Staff Reviews - Children's and Young Adult Books
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Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing, Judie Barrett
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Sun rating: *****
Reviewed by: Felicity
Genre: Board Book
What it's about: A beautiful board book about some of the perils that animals would face if they wore clothing, including a billy-goat eating his shirt, a moose’s antlers getting tangled in braces, and a giraffe requiring several ties for its very long neck!
Why you should read it: Humorous and ridiculous, with great illustrations.
This book is perfect for: Toddlers and new-borns. It will gain quite a few giggles, and will also introduce the reader to various animals. |
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Ten Blue Wrens, Elizabeth Honey
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Sun rating: *****
Reviewed by: Felicity
Genre: Picture Book
What it's about :A charming counting book with quintessential Australian themes. There are lifesaving nippers, meat pies, wattle in a bottle and bowerbirds collecting blue pegs.
Why I love it: This is a fantastic counting book with stunning illustrations. The Australian themes are unique, and do not wander down the all-too-common path of kangaroos, possums and wombats. Elizabeth Honey is a stalwart Australian children’s author and she has delivered another classic.
This book is perfect for: Three-year-olds and under, as it is a counting book. But it is the perfect “Australian” present for overseas family members and the like (as I don’t think too many books talk about lamingtons, blue wrens and flies on your back!). |
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The Apothecary, Maile Malloy
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Sun rating: ****.5
Reviewed by: Felicity
Genre: Chapter Book/Young Adult Fiction
What it's about:Set in post-WWII London, an American family have just moved to the UK as they were blacklisted by Senator McCarthy as communists. Janie feels the harsh, cold realities of living in London and away from everything she knows. However, things start to brighten up when the local apothecary prescribes her a special remedy for homesickness. From that moment on, Janie and her new friends, Benjamin and Pip, are on a magical adventure to save the world from nuclear warfare, all by using some of the oldest concoctions in the history of pharmacy.
Why you should read it: Such a magical read (Harry Potter-esque) entwined with great Cold War history.
This book is perfect for: 12 year olds onwards (adults included). For anyone who enjoyed Harry Potter, you’ll most likely enjoy The Apothecary. |
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Wildwood, Colin Meloy
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Sun rating: ***.5
Reviewed by: Hannah
Genre: Chapter Books/Fantasy
What it's about: 12 year-old Prue McKean is taking her baby brother Mac for a walk in the park when suddenly Mac is abducted by a murder of crows! The crows take him deep into the “Impassable Wilderness”, a vast stretch of forest on the edge of Portland, where Prue lives. Prue decides to venture into the wilderness (where nobody ever goes, let alone speaks about) to rescue her brother/ A fantastic adventure in the tradition of Narnia follows, complete with talking animals, strange powers and family secrets.
Why you should read it:This is a beautifully imagined world, with well-rounded characters. It’s got its own quirky style of humour. The language is sophisticated, so for the right kid it will be a delightful challenge. Best of all is its beautiful presentation – an illustrated hardback, including colour plates.
This book is perfect for: Bright kids aged 10 and up who love to get lost in new worlds, and music nerds (Meloy leads Portland band The Decemberists). Prue is also unexpectedly followed by her schoolmate, Curtis, whose own adventure is given equal weight in the story – so the book will appeal to boys as much as girls. |
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Pip and Posy, Axel Scheffler : Nosy Crow $19.99
From the illustrator of favourite story book The Gruffalo comes Axel Scheffler’s series for very young’uns, Pip & Posy. Join these adorable little characters as they play, laugh and cry together. These are very simple and sweet stories, enhanced by Scheffler’s enchanting and cheerful illustrations. A lovely squishy-soft hardback.
Hannah
Taken Away, Celine Kiernan : Allen & Unwin $16.99
If you want a spooky and really beautiful story then this one is for you.
After their Nan (who has started to slip into senility) burns down their family home, brothers Dom and Pat have to move to a seaside house - and it isn't long before the nightmares start, the ghostly apparition of a soldier appears to them and they save an old man from committing suicide. But when a strange, frightening goblin-boy appears one night it appears trouble from the past has come to get them. Dom, in particular, is in grave danger. Set in Ireland in 1974,
Taken Away is a fast-paced, frightening, fascinating story for readers 10+
Kate
Crow Country, Kate Constable : Allen & Unwin $15.99
Kate Constable's latest book
Crow Country just arrived in stock on Wednesday and by Thursday evening I had finished it. It is beautiful.
It's the story of Sadie, who has moved to a country town (which was NOT her idea of a good move) with her mum. Her weekend are apparently going to involve watching the local footy team get beaten and her mum forcing her to make friends.
Then when Sadie is exploring the cracked, dried bed of what used to be a lake she happens upon a curious circle of boulders. Drawn to them, she can sense their importance. A crow speaks to her and sets into motion an exciting, frightening time-slip mystery. If she can correct some old wrongs she might just be able to make amends in her present.
The characters are all brilliant, it's beautifully written and has Dreaming stories woven through the narrative. With mystery, love, feuds, family and friendship and a bit of magic,
Crow Country is a must read for 11+.
Kate
All I Ever Wanted, Vikki Wakefield : Text Publishing $19.95
Mim's got plans to get out of her dead-end suburb. She's following the rules she creates - no booze, no drugs, no tattoos, no sex, no swearing, even - all so that she doesn't end up like her mum. She has a box of Lonely Planets that'll help her on her way. But life's starting to get a little out of control. Her best friend Tahnee has a new, serious boyfriend, her brothers are both doing time and a strange young woman has moved in next door, who keeps the strangest hours.
But Mim has been sent (reluctantly) to pick up a package from Feeney Tucker and on her way home is intercepted by the love of her life (not that he'd know it) Jordan Mullen...and things take a turn for the worst.
This wonderful debut novel is gritty and hopeful and an absolute must-read.
Most highly recommended.
Kate
The Quiet Book, Deborah Underwood & Renata Liwska : Houghton Mifflin $17.95
This darling new picture book is about all the different kinds of quiet. You might be familiar with some of them:
Colouring in the lines quiet. Hide-and-seek quiet. Some might make you giggle:
First look at your new hairstyle quiet. And others will reach that little place inside you:
Last one to get picked up from school quiet. Best friends don't need to talk quiet. All accompanied by the cutest, most expressive illustrations of wee mooses and rabbits, foxes and bears. It's a gentle, sweet, funny book - perfect for reading before bed..
Kate
Where She Went, Gayle Forman : Doubleday $24.95
Gayle Forman's first book If I Stay really was mind blowing. It made the reader really think about loneliness and what comes after death. The sequel, Where She Went is set three years after Mia's accident. 'It’s been three years since Mia walked out of Adam’s life. And three years he’s spent wondering why.’ The story is written in Adam's perspective as he struggles with his fame and his memories. When Adam and Mia's paths cross in New York, they have a second chance. But can one magical night be enough to answer all their questions? I love the way Gayle Forman makes you feel like you are part of the book, not reading words off a page or looking on to a scene. It's like you are there, Mia's and Adam's closest friend, their confidante. While reading the book (and after!) I felt sad, frustrated and anxious – sometimes all at the same time! But eventually I was jumping up and down in excitement and joy! After reading If I Stay I never would've thought a sequel was possible but I think the way Gayle Forman did it is brilliant!
'Where She Went' is a truly memorable book: when you're not reading it, you're thinking about it, and when you're sleeping, you're dreaming about it...All up 'Where She Went' breaks your heart, fixes it, breaks it, and fixes it again. So uplifting! I rate it 5/5.
Fantine - Teen Bookclub Member
First Light, Rebecca Stead : Text Publishing $16.95
Before Rebecca Stead won the prestigious Newbery Medal for her book
When You Reach Me, she wrote this one, and now it’s been re-released. She didn’t need her training wheels either – Stead clearly knew how to write a brilliant novel from the get-go. 12 year-old Peter’s parents are scientists, and they’re leaving their home in New York for a 6-week research trip on a glacier in Greenland. While his parents are busy, Peter goes exploring with his trusty new snow-dog Sasha, and stumbles across 14 year-old Thea, a girl from another world. Their meeting leads to the unfolding of many mysteries and discoveries about themselves they could never have imagined. The characters are smart and a little bit quirky. This is a wonderfully woven and page-turning fantasy (with a bit of environmentalism for good measure!). You’ll love every bit of it. Recommended for ages 10-100.
Hannah
Angel Creek, Sally Rippin : Text Publishing $16.95
On Christmas Eve, Jelly and her cousins Gino and little Pik find a baby angel with an injured wing in a storm water drain down at the Merri Creek. Not a cute cherubic angel in a gown that you might see in religious paintings, but a feral scrap of a thing – a tiny ferocious angel-child in a tattered dress, with wings something like a pelican. They decide to hide the angel in the toolshed at the local primary school (closed for the summer) and help fix its wing – keeping it a secret from their parents, as well as the aggressive high school boys on bikes that threaten Jelly. Exquisitely written, and exploring the loss of innocence, kindness, kinship and a certain kind of faith, this book is fantastical (but not fantasy, it’s firmly rooted in reality), effortlessly metaphorical and a little bit magic.
Kate
The Memory Bank, Carolyn Coman & Rob Shepperson : Scholastic $12.95
Hope Scroggins has awful parents – so awful that they told her to forget her little sister Honey after they kicked her out of the car one day and left her behind. A devoted big sister, Hope finds only one way to cope, she goes to bed. When a jovial man arrives to take her to a meeting with the WWMB – World Wide Memory Bank – Hope finds she’s in trouble for a deficit in her account – she’s creating a record number of dreams but no new memories. At the WWMB makes friends that give her reason to put her accounts back in balance. Meanwhile little Honey’s adventures are presented through fabulously fun illustrations by Rob Shepperson. While the themes may seem dark, this book is a great simple adventure with a very happy ending. !
Carrie
Girl Saves Boy, Steph Bowe : Text $19.95
Girl Saves Boy begins with Jewel Valentine – loner, painter and head case – saving Sacha Thomas’ life when he comes close to drowning in the same lake where Jewel’s brother drowned a decade before. At its essence this is a teen romance, but it also covers a much wider breadth of emotion. Jewel’s family broke down following the tragic death of her brother, and she has grown up prickly and independent, while Sacha has a complicated mess of problems of his own, the least of which is the return of his leukaemia. This debut novel is alive with humour, verve, friendship and romance - not to mention lashings of garden gnome theft and lobster liberation. It is also unabashedly teenaged, the smart and snarky characters are delightfully kooky and have a lot of heart. Signed copies in store now!
Kate
Graffiti Moon, Cath Crowley : Pan Australia $16.99
Lucy loves Shadow, even though she has never met him. Like a Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist with street art, burglary and a Melbourne setting, instead of punk music and NYC, this brilliant new novel by local author Cath Crowley takes place over one rollicking, mad, fantastic night. Lucy Dervish has finished her year 12 classes and is heading out for a night on the town with her best friend Jazz and a crowd of other fantastic characters. Lucy wants to find Shadow - a graffiti artist who paints skies and birds and doors on walls all over the city. Ed is among them. There is no love lost between Lucy and Ed after a disastrous date a couple of years before. Ed who has a secret identity. This is excellent. Come to the launch! Sunday 8th August at 2.30pm.
Kate
Grimsdon, Deborah Abela : Random House $16.99
Like so much exciting kids' fiction these days, Grimsdon is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where the very loveable Isabella and her gang are trying to survive after a tidal wave has destroyed their city. Already quite a resourceful bunch of orphans, they soon find another boy to join their crew. Xavier is inventive and smart, has heaps of cool gadgets – including a flying machine – though seems to bring a bit of trouble to our harmonious group. A fun adventure, these kids use their wit and ingenuity to stay safe and together in a challenging but exciting world. A book about the power of good friendship, with a timely warning about what happens when the silly grown-ups in government don’t pay heed to the needs of a rapidly changing planet. For 9 and up.
Caroline
No and Me, Delphine de Vigan : Bloomsbury Books $22.99
At the train station Lou meets No, a young homeless girl, and is drawn to her. Lou meets her often at cafes after school and No, knocking back vodkas, tells her about her life on the street. Lou's going to use the information for a dreaded school presentation. She's chosen the topic of life on the street for French women. When No goes missing Lou is frantic, she feels like she has failed No, and she travels through the seedier parts of Paris in order to find the homeless girl; Lou wants to give No a family and love. Then there is the chance that Lou's family can also be healed through helping No. The story is complex but simple at the same time. The language is effortlessly sophisticated and philosophical topics are broached straightforwardly. I was on the edge of my seat and desperate to be there for the ride. It's magnificent - for children and adults alike.
Kate
Red Dirt Diary, Katrina Nannestad : ABC Books $14.99
Trudy Alice Weston (Blue to her friends) lives on a drought ridden farm near Dubbo with her family, including her two twin brothers Wez and Fez (creators of Super Rat- a dead rat dressed in dolls undies and a cape). Her best friend Mat has turned into a boy crazy nitwit, her family is close to bankruptcy caused by drought, and it is no longer the magpies but the dulcet tones of bagpipes that wake her at six each morning.
This is hilarious and reminds me of the Penny Pollard diaries.
Clare
Flyaway, Lucy Christopher : Chicken House $16.95
This second novel from Lucy Christopher (her first,
Stolen, is shortlisted for the CBCA Older Readers Book of the Year 2010) is the moving story of thirteen-year-old Isla who shares a passion for birds, particularly swans, with her father. When her dad has to go into hospital following a collapse, and faces heart surgery, Isla is determined to boost his spirits by helping a young swan to find its flock again. She is helped by Harry, a young leukemia patient with whom she develops a lovely friendship. Isla and the swan also have a beautiful connection with one another, it becomes one of the important characters in the book. The story explores relationships and family as well as the delight of flight.
Kate
Dancing in the Dark, Robyn Barvati : Penguin $17.95
Ditty (full name: Yehudit) is twelve and her family are part of the tight-knit, ultra-orthodox Haredi Jewish community in Melbourne. She is not allowed to watch television, read secular newspapers or attend a secular (or even modern orthodox) school. One afternoon Sara, Ditty's best friend, reveals that her mother has a secret television hidden in her bedroom. Curious, the girls watch. It becomes a guilty pleasure and one day they catch a preview for a ballet. entranced, Ditty begins to dream of being a dancer. Although her parents fiercely disapprove, she begins to take lessons, paying for them with babysitting money and some help from her freewheeling cousin Linda - and she is very good. As she disobeys her family more and more, Ditty begins to question their way of life. Bavati explors this young girl's quavering faith without being heavy-handed or didactic. Exceeds expectations
Kate
Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool, Odo Hirch : Allen & Unwin $15.95
Meet Darius Bell, an ordinary twelve-year-old boy. He often goes to the old ruins with his friends Oliver and Paul, where they share special cakes the cook makes, and whisper secrets to one another. But something else is going on in Darius' life. His dad has to present a gift to the town, otherwise his family will lose the house. Darius is starting to have doubts if they do have a gift, and his brother says that they should just give a wheelbarrow full of vegetables, but when Darius finds a cave full of crystals his hopes are up. This is a heartwarming story about kindness, friendship, determination ad it will touch us all inside.
Review by Anika Dawe, age 10
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins : Puffin $16.95
The Hunger Games is set in a post-apocalyptic society which is centered around the great Capitol. As punishment for a crushed revolution, the twelve districts around the Capitol are required to send a boy and a girl every year to participate in the ruthless Hunger Games, a kind of reality TV show with fatal consequences for the losers, the story revolves around Katniss, a girl chosen to participate in the Hunger Games and must win in order to save her family and her own life...
Review by Tom Overton Skinner, age 15
Chess Nuts, Julia Lawrinson : Puffin $16.95
Jackson and Anna are very different. Both in their last year of primary school, and while Jackson is sporty and on the swimming and athletics teams, Anna is the nerdy kid who hates sport and is number one player on the chess team. But when Jackson joins the chess team, things change, not just for Anna but for everyone at school, even the nasty Flash Buckley- is he really that nasty? A fab story for 7+ about friendships, school cliques, sport and chess, complete with some handy chess diagrams and quotes from the Grandmasters.
Clare
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins : Scholastic $18.99
Second blockbustery instalment from Collins is just as fast paced as the first, with the sadistic President Snow and Capitol back again and looking to extinguish, permanently, the sparks of rebellion that Katniss and Peeta inadvertently started at the end of the first Hunger Games. Meanwhile, thrown back into the arena for an unexpected second time, Katniss has to form new allegiances, dodge psycho fanged monkeys and tidal waves, as well as work out her increasing feelings for Peeta, who, while now peg legged, is still pretty sexy in a messiah kind of way. So good! I can’t wait for the third one...
Clare
