Lullaby

I read the ending three times. I’m still not 100% sure what happened. I love that I’m still thinking about it and have been for weeks.

Renee and Theo are twin brothers but there’s little the same about them. A freak accident leaves Theo with severely damaged brain functioning. The only hope is a controversial new medical procedure. There are questions about whether it can even be done and a big question about whether it should be.

Only Renee can give the necessary consent. Without him, there is no procedure.

Renee decides he can make the necessary sacrifice to hopefully save his brother, but will the medical experts let him? Will the psychologist deem he is able to make an informed decision?

Maggie begins to question Renee and the more she probes, the more Renee is forced to unravel his relationship with Theo and question what he should do. The relationship Renee reveals is not one of loving brothers but of betrayal and misplaced trust. Sometimes the analysis helps him collect his thoughts and sometimes it hinders. Is trauma changing the reality or was it always this way?

“Stories never come loose cleanly; everything’s always tangled up with something else.”

The deadline for decision time approaches quickly. Dr Huxley has his agenda and Maggie finds her own questions to answer. Now, Renee must decide what he really feels about his brother and whether that even matters.

This is both a complex and readable book. It’s a provoking look the ethics of death and technology through the story of two brothers. It can’t fail to make the reader think long past the last chapter. Or are there two last chapters? Is that even possible?

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: Lullaby

Author: Bernard Beckett

Publisher:  Text Publishing

Publication Date: $19.99 RRP
Format: Paperback

Type: Young Adult Fiction

Just a Queen

Just a Queen is the sequel to Just a Girl. It continues the story of Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth I.

First, a confession. I haven’t read Just a Girl. I was too engaged to turn back when I realised I was reading a sequel and I didn’t want to. For the record, reverse reading didn’t have any negative impact on my enjoyment and Just a Girl is now on my TBR list.

Just a Queen is wonderful authentic historical fiction. Elizabeth’s voice is perfectly wrought. The language and dialogue, while never archaic, is cleverly placed in time by the choice of words.

This is an introspective story and much of the action takes place inside Elizabeth’s castle although she is continually receiving messages of daring deeds and overseas news, and enjoys the occasional progression through the countryside to meet her people.

Despite her royal role, Elizabeth is in many ways, not very worldly. She has purposely excluded love and motherhood and has no living immediate family. She is surrounded by male advisors who even when she can trust them, make unnecessary allowance for her gender.

 It’s no surprise Elizabeth is preoccupied with her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots. Mary was a young queen too, her peer, and Elizabeth has long daydreamed that they might become friends and confidantes.

Mary’s life is very different. Exiled from her throne, multiple marriages, a son and a reputation for scandal. But that’s not what places a wedge between a possible friendship. Mary is Elizabeth’s rival. The Catholic Church would rather see Mary rule England and Mary’s son is heir to childless Elizabeth’s throne.

Elizabeth is a good ruler, despite the obstacles she faces – whether it’s parliament or being a single, childless woman. Ultimately however, she has no control over the decisions her situation dictates, just as she had no control over the unexpected events that brought her to the throne.

The hardest decision of all is what to do with Mary, now imprisoned in England.

Jane Caro portrays Elizabeth I not only as a significant historical figure, but a real, accessible person. Strong and vulnerable. One who rules an Empire but struggles to decide between heart and head, right and wrong, individual and state.

Some readers may prefer more action and drama but I enthusiastically recommend Just a Queen to readers of all ages who love historical fiction.

This review also appeared on www.sandyfussell.com/blog as part of the 2015 Aussie Authors Reading Challenge

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title:  Just a Queen

Author: Jane Caro

Publisher:  UQP

Publication Date: $19.95 RRP
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780702253621
Type: Young Adult Historical Fiction

Intruder

This is a book about family, friendship and facing fear, with an unexpected twist at the end. 

When Kat wakes to find a man in her room, her scream wakes her next-door neighbour, whose sudden appearance causes the intruder to flee.

While this is the story of how the intruder affects Kat and how she copes, it is also the much wider story of how this incident impacts on her relationships.  She is no longer safe on her own. She needs the support of the people around her.

She was never happy about her musician father’s nightly absences and now they are a real cause for concern. Especially if the police discover he wasn’t home, as there is some other dark secret that they mustn’t find out or they might think he is an unfit parent. Even Kat doesn’t know what it is.

The neighbour who comes to Kat’s aid is her deceased mother’s best friend but something Kat saw makes her hate Edwina, “the evil witch next door’. Now her father expects her to stay with Edwina at night. Or get a guard dog.

She chooses the lesser of two evils, a big ugly slobbery lump called Hercules. It’s not an easy choice because Kat is terrified of dogs, and its Edwina’s new dog, but her hatred for Edwina is stronger than her fear.

Herc becomes an unexpected friend. At the dog park she finds another friend in Al, someone who is on her side. Unlike her dad whose music is more important, unlike Edwina, who betrayed her dying mother.

When Al challenges her attitude to Jimmy and to Edwina, Kat is initially defensive. But the prowler has not forgotten her. There are phone calls and Herc is put at risk. When the prowler returns, she needs Jimmy, Edwina and Al to help.

Intruder is suitable for readers from 11 upwards. The incident with the intruder, while frightening Kat, is handled sensitively with suspense rather than terror, and encourages discussion about personal safety.

Title: Intruder

Author: Christine Bongers

Publisher: Random House Australia (Woolshed Press) RRP $18.99

Publication Date: June 2014

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780857983763

Type: Pre-Teen/Young Adult

Spark

You know how you feel when you find a book that’s got everything you want as a reader but is still totally different to anything else you’ve read? The feeling might be hard to remember because it rarely happens. But that’s how Spark affected me.

From the very first page the reader experiences absolutely everything Ev (Evangeline) does, not only her emotions, reactions and relationships but every single body zap and zing. It’s a very physical immersion for the reader. Ev’s body is alive with energy. She’s a Shield, the third generation offspring of a defunct DNA project which aimed to create superior military assassins.

She’s not alone. In addition to other Shields, the project also spawned descendants who are Strays and Sparks. The genes have not been distributed evenly. Shields have the “good” genes, driven to protect. Strays have the “bad” genes. Sparks are innocent bystanders in the middle of this conflict. When their DNA sparks the activation of the Stray as a ruthless single –minded killer, they become its target. Shields are also directly connected to Sparks. When the Spark activates a Stray, its Shield is its only protection.

No-one wants a first time Shield. They always fail. They need a few Stray encounters to learn their new skills. Ev is a newly matured Shield. Untrained. Her first Spark isn’t a stranger, the way it usually happens, it’s her best friend.

In addition to a plot that literally rockets along, Spark explores moral dilemmas. What if a Stray was was a “good” person before their DNA made them a killer? What if a Spark isn’t worth risking a life to save? Who says what is “good” and “bad”? Are we more than our DNA or victims of its make-up? Ev has to find the answers if she is to succeed as a Shield.

If you’re a science fiction or fantasy fan, you absolutely need to read Spark. If you like edgy YA, you need to read it too.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Note:  Spark is a trilogy and the next two instalments, Stray and Shield, already have release dates.

Title: Spark

Author: Rachael Craw

Publisher: Walker Books Australia RRP $19.95

Publication Date: July 2014

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781922179623

Type: Young Adult, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Looking for JJ

Jennifer is now known as Alice Tully. At sixteen, she has spent the last six years in a facility for the manslaughter of her best friend. But changing her identity and living in a protected environment doesn’t keep Alice safe from amateur detectives, false friends, and reporters that want to scoop a great story.

Just before Alice’s seventeenth birthday, stories start to circulate again. Her secret and secure world starts to shatter. Alice finds herself remembering things she thought she had dealt with. It is through these memories that we uncover Jennifer’s childhood with her model mother Carol, whose insidious lifestyle and inveigling character pushes Jennifer to execute an act that destroys her life.

A whole picture finally emerges from information that slowly seeps like a wet sponge onto the page through skin-pricking revelations. Dark areas are created by things not mentioned. This entices the reader to come to their own shocking conclusions.

This story is a crime thriller equal to any of this genre. Riveting reading that you can’t possibly put down until the last word, it explores the impressions of youth in an unusual and at times heart-stopping fashion.

What desperation or impulse would push a child to murder? How deeply does emotional manipulation affect a child that just wants to fit in? We discover the answers and feel a deep compassion for these incredible characters that Anne Cassidy has created.

Shortlisted for the Whitbread Award 2004 and the Carnegie Medal 2005, this 10^th Anniversary edition accompanies the release of Anne Cassidy’s sequel, Finding Jennifer Jones.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: Looking for JJ

Author: Anne Cassidy

Publisher: Scholastic UK PB RRP 16.99

Publication Date: March 2014

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781407138091

Type: Young Adult Fiction

The Finisher

I watched her until she disappeared from view. Then I looked to the sky. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe to find answers I could never hope to discover down here.

Welcome to the village of Wormwood, surrounded by the Quag filled with nightmare creatures. Wormwood is home to the Wugmorts, who go about the same business every day, marking their years into session and their time into slivers.

Vega Jane is a finisher, whose job it is to “finish off” objects of beauty for the wealthier classes. There is a strict class structure in Wormwood and the Council keeps everything in order. No-one comes into Wormwood, and because of the Quag, no-one ever thinks of leaving.

When Vega Jane sees a Wug run into the Quag, chased by Council canines, she begins to question. A series of strange events lead her to a map and the discovery that nothing is as she has been told, not even her job as a Finisher at Stacks.

I read a lot of fantasy. What sets this book apart from me is the world. Wormwood is so different but at the same time familiar. Add that to a story line that can’t be second-guessed (no matter how much fantasy you read!) and this book is a winner for me.

There is a map of Wormwood to guide the reader and the black and white illustrations by Nathan Aardvaak make the Quag creatures even more frightening. While there is no mention of a sequel, the ending leaves the reader in exactly the right place to move on to book two. I am hopeful there will be one.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: The Finisher
Author: David Baldacci
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia, $16.99 RRP
Publication date: March 2014
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9871447263005
For ages: Young Readers, Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy

The Fault in Our Stars

I want to review this book but I can’t. None of my words will do its words any justice.

So I’ll give the prospective reader a quote:

“What-else? She is so beautiful. You don’t get tired of looking at her. You never worry if she is smarter than you. You know she is. She is funny without ever being mean, I love her. I am so lucky to love her, Van Houten. You don’t get to choose if you get hurt in this world, old man, but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices. I hope she likes hers."

Or maybe two quotes:

“That’s the thing about pain. It demands to be felt.”

a link to this wonderful collection of tagged #the fault in our stars quotes on Tumblr. http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/the-fault-in-our-stars-quotes  

You should click… now!

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

Publisher: Penguin Books Australia $19.95 RRP

Publication Date: November 2012

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780143567592

Type: Young Adult fiction

My Brother Simple

by Marie-Aude Murail

Bloomsbury. Children, Young Adult. Paperback RRP $15.99

By Sandy Fussell

Isabelle was amazed when she saw the two brothers walk in. They were alike but the younger one looked older. He had brooding eyes fed by some internal fire, while the other one had eyes so clear they looked like windows open to the sky. You almost expected to see swallows flitting across them.

This is the story of two brother, Kleber and Simple (whose real name is Barbaby). Simple has severe learning difficulties and their father, in the early stages of a new relationship, wants to put him in an institution. Kleber loves his brother and can’t bear to think of that. So even though he is still in the last year of highschool, he takes Simple and the money his mother left them when she died, and moves out.

But finding somewhere to rent with a brother like Simple is not easy. People are nervous, distrustful, cruel and even frightened. When he finally finds a flat-share, nothing turns out as planned. In the beginning Simple was the problem but as time goes by, he is the solution to each flatmate’s problem.

Simple is quick to admit he is an i-di-ot but character is measured in different ways. His brain might be small but his heart is huge. He changes the lives of everyone he touches. In the end, it is through Simple that Kleber, who was willing to sacrifice so much, is rewarded with exactly what he always wanted.

This is a gentle story, poignant and filled with beautiful images. A coming of age tale with the most unlikely of heroes.

Siren’s Storm

 by Lisa Papademetriou

Random House. Young Adult, Fantasy. Paperback RRP $18.95

Reviewed by Barbara Brown.

It is twelve months since Will, his brother Tim and his neighbour Gretchen went sailing on Tim’s boat. Two boys went out but only one returned. Tim’s body was never found and Will cannot remember anything. A scar on Will’s face and a burnt sail. What happened that night?

Will lives in a small coastal town that, in the warmer months, is home to the wealthy. Gretchen arrives every summer and is Will’s best friend. But this summer is different. Both Will and Gretchen feel the loss of Tim deeply. There are unanswered questions about that night unasked between them. How did Gretchen save Will but not Tim? Why does she not remember being there? Why does she sleep walk some nights and Will has to chase after her before she reaches the rocks?

Now a new girl has arrived in town. Asia is beautiful and exotic, andWill is fascinated by her. She seems to have a power over others that only Will can see.

Then another mysterious drowning occurs. Is Asia just another drifter travelling through town or is there something more dangerous about her?

Siren’s Storm is a book of myths and fantasies set in a modern day tale. Brilliant. If you loved to read about Jason and the Argonauts, as I did as a child, you will love this book.

Bloodlines 2: Reckoning

by Kate Cary

Hardie Grant Egmont. Young Adult, Fantasy, Supernatural. Paperback rrp $16.95

Reviewed by Barbara  Brown 

Reckoning is the story of the heir to Dracula’s bloodline, Quincey Harker. The book begins in November 1917 and finishes just over a year later. But in the world of vampires and early 20^th century England, a lot can happen in a year.

Quincey Harker has turned to become the man his father wanted but Quincey loses the only thing he truly loved and cannot forgive his father for that. He now wants to escape his destiny. But how do you escape something that has never been able to be undone?

Mary Seward is the best friend of Quincey’s true love and is engaged to Quincey’s cousin. Mary is also the one that escaped Quincey’s and her own beloved fiance’s transformations. But how? How could a mere mortal flee from the castle in Transylvania along with a young baby? Quincey believes Mary is the answer to his controlling his lust for blood. He will do anything to get Mary to help him.

After months hiding in her small town, looking after the injured from the battlefields, Mary starts to feel safe… But when her nightmares become reality, she must once more flee from the pursuit of Quincey and his terrifying, yet seductive charm. But is she running into the arms of someone more powerful than Dracula’s heir?

Reckoning is the sequel to Bloodline. I have not read Bloodline and I didn’t need to. Reckoning is a gripping story on its own. There are so many twists that several times I had to re-read snippets to confirm that my guesses were wrong. A brilliant and wonderful twist on the theme of vampires. And to answer the unasked question, I am going to read Bloodline next.

Confessions of a Liar,

Thief and Failed Sex God

by Bill Condon

Woolshed Press. Australian, Young Adult. Paperback rrp $18.95

Neil Bridges is a 16-year-old Catholic school boy who doesn’t know what he wants to do or where he wants to go. It is 1967 and the all-boy’s school he attends is run by teachers and priests who believe that a leather strap is the best way to learn manners, mathematics and the right way to being a better person. His strict but loving parents are hard-working and try to bring up Neil and his older brother, Kevin, as good Catholics.

What Neil wants is to grow up. But there are too many distractions. The girls in the girl’s school next door, his brother leaving for service in Vietnam, and the loss of his best friend.

When Neil loses his best mate in a strange accident, he doesn’t know where to turn. He is confused and angry. When he starts to form an alliance with a boy that was expelled from his school, indirectly due to Neil not telling the truth, his life starts to take an upward turn.

Bill Condon has written a book that is universal in time – set 40 years ago, it is equally relevant today. I guarantee you cannot put this one down. I read it in one sitting. More than the confessions of a teenage boy, it is a record of the journey into adulthood. Sometimes that journey seems so fast, it’s in danger of spinning out of control.

Bill Condon’s Dogs (2001) and No Worries (2005) were Honour Books in the Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Awards. No Worries was also short-listed for the Ethel Turner Prize in the 2005 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Daredevils made the long-list in the inaugural Inky Awards.

The Reading Stack reviewed Bill Condon’s Daredevils in Issue 1 and Give Me Truth in Issue 14.

Blue Noise

by Debra Oswald

Random House Australia. Young Adult, Australian. Paperback rrp $18.95

Reviewed by Barbara Brown

 

There’s an electric guitar rock playing boy. There’s a classical pianist girl. And then there’s a blues band. What happens when you throw these three things together? Blue Noise.

Ash isn’t very happy with his home life and spends his time drooling over his dream guitar in the local music shop. Erin is shy and insecure but a hugely talented classical musician. When Ash meets Charlie, a weird kid who loves blues, he is convinced to join Charlie’s band. Erin is headhunted by Charlie as well and she realises that it could be good for her shyness, and besides Ash is in the band.

Both Ash and Erin can see the band is doomed to fail. But Charlie’s love for the blues and his “anything is possible” attitude is contagious. Maybe the blues, and the band, will work after all.

When the band starts to work well, is when the communications start to break down.

For any kid out there wanting to form a band, be in a band, or just play music … I recommend Blue Noise.

http://www.debraoswald.com/

Wonder

by R. J. Palacio

Random House. Children, Young Adult. Paperback RRP $21.95

Reviewed by Barbara Brown

August Pullman, Auggie, is a ten year old boy who has been home-schooled all his short life. August hasn’t been able to attend school because he was born with severe disfigurements to his face and has had more operations than most of us will have in several lifetimes.

Auggie’s parents have decided that it’s now time to mix with other children and attend a local school. Of course Auggie doesn’t want to go. He knows what people think of his face. Most don’t say anything but Auggie has learnt to read expressions quickly and realises that even when people try to hide their surprise and shock at seeing him for the first time, he sees that glimmer of their reaction to him – they are scared, shaken, upset.

What surprises Auggie is there are some children in this world who see others for who they really are… not what they look like. Auggie has at least one friend by the end of the first day of school. By the end of the year he has many.

Auggie’s first year in a mainstream life is both funny and upsetting but throughout it all, Auggie faces his adversities and his rejectors with a blasé attitude and a bit of humour. That is, until his best mate says something that hurts Auggie to the core. Can anyone be meaner than the school tough guy?

A wonderful story that all reading aged children and above will enjoy. There are the school bullies, the “it” crowds, the nerds, the jocks and then there is August Pullman. A boy in a million who outshines all. Brilliant.

you against me

by Jenny Downham

Random House. Young Adult. Paperback RRP $24.95

Reviewed by Barbara Brown

Mikey’s fifteen year-old sister, Karyn, says a boy has raped her. Ellie is the same age as Karyn and goes to the same school. Ellie’s older brother, Tom, is the boy Karyn has accused.

Socio-economically, Ellie and Mikey are worlds apart. Ellie comes from a well-to-do family, with a big house and holidays overseas. Mikey lives in the housing estates in the middle of town. Ellie and Mikey would never normally meet, however Mikey is out for revenge for his sister.  He didn’t know Tom had a younger sister, a girl who from the first time they meet, steals Mikey’s heart.

The two try to hide their feelings from each other and their respective families, but when Ellie changes her story about the night Karyn is allegedly raped, all families are thrown into turmoil and Ellie has only one person she can turn to… Mikey.

you against me is a modern day story with hints of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Jenny Downham has captured issues that face many teenagers. The ending is unexpected and the outcome is left unresolved. I think there is a second book to come and if not, my imagination is left to finish the story my way.

In the Sea there are Crocodiles

by Fabio Geda

Random House. Children’s Fiction, YA. Paperback RRP $24.95

In the Sea there are Crocodiles is based on the story of Enaiatollah Akbari, a young Afghan asylum seeker, told in first person by the Italian novelist, Fabio Geda. Enaiatollah keeps interrupting the narrative to add comments in his own voice. This unusual telling allows the missing information to be ‘guessed’ when Enaiatollah cannot remember, while at the same time giving a child’s perspective.

Enaiatollah’s is a sad story. He leaves his home and family to travel from Afghanistan to Pakistan with his mother when he is around ten years of age. In Pakistan they stay in a “motel” for three nights. Then his mother makes him promise, before he falls asleep, to never use drugs, to never use a weapon and to never steal. When he wakes up she is gone.

Over the next five years, Enaiatollah lives as an illegal immigrant in countries and conditions we could never imagine. He quickly learns how to survive and amazingly ends up in Turin, Italy, to be granted political asylum. His journey to Italy is one of danger, heartache and courage. He walked for 28 days over the freezing mountains from Iran to Turkey and when he and four other boys travel in a blow up dingy across the Mediterranean Sea, one doesn’t survive. He also has incredible fortunate experiences - from the kindness of strangers to climbing onto the right container at the right time.

Truly inspiring.

http://www.fabiogeda.it/

Violence 101

by Denis Wright

black dog books. Young Adult. Paperback RRP $16.99

Reviewed by Barbara Brown

Hamish Graham is highly intelligent and from a stable and loving home life. Hamish is fourteen and most detention centres have expelled or rejected him. So why is Hamish committed to the harshest juvenile detention centre in New Zealand?

Hamish Graham is extremely violent. By the age of ten he had killed an old man. In Hamish’s words “It was my fault that he fell into the water, because I pushed him, but it was not my fault that he hit his head on the way down…”

There is always another side of Hamish’s sensational actions and so when the head of the detention centre suggests that Hamish write a journal, he is only too happy to oblige. And so begins the self analysis of Hamish Graham.

Violence 101, the Psychology of Violence, is the subject that Hamish wrote to the Minister of Education about, including a suggested course outline and achievement standard. He also thought that it should be compulsory. He feels that violence is treated as a taboo subject whereas most great men in history were very violent. Leaders of great war campaigns, Hamish feels, would all be locked up in detention centres in peace times due to their violent natures.

Violence 101 is written with both sides of the story being told, the teachers at their weekly meetings and Hamish’s through his journal entries. You even tend to side with Hamish and his crazy thoughts at times. But when something happens that turns everyone’s lives upside down, you start to see the glimmer of a strange but intelligent young man.

Although this is a genre for young adults, especially teenage boys, adults will find it an eye opener into the mind of a violent child. A must read.

The Iron Witch

by Karen Mahoney

Random House Australia. Young Adult. Paperback RRP $18.95

Donna Underwood is home schooled because of an incident that happened when she attended the local high school. She has been labelled Freak by her old classmates. Donna agrees. She’s never seen herself as anything but.

When Donna was seven her father died trying to save her from a fey attack and her mother went mad. Donna also nearly died from horrific injuries that day but with the help of magic, her body is complete again… except her hands and arms have now been intricately tattooed with iron.

Her parents were great alchemists and now Donna is realising, as a young adult, that her heritage is not going to let her live a normal life.

Donna’s only friend is her neighbour, Navin Sharma. A normal boy who has no idea of who or what Donna is and has never questioned why she won’t reveal what is underneath her gloved arms and hands. Navin is a true friend that accepts Donna unconditionally.

When Navin is kidnapped by the dark and evil wood elves, Donna must finally use what she knows to help save her friend.

With the help of a boy, Xan, who has secrets of his own, Donna has to confront not only the elves, but her alchemist teachers and guardians and the secrets that they have kept from her. Will she betray what her father died trying to protect?

A wonderful and enchanting modern story that seeps with old mystical tales of fairies and elves. Donna Underwood’s story will continue with Book II coming soon. Karen Mahoney has had her short story anthologies published in The Eternal Kiss and Kiss Me Deadly which the Reading Stack reviewed in September 2009 and September 2010 respectively.

http://www.kazmahoney.com/

Revived

by Cat Patrick

hardie grant Egmont. Young Adult. Paperback RRP $22.95

Reviewed by Barbara Brown

Daisy Appleby is stung by a bee. Daisy Appleby is allergic to bees. Daisy Appleby dies.

Daisy is only 15 when she is tragically stung by a bee at school, on a day when she has forgotten her epipen. But then Daisy Appleby isn’t her real name. And this is Daisy’s fifth death.

Every time Daisy dies she is brought back to life by a secret government super-drug called Revive. If she is killed by damaging vital organs she cannot be revived, and she must always have her “parents” close by so they can administer the drug quickly. But there are rumours that Revive doesn’t always work.

Daisy has always been a loner, never getting too close to others just in case she has to leave abruptly. Every time she dies, she must move to another city and change her name. She is, after all, a government secret. She has a number of friends who are also in the same program but she rarely sees them and only gets to chat to them over the internet.

Now Daisy is 15, discovering friendship and first love. Can she stop dying and be a normal teenager for a while? She can… until her past catches up and she realises that her life is in danger… danger of dying for good.

A unique story that was a race to the finish to see if Daisy’s next death will be her last.

The Reading Stack reviewed Cat Patrick’s Forgotten in April 2011.

 http://www.catpatrick.com/

Why We Broke Up

 by Daniel Handler, art by Maira Kalman

Hardie Grant Egmont. Young Adult. Paperback RRP $24.95

Reviewer - Barbara Brown

A very interesting tale of love, lies and deceit. It’s a wonderfully written, quirky novel that is easy to read.

Girl meets boy. Boy likes girl. Boy and girl start dating. Girl thinks it’s a long term relationship. Girl finds out there is another. Girl dumps boy. The end.

Or is it?

The book begins with Min and a box of things she is delivering to Ed’s place. Each chapter starts with a wonderful illustration of the next item in the box and the next item in the relationship. Every item has a story and the items are in chronological order so we, the reader, get to experience the relationship of Min and Ed from flourishing, awkward beginnings to brittle, upsetting end. Some chapters are complicated. Others funny and brief. But to sum up a relationship in a box is brilliant.

Handler’s use of very old movie metaphors in all the actions Min does is somewhat confusing since I’m not a movie buff however, it makes me understand Ed since he has no idea what Min is on about in the beginning. That is why he falls for her and the reader starts to understand her personality. Kalman’s artwork is simple and colourful and every piece could be torn out and framed.

A great book that was fun to read.

www.whywebrokeupproject.com
http://www.mairakalman.com/

Skin Deep

by Laura Jarratt

Hardie Grant Egmont. Young Adult. Paperback RRP $22.95

Reviewer - Barbara Brown

Skin Deep’s byline - Ugly people don’t have feelings – explains the story behind this book. I felt sad and angry at the beginning but then my emotions were taken on a trek up and down hills and valleys until my journey ended in the last pages. This is a book I couldn’t put down.

Jenna is a fourteen year old who was disfigured in the car crash which killed her best friend. She has been transformed from an average pretty girl to a person that children gawk at and adults try not to notice. A person that is stared at for all the wrong reasons.

After several months of staying at home recovering, Jenna returns to school but not life as she knew it. People are mean and treat her like a freak. She retreats further into her own world and it looks like she will never come out.

But then Ryan arrives. A sixteen year old who travels the waterways on a long boat living with his mother. Not usually accepted in the villages and towns, Ryan has dealt with hatred and stares all his life. He hopes this place will be different as he tries to integrate. He is honest and easily gets his first paid job, which he loves. His mother said they may stay longer in this lovely place. Ryan hopes so.

Ryan shows Jenna how to ignore and believe in herself. Jenna shows Ryan how to love. Everything seems perfect. Jenna learns to cope with the stares and Ryan learns to cope with his mother’s mood swings.

But then a body is found and all eyes look towards the travelling boy.

Skin Deep encourages you to guess. I thought I knew the murderer … but I was wrong. A book I would like to see on the big screen.

http://www.laurajarratt.com/