Stuart Wilson, How to Make a Monster (Prometheus High, #1), Penguin Random House, March 2022, 288 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761042256 A rusting ocean liner. Thirty students learning to resurrect the dead. A murderous monster on the loose. Just a typical day at Prometheus High. Athena Strange’s first semester starts with a bang. But when her lessons in reanimation, robotics and skulkers move too slowly and she has trouble making friends, Athena decides to take matters into her own hands. On a ship where science and magic collide, and the monster under your bed is probably very real… will…
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H M Waugh, Mars Awakens, Allen and Unwin, May 2022, 288 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760526979 Mars Awakens by H M Waugh is an enthralling speculative science-fiction aimed at readers aged 10 and above. Dee and Holt are two teens marooned on Mars, supposed enemies, flung together in the wildest of environments. They learn reliance in dire circumstances, show ingenuity while unravelling mysteries, and discover the truth of their harsh existence in the extreme Martian climate. What is refreshing in Mars Awakens is that this is not just a story of two teens, set on Mars. It’s compelling, imaginative…
Marissa Meyer, Gilded, Text Publishing, November 2021, 512 pp., RRP $22.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922458292 Gilded is the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling YA author Marissa Meyer. Meyer has built her reputation on crafting fantasy tales aimed at a YA audience with their origins in traditional fairy tales. Meyer’s first book Cinder (based on Cinderella) was released in 2012 as the first book in The Lunar Chronicles. It was followed by three other books, each based on a traditional fairy tale: Scarlett (based on Little Red Riding Hood), Cress (based on the story of Rapunzel) and Winter (based…
Alex Foulkes (text) and Sara Ogilvie (illustrator), Rules for Vampires, Simon & Schuster, November 2021, 368 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781471199554 Lady Elonore von Motteberg (aka Leo) is trying hard to be a good vampire. There’s just so many rules. And pressure. She really wants to be a good vampire, but, well, she’s just not that good at doing the things she should be doing. Plus, her mother’s position on the Council means Leo’s actions are closely scrutinized. All the more reason for her to succeed on her Birthnight Deadly Hunt. Except, when the Hunt does not go to…
Stephanie Owen Reeder (text) and Mel Armstrong (illustrator), Ghostie, Windy Hollow Books, March 2022, 32 pp., RRP $25.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780645323511 It can be boring when Mum and Dad have to work – but not for Ava and her imaginary friend Ghostie. Together they play and create mischief in Ava’s house and garden. It’s a lovely celebration of imagination and independence, and a reminder that there’s plenty of fun be had at home. Despite featuring a ghost, Ghostie is not all scary. The text is quite brief with fun interplay between the words and illustrations. It’s great for reading aloud…
Karen Blair, Train Party, Penguin Random House Australia, July 2021, 32 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760899578 A delightful, rhyming romp about the experience of going on a mini-railway, Train Party, will appeal to pre-school and early primary school children. The story works as a poem with each stanza including an ‘ack’ sound and concluding with ‘clickety-clack’. This technique helps to give the words a rhythm that cleverly mirrors the train-ride experience like so: Tickets in hand, We all stand back. Let’s find a seat. Clickety-clack. The illustrations are bright and colourful with maps of the railway tracks on the…
Louie Stowell, Loki, A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good, Walker Books, February 2022, 240 pp., RRP $19.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781406399752 Loki, God of mischief, has gone too far this time: cutting the hair of the Goddess Sif has resulted in Odin banishing Loki to Midgard (Earth) in the form of an 11-year-old boy. Odin has declared that Loki has thirty days to prove that he has undergone “moral improvement”, otherwise he will face an eternity of punishment involving snakes. Odin has also sent Thor — disguised as Loki’s more handsome twin brother — to keep an eye on him…
Felice Arena, The Unstoppable Flying Flannagan, Penguin Random House Australia, March 2022, 192 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761044366 Its 1942 and World War II is raging. Until now it’s all seemed a long way away for Maggie Flanagan, despite the fact that her older brother Patrick is now fighting for the Royal Australian Airforce. But then Maggie spots what she thinks is a Japanese spy plane above her home in St Kilda early one morning, Darwin and Broome are bombed, and American soldiers start appearing on the streets of Melbourne and it all becomes a lot more real. What…
Jordan Gould (text) and Richard Pritchard (illustrator), Wylah, The Koorie Warrior, Allen & Unwin, May 2022, 272 pp., RRP $15.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761180033 Jordan Gould is a Peek Whurrong Man and Richard Pritchard an Indigenous Samoan. This fantasy novel is set on Marr Country along the southwest coast of Victoria and north into the Grampians 40,000 years ago, when the koalas could be massive and mega fauna roamed the land. Wylah finds herself the only survivor of her village after an attack from dragons trained by humans under the leadership of Livingstone and Captain Frye. The dragons are compelled by…
Kylie Howarth, Bush Magic, Walker Books, May 2022, 32 pp., RRP $25.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760650827 Jarrah looks forward to bush adventure day with Grandpa, her favourite day of the week. Unfortunately, the sun forgets to shine and it’s too wet for adventure. Or is it? Luckily Grandpa knows how to find bush magic, even when they’re stuck inside. Jarrah boldly leads the way on an imaginative adventure to rescue a group of bush animals from a flood. Bush Magic is a beautifully simple story about imagination, nature and spending time with family or loved ones. Even though Jarrah and Grandpa…