Jacqueline Harvey, Alice-Miranda in the Alps (Alice-Miranda #12), Random House, 1 Sept 2015, 384pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780857982742 Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones. The triple, double-barrelled name of the heroine of the Alice-Miranda series is, undoubtedly, over the top – but it helps set the tone right away. This girl does not have an ordinary lifestyle. In her latest adventure, Alice-Miranda and her parents take the family’s private jet on a skiing holiday to Switzerland. They take their cook and housekeeper with them and she gets to invite friends from her exclusive ladies boarding school along too. If that’s not every young girl’s dream…
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Anh Do (text), Jules Faber (illus.), Totally Weird (WeirDo #5), Scholastic Australia, 1 Oct 2015, 160pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760155346 New kid at school Hans Some is, as his name dictates, totally and freakishly perfect. Clothes, hair, teeth, handwriting – all immaculate. He speaks an odd shorthand of LOLs and BFFs which Weir has never heard before but all the kids adore Hans or want to be him and Weir Do is no exception. When Weir tries out the new language (and a new wardrobe) at home, he quickly realises that actually laughing is more fun than lol’ing and being who…
James Roy & Noel Zihabamwe, One Thousand Hills, Omnibus/Scholastic, March 2016, 240pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781742990750 Pascal and his family live in Rwanda, where his father works in Ruhengeri, the nearest town to their small village, Agabande. His eldest brother is studying in Belgium, and it is in a secondary school in Belgium that the novel begins. It is 1999, and Pascal is being interviewed by a counsellor, to whom he relates his experiences. He recalls his calm and normal life until April, 1994. Pascal plays with his friends, annoys his little sister, Nadine, and is teased by his older brother. There…
Brigid Kemmerer, Thicker than Water, Allen & Unwin, Jan 2016, 338pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781743318638 This novel is a combination of teenage lust and pressure to behave as society expects. It opens with James’s mother’s murder, with James the prime suspect. Before his mother’s funeral James meets Charlotte, whose father and brothers are detectives and police officers. They are (unsurprisingly) always ready to shoot anyone they think may have done anything even slightly unlawful. This is America, after all. For instance, when James carries Charlotte out of the woods, she unconscious in an hypoglaecemic coma, he is greeted by two policemen pointing their guns…
Melinda Salisbury, The Sin Eater’s Daughter, Scholastic, 1 March 2015, 336pp. $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 978 176015 157 7 The Sin Eater’s Daughter is an auspicious debut novel for young English writer, Melinda Salisbury. A native of a land steeped in mythology and legend, its landscape dotted with vestiges of medieval civilization, it is perhaps unsurprising that Salisbury has located her imagination and fiction in that era. It is a slow, absorbing present tense, first person read as the world of 17yo protagonist Twylla is convincingly constructed in detail with her residence in the royal court, the rituals and mythology that…
Christopher Currie, Clancy of the Undertow, Text Publishing, 16 Nov 2015, 288pp., $19.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781925240405 We’ve started to see the re-emergence of Australian YA books located in rural and regional communities whose teenagers confront boredom, unemployment, and the temptation to slide into stagnant lives. Brisbane-based author, Christopher Currie’s aptly titled, Clancy of the Undertow, shows us these realities and a lot more – a community where everyone knows your family’s business, where a car is a symbol of social status, and where finding like-minded peers is almost impossible unless you love football and beer. Clancy is certainly a fish out of…
Jenny Downham, Unbecoming, David Fickling Books, 1 Oct 2015, 256pp., $19.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781910200728 Jenny Downham is the author of two other novels, Before I Die and You Against Me, both dealing with topical issues facing teenagers in realistic and powerful ways. So it’s no surprise to see that Unbecoming is both readable and emotional. While teenager Katie is the main character, the other two women in the story, Katie’s mum, Caroline and her grandmother, Mary, are both just as significant and are explored in as much detail. These three generations have lots of secrets from each other, and it’s a…
The American Library Association (ALA) today announced the top books, video and audio books for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Boston. The complete list is here. Some of the more well known titles to Australian audiences include: Becky Albertalli’s Simon versus the homo sapiens agenda won the William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author. Bone Gap by Laura Ruby won the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults And David Levithan was…
Mike and Debbie Schramer, Fairy House: how to make amazing fairy furniture, miniatures and more from natural materials, Exisle, 13 Oct 2015, 189pp., $34.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781939629692 This beautiful book had me looking at natural materials in a different way. With sumptuous photographs and detailed instructions, I was inspired to collect sample material from my walks in the park with a view to making my own fairy furniture. Alas, the Christmas rush squeezed out my plans! Although not a children’s book, it is a book to look through with children, inspire their imagination and creativity and for parents/carers to embark…