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

The First Third

Some books sit on my reading horizon for an inordinately long time. And so it was with The First Third. I’m not sure why. I knew it would be an excellent read, CBCA Older Readers shortlisted in 2014 and well recommended by my reading friends.

One page in and I regretted not reading it sooner. This is a story that truly belongs to its characters. Not just the protagonist Billy, but Sticks (his best mate) Yiayia (his grandmother), Kate (his mum), Hayley (the girl he meets at the hospital) and his brothers Peter and Simon.

Yiayia Filyo is an indomitable force in Billy’s life. Her presence holds the family and the story together. While some people face possible death by putting their affairs in order, Yiayia puts her family in order from her hospital bed, providing Billy with a list of tasks to complete on her behalf.

Sometimes the solution she has in mind isn’t quite right and Billy has to improvise. He also adds a task of his own. Sticks has cerebral palsy and reluctantly ended a developing relationship before his partner could find out. But first, Mum needs a husband and there are many humorous moments as Billy and Sticks try to make that happen.

Billy’s brothers are an even more difficult task. Simon is contentedly happy but far away and Peter is so sullen and inaccessible it makes no difference that he lives in the same house. Billy cannot change their lives, not even for Yiayia, but sometimes change finds a different way through and the ultimately life-changing event for them all, brings the family together.

With Hayley and her young son, Billy finds a new appreciation for the value of family. One Yiayia knew he had all along, when she entrusted him with her bucket list, giving it first to Hayley to pass on to Billy.

Through skilful characterisation, themes of culture and identity and of family and friendship are explored.

I loved this book. It’s a testament to why older adults like myself read Young Adult fiction. We never grow out of the need for stories like The First Third.

There is laughter and love, humour and wit in these pages. If you haven’t read it, don’t wait like I did.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: The First Third

Author: Will Kostakis

Publisher:  Penguin Australia

Publication Date: $17.99 RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780143568179

Type: Young Adult Fiction

Embrace

My Story from Body Loather to Body Lover

‘You are fat and you are ugly and you are disgusting!’ That’s what the beautiful Taryn Brumfitt told herself each time she looked in the mirror. ‘I loathed my body. I hated my body!’ She asked a hundred women to describe their body with one word.  Not one had a good word to say.

After having her first child Taryn began to hate her body and the changes that had come with childbirth. Her negative body image began to consume her. After her third child - a daughter, she decided to get the ‘perfect body’ so she entered herself in a Body Building competition and got what she wanted. But that didn’t change the way she felt about herself. She prepared to undergo plastic surgery. But something stopped her. If she went through with it, what message was she sending to her daughter about her body? This was her ‘epiphany’. She left her successful photography business to begin what would become a global movement.

This is the story that Taryn brings to the world with passion. She speaks about how she learnt to love her body just the way it was. This gave birth to the world-wide Body Image Movement which was funded by a Kickstarter campaign, and raised 300,000 dollars for a documentary which is currently underway called Embrace. She also has an online program, Unstoppable, and gives her powerful Developing Daughters and Supporting Sons seminars amongst other programs.

Taryn has appeared on many major television programs and newspapers here in Australia and overseas. She tells her story honestly, withholding nothing, unafraid to show what she was, how she felt, and how she became the person she is today. Now a motivational speaker, she travels extensively, encouraging women to ‘be the change (they) want to be in the world.’  

This inspiring story is about a movement for global change. Embrace advocates body diversity and encourages the fight against the pressure exerted on women to become thin, model-like and ageless, through brainwashing advertising, magazines features, and the billion dollar industries that promote diets and anti-ageing creams.

 

 Embrace is about women releasing their negative body images and accepting how they are now; choosing internal beauty and good health against external appearance which will ever live up to expectations.

Reviewed by Aurora Bale

Title: Embrace: My Story from Body Loather to Body Lover

Author: Taryn Brumfitt

Publisher:  New Holland Publishers

Publication Date: February 2015    $26.99 RRP

 Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781742576183

Type:  Inspirational

The Trivia Man

Kevin struggles to make sense of the world. Women in particular are extremely confusing but his social awkwardness doesn't worry him because he prefers his own company. Even when he plays in the trivia competitions he loves, he’s happiest as a table of one.

The only person Kevin is comfortable with is his nephew, Patrick. Kevin’s sister, Elizabeth, is dismissive and barely tolerant of her brother, amazed when one of her friends takes an interest in him. She disapproves of his friendship with Patrick because she is afraid that her son will grow up to be like his uncle.

At a trivia game, Kevin meets Maggie. Maggie is entangled with an old boyfriend, who uses their past relationship and her desire to rekindle it, to his advantage. Kevin and Maggie are nothing alike but they understand each other.

The Trivia Man is narrated from multiple viewpoints – Kevin, Maggie, Elizabeth and Patrick – which cleverly gives the reader three different insights into who Kevin is and why he behaves the way he does. Maggie’s clear perception, Elizabeth’s derisive disdain and Patrick’s childhood innocence add layers to Kevin’s characterisation.

This is a warming story of friendship and family – and fitting in – even if you are a square peg.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: The Trivia Man

Author: Deborah O’Brien

Publisher:  Bantam, Random House

Publication Date: $32.99 RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780857988027

Type: Adult Fiction

War Girls

A Collection of First World War Stories through the Eyes of Young Women

This revealing collection of nine WW1 stories is written by well-known authors. It explores the lives of young women in an era when they wanted equality with men and demanded the right to vote.

With the First World War came the opportunity for young women to show what they were capable of. Passionate about being part of it all, they longed to be useful in whatever way possible. By becoming volunteers, young women could contribute to the war effort by using skills they learnt, and others they’d discover along the way. Some used their natural gifts, and offered up their voices and/or acting abilities to entertain soldiers who were left with broken bodies and minds in battle zones. The most valuable contribution to the wounded and dying soldiers appears to be the emotional support through a warm, caring physical presence.

Although women risked their lives daily nursing and driving ambulances while bombs fell around them, this didn’t discourage them, for many discovered independence through service. Volunteering brought with it freedom to prove themselves as they filled the positions that fighting men had left open. Suddenly women had choices. In fact, they were encouraged to choose how they would contribute, against all protests and other odds. They were needed and this need was a lifeline.

As each story exposed the gem at its heart, I was convinced that in describing war, words like camaraderie, sacrifice for King and Country, even mateship and courage can apply equally as well to women as to men when alluding to the gallantry of war. For through the sad daily loss of young lives, the young women’s fear and terror, at times matched those of the young men’s.

These superbly symbolic stories speak of hope in a world destroyed by brutal war and death.  The resilience and resourcefulness of women is applauded along with the identical actions of the men.

And later, when the war ended, when women wanted homes and families, they again had to face an even more destructive outcome; that of the lack of men to marry. They had to again summon courage and resilience, and call upon all their resources to carve a life that was challenging and useful, to see them through their generation of spinsterhood.

Deeply moving, at times heart-breaking to read, this collection reminded me that no one is an observer in wartime; that few leaders if any, have learned a lesson from the death and desolation of war, and how times like these bring out the best and the worst in us all.

Reviewed by Aurora Bale

Title: War Girls

Author: Various

Publisher: Random House

Publication Date: August 2014   $19.99 RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781783440603

Type: Young Adult Historical Fiction

Hannah: My Holocaust Story

Goldie Alexander again proves herself an insightful writer; skilful and imaginative. The Holocaust and all its heartbreak, death and desolation, is always confronting and painful to read about. Goldie’s familiarity with this subject is visible. But she has presented that traumatic time in history in such a way, that the horrors are not what are showcased alone. This is a story of courage, faith, family, hope and survival.

Hannah’s narrative begins in 1941 in the Warsaw Ghetto where she, her brother Adam, baby sister Ryzia, and her parents are taken by the SS after their two years’ safe hiding place is revealed by a traitor. Instead of being put to death, Papa is told to report to the Jewish Council to work as translator processing new arrivals. This employment allows him a small income to purchase food and bare necessities.

Over time, the Ghetto becomes overcrowded. People are shipped away to an unknown place. Thousands are being starved to death or randomly shot on the streets in order to diminish the population of Jews through inhumane acts.

But this is mostly eleven year-old Hannah’s story. We read about her thoughts and longings; about her love of reading and her talent in gymnastics. She is a strong and reflective child, open to adventure and change while accepting of her current position.  The loss of the things and people she loves never diminishes her faith in life and the future.

We glimpse how some German soldiers felt about killing and war; how they were forced into conscription, and into unspeakable acts in contrast to their beliefs and humanity.

The backstories are vivid and realistic. Each family member’s story is reflected, even if in a minor way.  A lot of historical information is incorporated and is a flowing river through the text. Rich Historical Notes are added at the end along with a detailed glossary of words used.

This book is part of the Courage to Care education program which ‘helps us to understand how lives are affected if we let discrimination occur….’ There will be more books of this ilk coming, so look out for them.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: Hannah: My Holocaust Story

Author: Goldie Alexander

Publisher:  Scholastic

Publication Date: March $16.99 RRP

 Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781743629673

Type: Junior Historical 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

The Bookshop That Floated Away

I didn’t know what to expect when I got this book. I loved the title and the unique idea of a floating bookshop/barge. I was intrigued. Sarah Henshaw had little knowledge of boats and their navigation when she set out for six months along unknown waterways with only a map.  But wasn’t alone.  She was accompanied on The Book Barge by a strong sense of freedom, and a determination to enjoy life and its endless possibilities.

The Book Barge, which is still afloat today, carries scars of battles lost and won to stay on the water (although at times it floats away). Towards this end is a constant bartering of books for food and toilet facilities, or a bed at stops along waterways where Sarah is forced to work the locks single-handed.

Dark days overshadow the brilliance of the topography, meeting eccentric characters, and sharing her book knowledge and endless cups of tea with strangers. There is the impact on personal relationships and the financial strain when the venture isn’t bringing in much-needed money.

Many anecdotes around private issues transform into light-hearted entertainment in this inspiring and life-changing journey full of challenges. She treasures the memorable meetings with unbelievable people and shares her hilarious situations and stories. As it ends, the reader will be forced to ask: is all this possible?

The Bookshop That Floated Away is told in sharp, articulate narrative. The extraordinary metaphors and detailed descriptions highlight Henshaw’s command of language and establish her well-read history.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: The Bookshop That Floated Away

Author: Sarah Henshaw

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication Date: July 2014 $19.99 RRP

 Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781472108050

Type: Non Fiction

Missing You

I think this is possibly my first romantic thriller. It’s not a genre I usually read. So I gave it the first page test. And it passed with flying colours.

Aisha is missing. She’s been a little erratic and definitely unhappy since Ryan, the love of her life, recently walked out the door. Theirs was a match made in forever, so it’s a devastating adjustment.

One phone call and she's gone. There’s one thing everyone is certain of. Her father. Her sister. And Ryan, when he finds out. Aisha would never abandon her son. Eli is a special needs child who is the focus of her life and ironically, the source of her problems with Ryan.

There is a tangle of twists and turns to be unraveled and any discussion of those would spoil the reading experience.

A highlight for me was the developing relationship between Eli and his elderly grandfather, suddenly lumbered with the care of a difficult child he barely knows. It’s sensitively and beautifully written, with a touch of well-placed humour.

I read this book in one session -  an entertaining, comfortable read that I found impossible to put down.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

This book was read as part of the 2015 Aussie Author Challenge hosted by Booklover Book Reviews

Title: Missing You

Author: Kylie Kaden

Publisher:  Bantam, Random House

Publication Date: $32.99 RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780857987167

Type: Adult Fiction

The Anchoress

England. 1255. Seventeen-year-old Sarah chooses to become an anchoress, rejecting both her comfortable life as the daughter of a cloth merchant and the advances of Sir Geoffrey’s son, who wants to marry her. She’s escaping the grief of a beloved sister lost in childbirth and a father now looking at her as a pawn to rescue a failed business venture, but she is firm in her conviction. She knows where she wants to go.

An anchorage is a small cell attached to a church. Its occupant, the anchoress, is a virginal woman who forgoes all the pleasures and contacts of the world to live in seclusion and focus on the teachings of the church. Sarah welcomes this life and paces its breadth. Seven by nine paces. She has the Bible and her Rule, the book of guidelines an anchoress lives by as she spends her life in spiritual contemplation. It’s all Sarah wants.

Two maids look after her basic needs and the priest comes regularly to hear her confession. The villagers visit to ask for her prayers. All this happens through a small whole in the wall, a squint, covered by a curtain. There is no physical human contact and no warmth from the sun. The door to the outside world is nailed shut.

It’s the smallest and sparest of settings but the story it contains is rich, expansive and thought provoking. It had me riveted to the pages, until it was told. In this room, not only is Sarah’s faith tested but her sanity too. Before Sarah, the anchor held two others. Pious Agnes whose bones are buried in the cell and Isabella, whose story is told in whispers. The lingering presence of these two women comforts and challenges Sarah.

A wooden door isn’t enough to keep the world away. The practical issues and problems of the villagers become her own. The new priest is prepared to risk all to protect her. A child infiltrates her isolation. And there’s a cat too. How much story can one small room hold?

This book is above all a wonderful historical telling, rich with details of the times. It is also an exploration of many issues, as relevant now as they were then. Sarah’s life is constrained not only by religion but also by the men who surround her. They influence her decisions before and after her enclosure in the anchorage. Faith continually tests her. Being a woman defines her in the eyes of the church and it’s men, as lustful and deceiving. Only her virginity makes her sinless. But Sarah is not a victim. She is a woman finding her way in the unique world she has chosen, learning her strengths and her weaknesses.

I love the cover and the inner story that inspired it. Sarah remembers a time when she watched a tumbler perform. She called boy Swallow and he made her wonder what it was like to fly through the air. Once she is enclosed, she often revisits this memory. I love the title. It rolls off the tongue. Anchoress.  A wonderful exotic medieval word.

And I loved the ending. I didn’t see it coming.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

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

Title: The Anchoress

Author: Robyn Cadwallader

Publisher:  Fourth Estate, Harper Collins

Publication Date: $32.99 RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780732299217

Type: Historical Fiction

In Hades

Kai’s family is fractured. So is he. With his parents’ separation all his high achievements mean nothing. He sinks into a world of despair. Drugs and every other kind of abuse possible is called on to try and block out what once was. It is on a bad day that he steals the car. The worst part is that his autistic brother Rod is with him when it crashes.

The story is about what happens to Kai’s soul after the crash and what he needs to do to redeem himself, to allow it to rest in peace. His quest through the underworld to find Rod is filled with guilt, determination, pain and discovery. He meets another lost soul, whom he names Bilby-G.  An anorexic, she too, is on the same journey through guilt, and together they slowly come to terms with what it is they’re facing.

Alexander uses her knowledge of Greek myths and characters with great skill to incorporate allusions to accent her main characters’ challenges and struggles.

This outstanding verse novel could be seen as Goldie Alexander’s best piece of work yet. Even the positioning of the text upon the page is done with careful consideration. This device contributes tremendously to the overall effect on the reader’s impression of what is being shown. The fine-line, black and white illustrations by Aaron Pocock perfectly complement the text.

Themes that flow through the work are those of self-discovery, family, trust, love, and forgiveness: of others and their human weaknesses, but mostly of oneself.

 Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: In Hades

Author: Goldie Alexander

Illustrator: Aaron Pocock

Publisher: Celapene Press

Publication Date: November 2014 $14.95 RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780975074268

TYPE: Fantasy adventure

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

Queenie is dying.  Harold is walking all the way to her. If only she can hold on. She begins another letter to him. One filled with truth; a no-holds-barred missive about things kept secret for twenty years. Now, instead of waiting to die, all the patients in palliative care learn the importance of how to live life, with their end transformed into a rage to live. 

All over England, everyone’s attention is caught by Harold Fry’s journey to Queenie. Its countdown is marked on maps, printed in newspapers and passed on by word of mouth and Twitter. And as Harold walks across England, Queenie writes all that has remained unspoken as atonement for their lost years.

This is a deeply moving story of love. Queenie makes us think of and believe in, the many faces of love and different ways of loving. It is a book about living life to the fullest and dying with dignity. Through Queenie’s voice, Rachel Joyce reveals a variety of human emotions - good and bad.

I began to read Queenie’s story and found myself regretting I hadn’t read the The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, the previous book which Joyce calls ‘the companion’ to this one. But as the story progresses, a great deal is learnt about the relationship between Queenie and Harold I felt that the story can stand independent of the companion. 

Stunning emotive prose glides throughout the book and leaves the reader breathless with its beauty. I adored every word I read and praise the writer who left me with such a memorable experience.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis 

Title: The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

Author: Rachel Joyce

Publisher: Random House

Publication Date: October 2014 $ 32.99RRP

 Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780857522764

Type: Fiction

The Lewis Chessmen and What Happened To Them

This is the story of an extraordinary discovery and a great adventure. That it was experienced by The Lewis Chessman, which were found on the north side of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides in 1831, makes it even more intriguing. 

Delicate and intricately carved from walrus ivory, it is not known how the Chessmen came to be where they were found. The exact story of their discovery ‘has been lost.’ It is believed they were manufactured in Norway, dated around 1150 AD.

Their adventure forms a sequence of events; found, sold, separated and reunited- after 162 years. Most of four sets of Chess pieces ‘plus a few extra pieces with rather a shortage on pawns’, their reunion took place in 1993 at a special exhibition of Chessmen at the British Museum in London.

This is an amazing story of historical significance and a rare subject to read about. It is told in a strong third person narrative. The personifying of the Chess pieces allows them to have opinions, feelings and the use of all their senses. This device makes the telling of the story personal and immediate.

The language is scintillating and highly entertaining like exchanged conversation in an English parlour of the 1800s. It’s a fascinating read and will undoubtedly lead to further reading about the subject. It is a thin book, but I see it as a valuable addition to any book lover’s collection.

The Lewis Chessman and What Happened to Them is also available on CD, read by David Attenborough, from the British Museum Press, with the same ISBN number.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: The Lewis Chessmen and What Happened to Them

Author: Irving Finkel

Illustrator: Clive Hodgson

Publisher:  Thames & Hudson

Publication Date: May 2014 $9.95 RRP

 Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780714123240

Type:  Historical

Fairest

When I received Fairest to review, I hesitated. Fairest is a prequel to the three books in the Lunar Chronicles (Cinder, Scarlett and Cress) which were already on my personal ‘to buy’ list. Even though the events of Fairest take place prior to the books I haven’t a read, a prequel’s target audience is those who’ve read and loved the series. And the dedication agreed. This book is for the readers. The Lunartics. The fans. I didn’t want to diminish my series reading experience.

So I did the “dip a toe in the water” test. One sentence was all it took. It won’t be a spoiler to quote the sentence:

She was lying on a burning pyre, hot coals beneath her back.

I challenge any reader not to at least complete the page. By page-end I cared about Levana’s story. I read on until the book was finished in just two reading sessions. I’m now twice as eager to read the series.

Levana is the younger sister, forever destined to live in the shadow of Channary, who will be queen. Channary is beautiful but Levana is horribly disfigured by a childhood accident. She lives her life behind a ‘glamour’, a magically created false appearance.

The ‘glamour’ tempts Levana, and she finds she can exploit it to satisfy her heart’s desire. More than anything , she wants to be loved. When Channary unexpectedly dies and Levana becomes regent for baby Serene, Levana is determined to be a good queen and to rule Lunar well.

But behind the ‘glamour’ is a damaged soul who ultimately will not let any man, woman or child stand in her way.

The Lunar Chronicles is a modern fairy tale with cleverly twisted shades of familiar characters and plotlines. Levana is wicked stepmother, evil queen and royal witch. Like Snow White’s stepmother queen, mirrors cause her to fly into a rage when they always show her true appearance.

Fairest is a prequel not only to the Lunar Chronicles but the fully-formed evil queen of so many fairy tales. It begins beyond the wickedness to explore where the evil came from and what was there before that. Is evil born or made? I found myself questioning my judgement, unable to determine how I felt about Lavana.

How wonderful is that?

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title:  Fairest

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publisher:  Pan MacMillan Australia

Publication Date: $16.99 RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 97812500696

Type: Fantasy

Cracked

This stunning debut novel is about first love, friendship, surviving when your world is falling apart,

and staying true to yourself at any cost, even when everything is cracked and you feel broken and alone.

Clover Jones is fifteen years old. She’s a former Steiner student with great potential, intelligence and artistic talent. She finds school boring. She’s a rebel, fighting against everything and everyone in her search to escape from her mother’s ‘flipside of reality.’ She worries about no food in the fridge, the threat of nuclear bombs, ice caps melting, and the end of the world amongst countless other things, including the fact that she doesn’t know where or who her dad is.

Her mum is a ‘walking dictionary’, a committed environmentalist, disorganised and chaotic. She doesn’t allow Facebook, mobile phones or television. Due to these technological restrictions, Clover’s life is a shambles. At school she’s called a freak. Even her best friend and childhood companion Alison, newly returned from Canberra, ignores her.

Keek is a total individual. His parents don’t get on so he spends a lot of time riding around on his bike. It’s this bike that draws Clover and Keek closer together when he offers to teach her to ride. He opens up to Clover; shows her sides to himself that no one else sees. She in return, is able to be herself with him.

Clever and sharp prose draws the reader into this journey through adolescence. Themes that confront young people today shape and colour the novel with skill and flair. The characters are outstanding and the pages are turned quickly for everything about this writing is new. I found this novel profoundly thought-provoking. It could well be my favourite novel of the year.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: Cracked

Author: Clare Strahan

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication Date: May 2014 $15.99RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 978174336030

Type: Young Adult Fiction

Meet Nancy Bird Walton

From the outstanding ‘Meet’ series of books comes Nancy Bird Walton for the 6+ age group. We meet her visually through Harry Slaghekke’s stunning pictures of the mesmerised Nancy learning about planes and their workings. He uses earthy colours for the background which represent the ‘vast open spaces of this flat country’ and shaded blues for ‘the cloudless blue sky, stretching to the horizon.’ 

Charles Kingsford Smith began instructing Nancy when she was eighteen.  After 100 hours of flying solo, she became the first Australian woman with a commercial pilot’s licence. Supported strongly by her family, they financed her first plane, the Gypsy Moth Vincere, meaning to conquer. 

At a time when navigation tools were minimal, Nancy conquered the skies by using road maps, compass, watch and landmarks to find her way. When she had tallied up 22,000 miles, she began operating the Royal Far West Children’s Health Scheme, flying nurses from Bourke to remote areas of NSW.

This inspiring story is beautifully presented by Grace Atwood’s simple prose. It brings to life a fascinating portrait of a great Australian and her contribution to our history. I was totally immersed with all my senses engaged as I accompanied Nancy through the skies, free as a bird; at one with our surroundings.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis 

Title: Meet Nancy Bird Walton

Author: Grace Atwood

Publisher: Random House

Illustrator: Harry Slaghekke

Publication Date: October 2014 $24.99 RRP

Format: Hardcover

ISBN: 9780857983879

Type: Children’s Australian History 

Hello From Nowhere

Eve has lived with her dad for some time in Nowhere, a place in the Nullarbor where they keep a roadside stop. The area has everything she needs to fill her life. People pop in all the time as they pass in buses, campers, and trucks, and share their stories and adventures.

Eve has bonded strongly with her environment; with nature and its creatures, the rocks and waterholes. There is really only one thing she misses and that’s her Nan. But Nan isn’t thrilled with the idea of travelling to the middle of Nowhere for a visit.

Eve’s letter of longing convinces Nan to come. Eve shares with Nan all the beauty and magic that fills her daily life. Will Eve’s bewitching surroundings draw Nan back again?

Beautifully translated illustrations give children, older readers, tourists and travellers a wonderful view of the stunning Australian outback. The illustrations reflect the wildness, silence, isolation, and grandeur that invades people’s psyche once they’ve been there.  The story also addresses the powerful relationship between children and grandparents.

 Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: Hello From Nowhere

Author: Raewyn Caisley

Illustrator: Karen Blair

Publisher:  Penguin

Publication Date: 27 August 2014 $24.99 RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780670075003

Type: Australian Picture Book

Fairytales for Wilde Girls

This multi award-winning book is an eclectic mix of gothic fairytale, contemporary teenage issues and genuinely spooky stuff.

It only took two pages before I was deliciously disorientated and permanently hooked. I wasn’t just looking through Isola Wilde’s eyes, I was experiencing her world.

What a wonderful world it was, both strange and familiar, meshing reality and fantasy in a believable way. Isola has trouble with boys, school and home, ghosts, fairies and gargoyles.

She has human friends she can rely on and trust – her best friend Grape, her companion James and Edgar, the new boy next door. But these friends can’t help with the trouble she’s in. There’s a dead girl in a birdcage in Wilde Wood and her ghost won’t rest until Isola is dead.

Isola has other friends, equally as real, even though they are drawn from the pages of her mother’s book of fairytales, the Pardieu Fables and Fairytales by Lileo Pardieu. These, like Isola, are the children of Nimue– a fury, a fairy, a ghost boy, a mermaid and an old friend of spiders. Along with James, they are her six protector princes and she is their princess.

They all want to protect her but they can’t. At a time when they should pull together, they pull apart.

Fairytales for Wilde Girls is a book to be read slowly. There are nuances of plot and language that are easily missed. I admit to going back and rereading large chunks – just to make sure I had all the pieces.

The narrative is filled with wonderful words and phrases that sit seamlessly in the storytelling. I can flip open anywhere and find a visually evocative image:

She had a great oil spill of a cloak

Or this glorious piece of description:

The sky was a burnt sepia of autumn; a paper lantern moon hung aloft and the palette of the forest was bitten and bloody.

Or the fairytales book itself:

The enormous book was leather-bound and gold-gilded. It looked as if it had been knocked from a wild woman’s bookshelf as the raging townsfolk ransacked her cottage and dragged her by her hair to the oil-doused stake in the village square.

A truly amazing debut novel which has no doubt left many readers like me, waiting to see what follows.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title:  Fairytales for Wilde Girls

Author: Allyse Near

Publisher:  Random House Australia

Publication Date: $19.99 RRP

Being Jack

This fourth and last book winds up the exceptional Jack series. It has been fourteen years since the release of I am Jack, inspired by the fact that Susanne’s son was bullied as a boy. Translated all over the world, the Jack series has encouraged many to fight against this scourge that has ruined or taken lives of all ages, mostly those of school children. An anti-bullying advocate, Gervay has used these stories as tools for awareness and movement towards change in attitudes towards bullying.

In Being Jack, the same themes from the previous books continue. Bullying is the main thread tied beautifully together in tight, clever prose with loss - of a parent leaving, and loss and grief of losing a much loved older grandparent. Ageing and its liberties, family, ethnic issues and blended families weave into and through jokes and fun, and the agony of change and growing up.

Jack is now thirteen. We view his private thoughts and experiences. Due to Gervay’s ability to approach and express emotions with rare sensitivity, we share all things with Jack.

Gervay loves difficult subjects and drawing on real life has enriched her writing, and therefore every reader’s life, regardless of age. As we say goodbye to Jack, we must thank him and his creator for the life lessons we’ve learnt from his character.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: Being Jack

Author: Susanne Gervay

Illustrator: Cathy Wilcox

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: September 2014 $14.99RRP

 Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780732296148

Type:  Junior novel

Bleakboy and Hunter Stand Out in the Rain

I confess to being a big fan of award-winning author, Steven Herrick’s work. Each book is a gift to unwrap; a journey into something fresh and unusual. His characters are creative works of art. It is these creations that carry this character driven story.

Hunter and Jesse James Jones, aka Bleakboy, are total opposites, both eleven years old, and the leading characters in a cast with powerful voices.

Hunter is a rebel; a misfit on purpose. There is more to him than is visible hidden behind the mask of a bully. He struggles with his father’s leaving him with nothing but broken promises.

Always positive, Jesse is trying to fit into a new school. His imaginary friend is a poster of a Christ-like figure that hangs on his wall that he talks to, and asks advice from. With strong ethics and a belief in social justice, Jesse wants to right wrongs, feed the starving children in Africa, and share what he has with the less fortunate. That’s where his dad’s credit card comes in. He tries to be good, but always ends up a victim of circumstance. He meets Kate who recognizes the beauty in him.

The confused and isolated Hunter meets Les, a widower in a mobility scooter and they become friends. His life shifts in small increments as the friendship evolves. Small changes are the most important thing in both boys’ lives throughout the book.

Brilliant and thought-provoking, Herrick addresses issues that most young people struggle with today. Environmental issues, themes of loneliness, the grief of loss and ageing, and coming to terms with change and more, are plaited into the simple storyline of two boys trying to make it through adolescence, and the lessons they learn along the way.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: Bleakboy and Hunter Stand Out in the Rain

Author: Steven Herrick

Publisher: UQP

Publication Date: May 2014 $14.99RRP

 Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780702250163

Type:  Middle Fiction

State of Grace

Oh my Dot! I’m stealing Wren’s words here because it’s the perfect exclamation in response to State of Grace.

I’m going to get personal here. I loved this book and one of the reasons why is because it misled me so deliciously. And while it’s not a spoiler to say why, it will mean another reader won’t experience the surprise I did. So, if you’re the reader who doesn’t want to know, you can stop reading this review. All you need to know is this is a book you should go and obtain right now.

But for those who are still here, I thought I was reading a fantasy story. I was a number of chapters in before the first clue  it wasn’t fantasy, but I dismissed that as part of the story’s difference to anything else I'd read. Even when an obviously human character was introduced, I still wasn’t convinced the others were human.

I was so deliciously wrong and it’s a credit to the descriptions of time, people and place that I thought I was looking through non-human eyes. As a reader, I like being caught totally by surprise.

The eyes I was looking through were human, but the minds behind them were in an altered state.

Wren lives with her friends in the beautiful world Dot created. There is nowhere else except this perfect utopia. Wren is deliriously happy and her speech is rich with superlatives, but strange visions lead her to question her existence and Dot’s decisions. Questioning is not allowed. All the answers needed are in the Books of Dot.

When Gil suggests that just because Dot creates them all good, doesn’t mean they stay good, Wren struggles to determine what is good and what is bad. Her friend, Blaze seems to know what she is thinking but her friend, Fern can’t see past the wonderousness of Dot. When a boy arrives from outside it becomes obvious all that is not ‘dotly’ in Wren’s world. Sheer happiness has given way to doubt. She must decide who and what she believes.

There were many things I enjoyed about State of Grace – the exploration of blind faith, the glorious physical descriptions of the world Dot created, the shift in atmosphere from euphoric to threatening and the growth of Wren’s character.

This is not a book for lovers of action and fast-paced fiction but will appeal to those who like to be entertained and challenge.

 Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: State of Grace

Author: Hilary Badger

Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont

Publication Date: October 2014 $19.95 RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781760120382

Type: YA Fiction

It Will Get Better

Stella’s life was a merry-go-round. Witnessing her mother being bashed by her alcoholic father, she grew up lacking self esteem and allowing men to control her. She proved to be strong and resilient; that survived sexual abuse as a child, teenage pregnancy, giving up a child for adoption, countless failed relationships and two failed marriages.

Her life progress was enhanced by her habit of journaling (which she encouraged her sons to adopt). It was a way of expressing, understanding, and overcoming their fears, insecurities, anger and resentment. She saw her life as a series of seasons which would pass, so things would get better.

 Stella Gibney, sister of successful Australian actor, Rebecca Gibney, has written an inspiring and uplifting memoir without going too deeply into intimate detail. Simple and moving, it’s a story of strength and courage, and one woman’s ability to overcome obstacles that would have left others irreparably shattered or broken.

 Although it starts off slowly, it picks up momentum and succeeds in proving that people change, bad things happen to good people, and you never know how strong you are until you are faced with unexpected challenges.

Stella’s sons’ deeply moving dedication poems at the end reflect on her magnificent job of mothering, regardless of all the difficulties she faced and overcame.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: It Will Get Better

Author: Stella Gibney

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication Date: June 2014 $29.99 RRP

 Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781743317174

Type: Memoir

Coming and Going

Contemporary illustration is the defining factor of the artwork that accompanies the thought-provoking text in this book. Bold, strong lines and colour in abstract form fill the page with movement. That’s what this book is all about.

The evolution of man and beast, speed and travel – in fact any type of movement, is incorporated here. But it’s the speed of progress and the repercussions of man-made transport on the planet that is the underlying theme.

Told in a profound and accurate way in simple language, the story carries strong underlying environmental messages on the outcomes of the choices man has made in his eagerness to forge ahead. These messages will ignite awareness and encourage examination and deep thought about what we are doing to our earth.

Beautifully presented with examples and statistics on a variety of sea, land and air life, comparisons between man and animals are used to reinforce a powerful message - that we must care for what we have otherwise it will be lost forever.

This book affected me so deeply I had to read it several times. I thought of the futures of my children and grandchildren, and wondered how often leaders and decision-makers think that way too.

First published in Portuguese and Shortlisted for the Illustrarte Award for Contemporary Illustration for Children, this is the first English translation for this illuminating book about going and coming, and what lies in store for the world as we know it.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: Coming and Going

Author: Isabel Minhos Martins & Bernardo Carvalho

Publisher:  Tate/Thames & Hudson

Publication Date: $19.95 RRP

 Format: Hardcover

ISBN: 9781849761611

Type: Environmental

The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl

Melissa Keil is the author of the CBCA shortlisted My Life in Outer Space and the 2014 recipient of the Australian IBBY Ena Noel award given to an outstanding young writer or illustrator. So my expectations were high. The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl did not disappoint.

Alba wants things to stay the same. She is comfortable and content with her small town life in Eden Valley, her close group of friends and even herself. She doesn’t want anything to change.

But change is inevitable. School has ended and after one last holiday break, some of her friends will be leaving town. Job offers, study plans and hooking up – nothing is staying the same – no matter how hard she tries to keep it that way. Her best friend Grady, who she thought she knew inside-out, is acting strange. Even Cinnamon Girl, her latest comic book character, won’t do what Alba wants.

When the self-styled prophet Original Ned announces the world is about to end and provides Eden Valley’s co-ordinates as the place to be, even greater changes engulf Alba. The town’s population swells and a never-forgotten childhood friend returns. Dominic is no longer a chubby boy but a muscled soapie star. Alba welcomes a return to the friendship triangle but once again, something is shifting.

The world might not be ending but the world as Alba knows it, definitely is.   

There’s so much to love about this book. It’s easy to identify with Alba who is both gutsy and vulnerable. The small town setting of Eden Valley comes to life in a personally familiar way for me. Eddie makes me laugh and Grady makes me sigh.

Finally, no review of this book would be complete without a shout-out for the cover – absolutely eye-catching.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl

Author: Melissa Keil

Publisher:  Hardie Grant Egmont $19.99 RRP

Publication Date: September 2014

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781742978307

Type: Young Adult Fiction

Head of the River

I’ll declare my prejudices up front. I'm a fan of Australian Young Adult fiction and I hadn’t read Pip Harry’s debut novel debut novel, I’ll Tell You Mine, so on one hand I was keen to read Head of the River but on the other hand, I am so not into boats.

I decided to read it regardless and I’m glad I did. It’s a testament to the storytelling and to the character development that I sat up all night reading until it was finished.

I’m still not interested in boats but I found myself fascinated by the Head of the River challenge and the political and social issues surrounding it as seen through the eyes of the Popescu twins, Leni and Cristian.

With Olympic oarsman parents, expectation and destiny is written in their genes. Cristian is the more gifted rower but he doesn’t have the commitment or determination to succeed that comes so naturally to Leni. He struggles, with training and fitness, and when everything starts to unravel, he is drawn to the easy solution performance-enhancing drugs offer.

For Leni, rowing has always been foremost but now she is finding to be the best rower, she also needs to be a good friend and team player.  

For me, the strength of this novel is in the characters and their relationships - the emotion, the maturing, the problems that arise and are resolved. The Head of the River race is the perfect setting to explore competitiveness and expectation and the risk-taking and soul-searching this can engender.

I found a touch of irony in the ending and I loved it.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: Head of the River

Author: Pip Harry

Publisher: UQP $19.95 RRP

Publication Date: July 2014

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780702253263

Type: Young Adult Fiction