J.C Burke, The Things We Promise, Allen & Unwin, March 2017, 384 pp., $19.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760290405 When I receive a book to review from the CBCA I write notes as I read to remind me of what I am thinking and feeling as I go along. However, while I had my paper and pen by my side it remained completely blank until I turned the last page and closed this book for the last time. This story is real, so real that I was deeply absorbed in the characters, the era, the world of Gemma. Gemma begins as a…
Author: Admin
Sara Lovestam, (English translation by Laura Wideburg), Wonderful Feels Like This, Allen & Unwin, 29 March 2017, 306pp., $29.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760292065 Translated from Swedish, Wonderful Feels Like This is a ‘slice of life’ young adult read. The protagonist, Steffi, is a teenage girl, feeling stuck and lonely in her small town in Sweden, where she feels she doesn’t fit in. Her life at school, being bullied and viciously teased, is made bearable by her growing friendship with Alvar, a 90 year old jazz musician, with whom she shares her love of music, and her desire to escape through music…
Naomi Hunter (text), Karen Erasmus (illus.), Even Mummy Cries, Empowering Resources, April 2016, 48pp., $17.00 (pbk) ISBN 9780994501042 I’m not particularly fond of books with messages. I prefer to read wonderful stories to my kids. Having said that, I can see they have a place and I was pleasantly surprised by this book. If you know a child who has a mum with depression, is going through a rough patch, or just sometimes cries, this book is well worth sharing with them. It certainly won’t do them any harm. The story starts off much like any other children’s book about…
Kate Temple and Jol Temple (text), Jon Foye (illus.), Captain Jimmy Cook Discovers X Marks the Spot (Captain Jimmy Cook Discovers #2), Allen & Unwin, 29 March 2017, 160pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760291945 Captain Jimmy Cook is like no other kid you’ve met. He’s an intrepid explorer, archaeologist, and inventor. He is a character that lets nothing stand in his way, and charges ahead in his excavations at school, organising his school friends to help him dig for dinosaur bones and then treasure – even the girls. They, as it turns out, cheat him out of their complete capitulation to…
Shane Hegarty, Darkmouth (Darkmouth #1), HarperCollins Australia, 1 Feb 2017, 416pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780007545612 Shane Hegarty, Worlds Explode (Darkmouth #2), HarperCollins Australia, 1 Feb 2017, 464pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780007545674 Darkmouth is the first part of a series of the same name by Ireland’s Shane Hegarty. Aimed at the middle school years, but an engaging read for older readers as well, Darkmouth is a big book that infuses horror/fantasy/thriller with humour, staving off the darkness just enough. It is also a story of families, particularly the burdens that parents pass on to their children, especially fathers to sons. Finn is destined…
Jacqueline Harvey, Alice-Miranda Holds the Key (Alice-Miranda #15), Random House Australia, Jan 2017, 384pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780143780700 Having been assigned the 15th book in the Alice Miranda series to review I saw it as an opportunity to find out what lies between the colourful covers displaying a pretty wide-eyed girl wearing various lovely outfits. I also wanted to find out why they appeal to so many girls. It seems that a lot of the appeal is in Alice Miranda’s character. Although she is an unrealistic character who is perfectly kind and charming as well as poised and confident beyond…
Tristan Bancks (text), Gus Gordon (illus.), My Life and Other Weaponised Muffins (My Life #5), Random House Australia, 27 Feb 2017 , 194pp., $15.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780143781066 This 5th book in the My Life series written by Tristan Bancks is a romp of boyish humour and fun. Interspersed between the text are amusing cartoon style drawings by Gus Gordon. Each chapter is a separate short story or list of ephemeral ideas in the voice of the protagonist, Tom Weekly. Tom is a boisterous fun loving upper primary age boy who loves food, jokes and mucking around with his friends. The stories do…
Chris Naylor-Ballesteros, I’m Going to Eat this Ant, Bloomsbury, 6 April 2017, 32 pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781408869901 In this amusing picture book, a jaded looking anteater with a long, thin ribbon-like red tongue, bemoans the lack of variety in his diet. He imagines eating an ant combined with a variety of (human) delicacies. He could eat an ant in a sandwich or smothered in mint sauce – and the list goes on. From the first page, the tone of a nonsense poem is evoked with repetition of words and rhyming adjectives – wriggling, tickling, stinging, fighting, biting ants. On…
David Lawrence (text), James Hart (illus.), The Bench Warmers (Ball Stars #1), Random House Australia, 30 Jan 2017, 135pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780143781639 David Lawrence (text), James Hart (illus.), Heat Wave, (Ball Stars #2), Random House Australia, 30 Jan 2017, 132pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780143781653 Eleven year old Danny is new to Robdale. Although he prefers computer games to socialising, he surprises himself when he strikes up a friendship with Crystal, another new student to Robdale Primary. They join a school basketball team, coached by their teacher, Miss Wright, and end up in an unlikely group of underdogs. Undeterred, they band together to…
Natalie Jane Prior (text), Cheryl Orsini (illus.), Lucy’s Book, Lothian, 28 Feb 2017, 32pp., $26.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780734416605 Every Saturday morning, Lucy and her mum visit the library. When the librarian suggests a special book for her, Lucy loves the book so much she wants to read it over and over, and takes it everywhere she goes. She shares it with her friends and soon knows the book off by heart. But one day this very loved book is missing from the shelves. What will Lucy do? Lucy’s Book highlights the special connection a reader can have with just the…