australia, November 2018, 240 pp., RRP $18.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781742991979 Riley’s younger sister died in a house fire, and eighteen year old Riley blames herself. Her family is struggling in the aftermath, and Riley is left trying to make sense of the world. When she meets the new boy at school, Dean is the only one who seems to understand the maelstrom of guilt, anger, confusion and disconnection that Riley feels. But as their relationship develops, Riley learns something that might explain why Dean gets what’s going on in her head, and that thing…
Andrew Hansen & Jessica Roberts (text), and Jessica Roberts (illustrator), The Giant Moth Mummy (Bab Sharkey and the Animal Mummies #2), Walker Books Australia, November 2018, 256 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760650018 In this second book of the series, Bab Sharkey returns to the magic city of the Animal Mummies to battle the Unpharaoh, who has mastered the art of possessing people, animals and, in this case as the title suggests, a giant moth. Twelve-year-old Bab started his adventure in the first book when an ancient beard attached itself to his face, making him the new Pharaoh of Mumphis, and…