Katherine Battersby, Party Animals (Cranky Chicken #2). Hachette Australia, June 2022, 108 pp., RRP $14.99 ISBN 978 0734 420985 This second book in Battersby’s Cranky Chicken chapter book/graphic novel series brings further adventures of the titular character and her unlikely friend, Speedy the worm. Beginner readers will enjoy the humour wrought by a worm dreaming up ideas for a party with a ‘hangry’ chicken. For example, Speedy is distraught to learn that chickens eat worms: I don’t know what to believe anymore. But when Chicken reveals she’s vegetarian, Speedy is ecstatic: Me too! No wonder we’re such good friends! The…
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Paula Hayes (text) and Katy Jiang (illustrator), The Vexatious Haunting of Lily Griffin, Fremantle Press, July 2022, 448 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760991753 This book is three books in one, the first book or ‘part’ has been published previously as ‘Lily in the Mirror’ and was a CBCA Notable in 2017. There are mysteries to be solved in each part, including ghosts, ghasts and poltergeists. Lily is a precocious eleven year old who wishes to be dark and mysterious and is longing for something interesting and supernatural to happen to her. As her parents are going on a trip,…
Andrew Cranna, The Astronaughties: Moon Mayhem, Walker Books, May 2022, 240 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760653378 One look at the cover of the Astronaughties is enough to let you know you’re in for a wild ride. This middle grade graphic novel is fast, furious and funny. The popularity of graphic novels in Australia is rocketing (sorry) and Andrew Cranna does his best to cram his novel with high-jinks, space facts, aliens, robots, three very naughty kids and one pet octopug. It is the year 2120, and the moon has been transformed into an intergalactic amusement park for the ultimate…
Jackie Merchant, The Homecoming Horse, Walker Books, March 2022, 320 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760653569 …I was afraid he’d forget about me, but I had to go. I remember telling my grandma that, and she said to me I must not worry, because ‘what is for you, won’t go by you’. Everyone deserves a home. But when you’re forced to give yours up… things get complicated. In The Homecoming Horse, we follow Kennedy — whose life has been packed up and put into storage. Her two horses are sold off, and her life as a local campdraft champion on…
Neridah McMullin (text) and Astred Hicks (illustrator), Evie and Rhino, Walker Books, October 2022, 272 pp., RRP $18.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760654207 A young girl with a tragic past and a rhinoceros facing life in captivity form an unlikely bond after a fateful storm and a shipwreck bring them together. Set in the 1890s, Evie’s life revolves around the shipwreck coast of Southwest Victoria. She walks the shores of the beach near Breamlea daily, casting her eye out across the same stormy seas where her parents drowned on a shipwreck not long past. The loss of her parents overwhelmed Evie so…
Andy Geppert, Australian Backyard Buddies, Hachette Australia, July 2022, 24 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780734421470 This book will provide much fun for young children. Each double-page spread includes a basically accurate, humorous drawing of a bug, insect or lizard commonly found in our gardens. There is a summary of their colour, favourite food, best time of day or night to see them and, most importantly, whether they are safe to touch. There is also a rough guide to their size. The book is full of quirky humour, even the glossary is lighthearted. Large, easy to read type and lots…
Katya Balen, The Light in Everything, Bloomsbury, July 2022, 336 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781526647405 I read The Light in Everything in one sitting, and yes, I one hundred per cent cried by the end. I didn’t expect to – when I started The Light in Everything, I was introduced to Zofia and Tom, two very different kids thrown together when their parents fall in love, and Tom’s mother gets pregnant. Katya Balen’s writing drew me in even before I realised what was happening, delicately creating two very different characters in short, alternate chapters. Every word on the page…
Jackie Kerin (text) and Milly Formby (illustrator), A Shorebird Flying Adventure, CSIRO Publishing, June 2022, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781486314492 Microlight Milly is a pilot and zoologist who likes to draw and loves birds. This book invites readers to go on a flying adventure with her to discover migratory shorebirds. It mirrors Milly’s real-life adventure as she flies her microlight around Australia to raise awareness for migratory shorebirds in May–November 2022. The narrator’s voice is enthusiastic and perfectly pitched to the audience, encouraging readers to be curious and interact with the text. The pages offer just the…
GROSSMAN, Lev, The Golden Swift (The Silver Arrow #2), Bloomsbury, July 2022, 263 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781526647641 This is the second book in Grossman’s magical train series which began with The Silver Arrow. The story picks up a year after the previous book, with Kate and Tom preparing for their next shift as conductors on the Great Intercontinental Railway. There’s just one hitch – Uncle Herbert who gives them their itinerary which involves delivering animal passengers to their rightful habitats, has gone missing. Then, the pair are almost rammed off track by another train, The Golden Swift, which…
Nina Kenwood, Unnecessary Drama, Text Publishing Company, October 2022, 320 pp., RRP $17.50 (pbk), IBSN 9781922458896 Unnecessary Drama is a classic enemies-to-friends-to-lovers YA novel. It is an emotional roller-coaster with many laughable moments that will have readers excited to read more despite the predictable storyline. All the characters are well written, particularly the protagonist who is immediately likeable and relatable; she has a good heart but worries too much about what others think and treats herself a little too harshly. Eighteen-year-old Brooke is an overly anxious person, even more so now that she has left her hometown to attend university…