Naomi Hunter (text), Sunshine (illus.), Marshmallow Dreamers, Empowering Resources, 1 Dec 2017, 36pp., $17.00 (pbk), ISBN: 9781925592122 Marshmallow Dreamers is a story about Marli and Max, identical twins, who by day enjoyed imaginary adventures on their make-believe unicorns. But by night they were plagued by scary dreams – “Dreams that made them quiver and shake all night.” Finally, they hatch a plan to harness the power of their unicorns and with a supply of marshmallows they conquer the scary monster of their bad dreams. The text is rich in descriptive metaphors and imagery e.g. “Swirling and swerving to miss the fiery lines…..” …
Author: Admin
NoNieqa Ramos, The Disturbed Girls Dictionary, Walker Books Australia, 1 April 2018, 344pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9781512439762 Macy Cashmere has it tough. Her Dad is in prison, her brother has been claimed by social services and her mother has no time for her as she entertains a constantly changing cast of ‘guests’ in her bedroom. Macy has been classified as emotionally disturbed at school and her best friend and role model Alma, who seems to be the only light in her life, is now no longer talking to her. The Disturbed Girls Dictionary is not a light-hearted banter-fest like some young adult…
Michael Panckridge, Over the Wall (Legends #5), Ford Street, 1 March 2018, 138pp., $14.95 (pbk), ISBN: 9781925272925 Michael Panckridge, On the Buzzer (Legends #6), Ford Street, 1 March 2018, 138pp., $14.95 (pbk), ISBN: 9781925272932 Over the Wall and On the Buzzer are books five and six in Michael Panckridge’s Legend Series of Aussie sports books. The series is made up of eight titles and with each book covering a different sport. Over the Wall focuses on soccer while On the Buzzer is all about basketball. The books follow the trials and tribulations of Mitchell Grady, a grade six student at Sandhurst school as he competes in regular sporting contests to…
Bobbie Peers (text), Tara F. Chace (English translation), William Wenton and the Secret Portal (William Wenton #2), Walker Books Australia. 1 May 2018, 224pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781406371710 Rich in clever twists, ancient mysteries and the technological gadgetry of a futuristic world William Wenton and the Secret Portal will have you wavering between finding out what is on the other side of the portal and saving the world. The greatest codebreaker of all time, 12 year old William Wenton, suffers a mysterious seizure on live TV, so the Institute for Post-Human Research take him back under their protection to test…
Fiona Bell, Waterhole, University of Queensland Press, 2 April 2018, 296pp., $19.95 (pbk), ISBN: 9780702259999 Ever since sixteen year-old Sunny Maguire’s mother died in a car accident, Sunny has been feeling lost and alone. She dreads the idea of spending the long summer with her distant stepfather, the person she blames for her mother’s death. But Kevin is the only family she has left, and she has nowhere else to go. When Sunny learns that a local teenage boy has disappeared, she joins the search along the gorge and at the waterhole – a beautiful pool tainted by a suspicious number…
Marcus Emerson, The Super Life of Ben Braver (Ben Braver #1), Allen & Unwin, March 2018, 320pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760631680 Ben Braver is an ordinary kid living an ordinary life… until he’s chosen to go to a secret academy for kids with superpowers! This is Ben’s chance to be special – once his superpowers kick in, of course… When he discovers the bully from his old school is at the academy too, things go from bad to worse. Ben is so busy trying to bring his powers out he doesn’t notice the strange infection spreading through the school, turning kids…
Darrell Pitt, The Boy From Earth, Text Publishing, 26 Feb 2018, 256pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781925603392 Bobby Baxter’s not the bravest kid on Earth. So when he learns that he’s the first Earthling ever chosen to attend the Galactic Space Academy, light years away from home, he’s terrified. And that’s before he discovers that someone at the Academy wants to get rid of him – permanently! Bobby’s not just the first boy from Earth at the GSA – he might also be the last… The Boy from Earth is a great new take on the “school-but-different” genre of books for pre-teen…
Leslye Walton, The Price Guide to the Occult. Candlewick Press/Walker Books Australia, 1 April 2018, 288pp., $24.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9780763691103 This fantasy novel takes place on the remote island of Anathema, located at the tail end of the San Juan archipelago in the Salish Sea off the American East coast. A family line of witches has inhabited the island for centuries though, due to a quirky spell cast by the first Blackburn witch, each daughter (they all have only one daughter after a three-week romance) finds she has only one magical power among all those that are possible. This is…
Margaret Connolly & Natalie Jan Prior (editors) A Boat of Stars: new poems to inspire and enchant, ABC Books/HarperCollins Australia, 19 Feb 2018, 127pp., $29.99 (hbk), ISBN: 9780733337932 Talk to anyone who reads books to children and they will tell you that children love the Dr Seuss book for their rhythm, their rhymes and their madness. This collection of poems is inspired by a love for bringing this kind of poetry to children. Each poem is accompanied by a double page illustration in colour (usually water colour) by many different artists. It is all lively and joyous. Sophie Masson has…
Jesse Andrews, Mun Mun, Allen & Unwin, April 2018, 404pp., $19.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760523596 This quirky young adult novel depends for its success on the author’s command of voice, his wit, his imagination, and his satirical flair. On every count Jesse Andrews has notched up a success with this novel. The premise of the fantastic story might have resulted in a messy and deeply confused parody of inequality in modern society, but Jesse Andrews keeps the plot moving and the characters alive, and he keeps his invented world detailed and consistent enough for us to accept it wholeheartedly. The novel…