Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Reading Time
    • Home
    • Reviews
      • Highly Recommended
      • CBCA Short Listed
      • Early Childhood Books
      • Younger Readers
      • Intermediate Readers
      • Older Readers
      • ANZAC books
      • Great Read Alouds
      • Information Books
      • LGBTQIA+
      • Picture Books
      • Professional Development
    • Interviews
    • Suggestions
    • News
    • Meet The Review Team
    • Contact Us
    Reading Time
    You are at:Home»Reviews»Younger Readers»Conductoid

    Conductoid

    0
    By Admin on May 6, 2016 Younger Readers

    conductoid

    M B Lehane, Conductoid, Pounce Publications, 2 May 2016, 436pp., $7.93 (eBook),  ISBN: 9780994489401.

    Jack is a daydreamer. He can’t focus on his classes at school, is doing badly and getting into trouble. Matters are not helped by his twin sister Phoebe who is studious and academically minded. Added to this, Jack is on the school’s soccer team, and they have a big game coming up against their arch rivals. Finally, Jack is visited in his daydreams by a hooded figure and discovers he is a Conductoid, a being who can channel the powers of beings from other dimensions into this dimension. The hooded figure, Azan, takes Jack to different places around the world and uses him to help people.

    At 426 pages, this book is far, far too long. There are too many scenes which serve no purpose and don’t drive the plot forward, and at times the story devolves into rambling. Perhaps a hard edit would have helped the flow?  However, there are quite funny moments and lots of clever word play where the author shows he does have potential and that the raw material is there. This book is essentially two stories – Jack the school student dealing with bullies, homework and soccer matches, and Jack the Conductoid. The scenes with Jack the student in general work much better, and are more engaging and better paced. If they were pared down and tightened up they would make a good set of short chapter books for upper primary students.

    I cannot recommend this book in its current format, but if the author continues to train himself as a writer with discipline and focus, in a few years we could be seeing quite good children’s books from him.

    Reviewed by Rebecca Kemble

    Related Posts

    The Ghost Locket

    The Ghost Locket

    Specky Magee

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    • Themes
    • Curriculum
    Action adventure Airplanes Alphabet Anxiety autism Bullying CBCA Awards Coming of age Dystopian emotions family fantasy friendship grief Historical humour magic Mystery Post apocalyptic Readers Cup reluctant readers school Sci-Fi series of books siblings Sport Starting school Teacher Notes
    ANZAC Australian animals Australian history Biography Culture & Diversity Disabilities First Nations Geography health Humanities mental health Poetry Reconciliation resilience Science STEM Stolen Generation sustainability Wordless books



    Recent Comments
    • Cherie on Elephant Island
    • Patricia Tilton on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Jilanne Hoffmann on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Penelope Pratley on The Secret of Sapling Green
    • Emily Flint on Walk of the Whales
    Recent Posts
    • The Bravest Word
    • The Ghost Locket
    • The Ghost Locket
    • Enough Love?
    • Wonderful Shoes
    Recent Comments
    • Cherie on Elephant Island
    • Patricia Tilton on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Jilanne Hoffmann on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Penelope Pratley on The Secret of Sapling Green
    • Emily Flint on Walk of the Whales
    © Copyright 2021 The Children’s Book Council of Australia - All rights reserved

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Posting....