Harry Laing (text), Clinton De Vere (illus.), Shoctopus: poems to grip you, Bunda Press, 30 July 2015, 95pp., $20.00 (pbk), ISBN: 9780980435023 In his first book of poems for children, poet, author, teacher and comic performer, Harry Laing explores and celebrates the joys of language through a variety of styles; performative, concrete, prose, rhyming and free verse. Poems such as My Dad’s an Alien explore notions of the crazy and absurd in rhyming four verse stanzas whilst Shoctopus squelches with the delight of performing language out loud. A wonderful, eclectic collection of verse, this small book offers a great introduction…
Author: Admin
George Ivanoff, Super Sports Spectacular (You Choose #7), Random House Australia, 3 August 2015, 160pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780857988416 George Ivanoff, Trapped in the Games Grid (You Choose #8), Random House Australia, 3 August 2015, 160pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9780857988430 What could be better than a story that follows the path you choose for it? Absolutely nothing according to fans of the You Choose series by George Ivanoff. With so many options presented and alternate paths to follow, readers can come back to these books time and again and always discover something new. With each pathway comes new characters, twists and turns…
Darrel Odgers and Sally Odgers (text) Janine Dawson (illus) Outback Rescue (Pup Patrol #4), Scholastic Australia, 1 August 2105, 89pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781743623022 This is a happy book. More than that, it portrays realistic dog characteristics and informs about sensible dog ownership for families with children. A glossary of “dog language” as well as information about animals and the outback, makes learning effortless and entertaining. With a predictable yet enjoyable plot, the adventure takes pragmatic James and his two dogs, Border Collie Stamp and Ace, a mixed breed, into the flood-bound outback. Of course they will enjoy camping with the local…
Rosanne Hawke, The Truth About Peacock Blue, Allen & Unwin, September 2015, 253pp., $15.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781743319949 The serious tone of this novel is established at the beginning with the death, from illness, of a loved brother. Straight away we are invited into the close-knit Christian family of Aster as they mourn at the funeral and comfort each other. Almost immediately, too, the threat of violence to and the vulnerability of women and girls in Pakistani society is emphasised by an attack on Aster’s cousin Hadassah. Because of her sibling’s death, Aster is given the rare chance to continue her schooling…
James Moloney, The Beauty is in the Walking, HarperCollins, 1 August 2015, 248pp. $16.99 (pbk) ISBN 9780732299941 There are many well-intended books featuring characters with disabilities. Too often though, the disability becomes the defining characteristic of the person portrayed, resulting in two-dimensional characters and a superficial understanding of the condition. This book is not one of those. James Moloney lifts the bar much higher, giving readers a story in which cerebral palsy is only one of many difficulties faced by a typical teenage boy, whose focus is much wider than his own problems. Jacob O’Leary is in the midst of studying…
Clare Wright, We Are the Rebels: the women and men who made Eureka, Text Publishing, 19 August 2015, 256pp., $19.99 (pbk) ISBN 97819221827 It’s hard not to be inspired by this feminist revisiting of gold rush history. What schoolgirl could fail to be inspired by a woman who asks – where were the women in Ballarat in the 1850s? – and then puts on her history detective cap and finds them! We Are The Rebels is a YA edition of Clare Wright’s Stella Prize winning The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka. Invaluable for the secondary school market, not only is this…
David Almond (text), Salvatore Rubbino (illus), Harry Miller’s Run, Walker Books, 1 November 2015, 64pp., $17.95 (hbk), ISBN 978 1 4063 6224 4 Old Harry is about to go into a nursing home, and Liam’s mother wants to help Harry pack up. She says eleven-year-old Liam must help her, which means that the boy cannot train with his friend to run the Junior Great North Run, which is an actual English athletic event. Harry relates the story of the run he made in 1938 – thirteen miles from Newcastle to South Shields, UK. He too was eleven. We follow Harry’s story…
Samantha-Ellen Bound, Broadway Baby (Silver Shoes #5), Random House Australia, 1 October 2015, 144pp., $14.99 (pbk) ISBN 9780857989031 Samantha-Ellen Bound, Lights, Camera, Dance (Silver Shoes #6), Random House Australia, 1 October 2015, 144pp., $14.99 (pbk) ISBN 9780857989055 Silver Shoes is a great chapter book series for primary school-aged girls who love to dance. It’s centred around four friends who meet in jazz class, with each girl also taking classes in another dance style. Each book is told from a different dancer’s perspective. Broadway Baby is all about Ellie, who loves jazz, but is inspired to become a singing, dancing, acting “triple…
Michael Pryor (text), Jules Faber (illus.) Leo Da Vinci vs the Ice-cream Domination League Random House Australia, 3 August 2015, 181pp., $14.95 (pbk), ISBN 9780857988379 This is the first in a series of stories which will appeal to girls and boys for its laughable inventions and funny carryings on. Leo Da Vinci is ten years old and socially awkward at school, often daydreaming but with tolerant teachers who wonder how he keeps so far ahead of the class when he often appears to drift off in his thoughts. He is an inventor and Head of Fixit International Inc., with a steam…
Jacqueline Johnson (text), Frances Espanol (illus), Sarah, Misty and Scribbles’ Journey to the House by the Sea, Partridge, 20 January 2015, 40pp., $15.95 (pbk) ISBN 9781482829907 Inspired by the vision-impaired clients she works with, Jacqueline Johnson has written this book to raise awareness of young children who have vision difficulties. Sophie’s toys are placed in boxes by the packers when Sophie moves to a house by the sea. The packers aren’t careful with the toys and that is how Sarah the doll loses an eye, Misty the rabbit has damage done to the part of the eye that you can’t see and Scribbles…