Elixir

by Hilary Duff with Elise Allen

Simon and Schuster Australia. Young Adult. Paperback rrp $24.99


Guest Reviewer – Caitlin (aged 14) interviewed by The Reading Stack

The first essential part of this book review was that Caitlin saw the book and she decided to “see if it would be ok”. After a two week period Caitlin had finished the 300+ pages.

Caitlin has watched, sung and been to Hilary Duff concerts but now has outgrown that stage and yet, she chose, read and finished Hilary Duff’s Elixir. What more of a compliment do you need?

Elixir is the story of Clea Raymond and the hunt for a man who has drunk sufficient Elixir to live for eternity. Most people use the Elixir sparingly to heal others.

The Reading Stack: “What did you think of Elixir?”

Caitlin: “It was alright.”

The Reading Stack: “You made a comment about the beginning, what was that?”

Caitlin: “It was scary to start with.”

The Reading Stack: “Who would read Elixir?”

Caitlin: “Teenage girls.”

The Reading Stack: “What is the story about?”

Caitlin: “It is about the Elixir of Life, a liquid that heals people. If you drink enough of it you can live for eternity. Only one person has drunk enough to live eternally. There are people that want to kill him to rectify the balance of the world. People are cursed whilst this person lives and if they kill him then they will remove the curse. But it is hard to kill someone that can live forever. However there is a way to kill the body and soul and return the Elixir to the earth. You don’t know if he does die as the story leaves it a bit open at the end. I think there will be another book because there were lots of stuff that wasn’t answered, like whether the man dies and restores the Elixir or not.”

The Reading Stack: “Did you enjoy the story?”

Caitlin: “Yes but I hope there is a second book so I can get the answers to my unfinished questions.”

http://eliseallen.com/

The Fear

The Last Days of Robert Mugabe

by Peter Godwin

Picador. Biographical. Paperback rrp $34.99


Guest Reviewer - Di Bates

‘Bearing witness’ is a phrase usually associated with religion, but there is no missionary zeal about the way in which the author bore witness in Zimbabwe. It’s June, the year is 2008 and elections – marked by intimidation – have just been held in the African nation. Robert Mugabe’s increasingly tyrannical rule should be at an end as the people have overwhelmingly voted out him and his MDC party. However, instead of conceding defeat, Mugabe digs in his heels and retaliates against those he considers his enemies.

As a background to the 2008 election, it helps to know that Mugabe had earlier formed a coalition government with Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), but he removed Nkomo in 1982. In 1984 the two parties were merged as ZANU – Patriotic Front, as Mugabe moved to convert Zimbabwe from a parliamentary democracy into a one-party socialist state. His rule was marked by violence and intimidation and by a decreasing tolerance of political opposition. Long-simmering political tensions between Mugabe and the opposition party, headed by Morgan Tsvangirai, led to the 2008 hotly contested presidential election and a protracted political crisis.

Into this uneasy climate enters Godwin, an international journalist from America who has previously incurred Mugabe’s displeasure. Author of Mukiwa and When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, Godwin decides to document the unfolding calamities that beset the post-election period as the tyrant Mugabe sends his ZANU-PF thugs to plunder, destroy, rape, torture, mutilate and kill his opposition.

This is not a book for uneasy stomachs, but it is a book that needed to be written. As he travels the country, Godwin listens to many stories of survivors who speak their truths with great courage and belief that justice will prevail. Many of the stories are truly horrific; whole villages were decimated as death squads roamed the country and many were imprisoned in the worst of gaols. Zimbabweans called this period The Fear. Diplomats, farmers and ordinary people risked their lives to end the deaths and destruction. Godwin bore witness to the carnage over a three month period before leaving the country.

Finally, on the political front, an agreement for a power-sharing government was reached in September 2008. Mugabe would remain president but would cede some power to Tsvangirai, who would become Prime Minister. The power-sharing government was implemented in February 2009.

As a post-script to the book, tensions rose after Mr Tsvangirai was injured and his wife, Susan, was killed in a car crash on March 6, 2009, that many of his supporters believe was an assassination attempt. Mr. Tsvangirai, though, called it an accident. In 2010, Mugabe was still in government.

Dianne (Di) Bates
http://www.enterprisingwords.com/

101 Things to do on the Holidays

by Anna O’Donnell (aged 12) and Tessa Wilson (aged 13)

Hardie Grant. Australian, Children's Non-fiction. Paperback rrp $14.95

With the way the weather is shaping up for the summer holidays in New South Wales, this book could be the answer to a lot of parents’ prayers. I flicked through and found, to my absolute delight, the recipe for a volcano AND home-made lemonade. So one adult is really happy about 101 Things to do on the Holidays, how about the kids?

There are some simple ideas that could occupy a child for considerable time. From recycling clothing (Number 86) to creating a new drink (Number 2), to try and not talk (Number 44) to playing with eggs (Numbers 46 and 71). There are plenty of other things that may appeal to the dangerous or cheeky. All areas are covered. Once 101 Things to do on the Holidays is opened, it will be hard to close.

Anna and Tessa have created a successful book which started from being bored in the school holidays. Maybe your child could end up as a published author (Number 101). And our favourite, Number 49 of course, but I can’t tell you what it is, you’ll have to buy the book.

Grug

Grug Box Set

Grug and the Circus

Grug Learns to Read

by Ted Prior

Simon and Schuster. Australian, Picture, Young Reader. Paperback rrp $4.99

Grug Box Set - Hardback, Soft Toy and CD rrp $29.99

Here at the Reading Stack we have been lucky to receive review copies of Grug. For some, it brings back childhood memories, for others, our children have delightedly grabbed and coveted these wonderful books.

Grug and the Circus and Grug Learns to Read are two new titles and as always, Grug continues to have more wonderful adventures.

The Grug Box Set is an ideal gift for beginner readers for Christmas. Not only is there the original Grug as a board book but a wonderful soft cuddly version of Grug himself. For the younger child there is a CD of the story read by the author, Ted Prior. The funniest thing about this boxed set in our household was the fight from the teenage children over who wanted the toy Grug. The six-year-old won hands down!

The Reading Stack reviewed Grug in July 2009.

http://www.mygrug.com/

The Demon’s Covenant

by Sarah Rees Brennan

Simon and Schuster. Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult. Paperback rrp $16.99

Mae and her brother Jamie have faced magic and demons head on before but now there is a far greater danger and only Mae can save Jamie, and their friends, brothers Nick and Alan.

Jamie is a magician and has been secretly learning his skills with Gerald, the leader of the Obsidian Circle, the same leader that originally marked Jamie as fodder for a demon. Magicians need energy and energy comes from humans that are “marked” to a demon. Slowly the demon will take their soul and the energy is handed to the magician. The more energy the more powerful a magician will become.

Nick and Alan are magician slayers and originally saved Jamie. Now Jamie is being wooed by Gerald, showing him what powers he has and how to use them. With different magician circles fighting for more power, Jamie, Nick, Alan and Mae have to seek the assistance of the magicians they normally want dead. Mae must complete a dangerous dance to call a demon to save her brother and her friends. But do any of them want her help?

The Demon’s Covenant is a sequel to The Demon’s Lexicon but there is no need, if you don’t want to, to read book one. But you would be missing a great story. I’m now eagerly awaiting the third book, well I am hoping for a third book.

The Reading Stack reviewed book one The Demon’s Lexicon in September 2009.

http://www.sarabreesbrennan.com/

She’s So Dead to Us

by Kieran Scott

Simon and Schuster. Young Adult. Paperback rrp $16.99

Reviewed by Barbara Brown

Ally Ryan is a sixteen year old who has gone through a personal hell to be dragged back to Orchard Hill, the town she grew up in and called home until two years before. Everything is different now for Ally Ryan. She used to be a Crestie but now she is a Norm. Crestie’s live on the crest of Orchard Hill, in big mansions. Norms live at the bottom of Orchard Hill in small houses or units.

Two years ago Ally’s dad did some “bad things” and the Ryan family escaped in the middle of the night to Baltimore to Ally’s grandma’s home. Two weeks later her dad disappeared leaving Ally and her mother to fend for themselves. Now Ally’s mum has got a job at Orchard Hill High and Ally is back.

When school starts Ally quickly realises her old friends want nothing to do with her, in fact their main goal now is to taunt and bait her. But the new boy in town, the boy that lives in Ally’s old house, sleeps in her old bedroom, is now her ex-best friend, Shannen’s, new best friend, - and also happens to be hot. Ally likes what she sees but Jake Graydon is a Crestie and she’s a Norm – and never the twain shall meet. Except Jake is also having a hard time with his emotions when it comes to Ally.

She’s So Dead to Us is more than your typical American girl/boy from opposite sides attract and get together story, there are strong elements of Romeo and Juliet. With peer pressure on both sides, Ally and Jake seem destined to never get together but love conquers all. Or does it? When the lies begin and the bitchiness escalates who knows what will happen.

I loved the book, told by both Ally and Ryan, but She’s So Dead to Us has an ending that is screaming out for a sequel. I was so frustrated and now want to see what happens in the next instalment, if there is a next instalment! There better be!

Editor's Note: The sequel He's So Not Worth It is due out mid 2011!


http://www.kieranscott.net/

Snake Surprise

by J E Fison

Ford Street Publishing. Australian, Junior. Paperback rrp $12.95

Guest Reviewer - Jo Burnell

Somersaulting sausage rolls! What could possibly happen next? It’s never boring on Hazard River. There’s often a bit of the ridiculous mixed in with drama and mystery in this Series. A little brother loves to let the imagination run wild and when clues hint at someone in distress, who could blame him? Unexpected happenings turn into monumental adventures. Terrible villains are concocted, while the real ones are even freakier.

I can see Ben stumble backwards and bounce off the table. I stretch with Jack as his hands cling to the boat and his feet are stuck on the dinghy. Will the water’s current split him in two?

Snake Surprise will keep Middle Primary students glued to the page. Just when you think

 things can’t get worse, they do. There’s a strong hook to keep you reading at the end of each Chapter too. I couldn’t stop till I found out what happened in the end.

Although unfamiliar vocabulary offers a challenge, the benefits are in the tale. This will be a series that hauls a reluctant reader or two back to the page.

Thanks J E Fison. Don’t stop now!

Shark Attack and Snake Surprise were released together in 2010. Bat Attack and Tiger Terror will follow in March 2011.

http://hazardriver.com/Author.html