N. J. Gemmell, Coco Banjo is Having a Yay Day, Random House, 1 June 2015, 192pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780857987334 Coco Banjo lives on a private island in Sydney Harbour in the ‘most glamorous and mysterious house in Sydney. Possibly Australia. Possibly, even, the world.’ Her mother, who dresses the rich and famous, is largely absent as is her appointed carer, ‘aging British rock star’, Rick Ragger. But, Coco is not alone. For company she has Daisy, the dolphin; Wing and Wang, the fairy penguins; Jayne, the hairbrush; and her great school friend Narianna Nicketson (aka N.). When we meet…
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Jack Heath, The Cut Out, Allen & Unwin, August 2015, 280pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760111984 A teenage spy-thriller, chock full of adrenaline-pumping action, cool gadgets and a political espionage story line? Yes, it’s the talented Jack Heath, one of Australia’s best loved YA mystery and thriller writers, returning to our bookshelves in a thrilling page-turner which kept me up until midnight. Fero Dremovich is a normal 14 year-old boy from Kamau—a city in Eastern Europe—who unfortunately has more than a passing resemblance to Troy Maschenov, a spy from neighbouring country Besar. Fero gets mistaken for Troy and recruited into assisting…
Karen Wood, Triple Magic (Trickstars #1), Allen & Unwin, July 2015, 112pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781743319055 This is the first book in a new series from Karen Wood. Triplets Ruby, Kit and Lexie live on a farm with their mother and grandfather. They work hard to help keep the farm running, so they don’t have much free time. What spare time they do have, they spend riding the farm’s three gypsy cob horses, and dreaming of riding in the town’s talent show. But how could such a dream come true? It seems impossible, until Ruby discovers an old trunk in…
Megan McDonald (text), Peter H Reynolds (illus), Mood Martian (Judy Moody #12), Walker Books, 1 May 2015, 208pp., $12.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781406357837 This is the twelfth instalment in the very popular Judy Moody series. It’s backwards day at school, and Judy decides to go as the opposite of herself – neat hair, clean clothes and no moods! Backwards day went so well, Judy decides to try doing it for a whole week. Can she stay in a good mood that long? She expects it will be hard to do, but she doesn’t expect that her friends will start suspecting her…
Anna Pignataro, Being Agatha, Five Mile Press, 1 September 2015, 32pp., $19.95 (hbk), ISBN: 9781760067267 One day Agatha’s kindergarten teacher announces that “like snowflakes and stars, everybody [is] special in their own way.” The teacher suggests everyone in the class say why they are special. Agatha struggles to think of anything, but is eventually saved by her teacher and classmates, who point out that she is a good helper and good at making faces, before agreeing that “no one else is a better Agatha than you!” This picturebook states on the back cover that it is “a story about difference and…
Robin Talley, What We Left Behind, Harlequin Teen, November 2015, 416pp., $19.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781743694275 What We Left Behind is a young adult novel about a queer couple heading off to their first year at college; Toni is going to Boston, while Gretchen is going to New York. The novel covers their long distance relationship, negotiating University life, finding new friends, and dealing with family back home. The main focus of the book is T’s gender identity, which shifts over the course of the novel from somebody who refuses to use pronouns and feels uncomfortable being read as a girl, to…
Bruce Pascoe, Seahorse, Magabala Books, August 2015, 96pp., $16.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781921248931 There are two unique aspects to this junior novel – firstly, it features an Aboriginal family and secondly, the setting – the fictional Seahorse Bay – is a key character in the story. Written by Bruce Pascoe – a Bunurong and Yuin man who lives in a secret bay in Victoria called Gipsy Point, the descriptions of diving for abalone and exploring underwater conjure a mysterious and somewhat sinister world. It occurred to me while reading that this could be a good jumping off point for a creative…
Jack Heath, The Haunted Book (Scream #3), Scholastic Australia, 1 August 2015, 144pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760152109 Jack Heath, The Squid Slayer (Scream #4), Scholastic Australia, 1 August 2015, 144pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781760152116 To date, Jack Heath has written five books in the Scream series. The two most recently released continue the themes set in the first book The Human Flytrap and are set in and around Axe Falls. The main characters are Dale and his cousin Sarah, with Detective Sergeant Claude Sharpe naturally remaining in the father and uncle role. The Haunted Book finds Dale holidaying with his family up in…
Kate Ryan (text), Kat Chadwick (illus), Catherine the Great: an art book for kids, National Gallery of Victoria, July 2015, 76pp., $14.95 (hbk), ISBN: 9780724104123 Did you know that in the 1700s the fashion for ladies of nobility was to cover their faces with thick white paste and paint red circles on their cheeks? What wasn’t known then however was that this paint contained lead, which is poisonous. You may also be interested to discover that hundreds of years ago most people didn’t wash, disguising their smell with strong perfumes. Interesting facts and anecdotes of every day life, along with information…
Wendy Harmer (text), Andrea Edmonds (illus), Showtime (Ava and Angus #4), Scholastic, 1 August 2015, 96pp., $9.99 (pbk) ISBN 9781743628584 Fairy floss, a ferris wheel and new friends – this story has heaps of appeal for young readers. Showtime is the fourth book in the series about a young girl, Ava Appleton, whose family has packed up their everyday life to embark on a year-long trip around Australia in a camper van. This story details their latest stop – and Ava’s latest adventures – at a country show. My 7-year-old twin girls hadn’t read the earlier books but had no…