David Levithan, Another Day, Text Publishing, 26 August 2015, 256pp., $19.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781925240337 David Levithan is an author who also edits and publishes other people’s books. He has much influence in the YA LGTBQIA community, and his own books are always powerful and inspiring. When I read Every Day a couple of years ago, I was struck by his message about gender. Because ‘A’ lacks form, what are the implications for the person who loves ‘A’? Rhiannon does fall for ‘A’, and while this is revelatory for ‘A’, it’s almost incomprehensible for Rhiannon. She only falls in love…
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Aaron Blabey, Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas, Scholastic, 1 September 2015, 24pp., $16-99 (hbk) ISBN 9781743625781 This new picture book by award winning author and illustrator Aaron Blabey is full of fun and mischief. The plot is simple: Brian the piranha wants to introduce fruit and vegetables into the diet. His piranha friends try to remind him they don’t eat such things as peas and beans at all and definitely no fruit, however, Brian won’t give up until they have all tried his fruit platter. Of course they devour it – as piranhas would – and they agree it’s very nice, but,…
Kel Richards (text) Marek Guthrie (illus), Snowy White and the Seven Wombats, Scholastic, 1 September 2015, 24pp., $9.99 (pbk) ISBN 978 1 74169 892 3 With the bush as its setting, Kel Richards has given a playful Australian twist to the much loved Snow White story. The rhyming text includes a stockman as the handsome prince and wombats instead of dwarfs. Evoking notions of the outback, we are told the dwarfs live beyond the Queensland border under a tall gum tree with the wicked stepmother sunbaking next to a pond while the overworked Snowy White tends the barbeque. The Australian…
Caleb Krisp, Anyone But Ivy Pocket, Bloomsbury, 9 April 2015, 313pp., $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781408858639 It is clear from the start that Ivy Pocket is no ordinary girl. There is nothing shy or retiring about this twelve year old lady’s maid as she boldly forges her way through life in Victorian England offering unwanted solutions, advice and cures to ailments. In her comical and forthright way Ivy takes charge of each situation causing havoc and leaving stunned aristocrats in her wake. She is independent and self-sufficient having been abandoned at an orphanage when she was five. Ivy’s running commentary on…
Chris Morphew, Blood In The Ashes (The Phoenix Files #2), Hardie Grant Egmont, 1 July 2015, 544pp., $19.95 (pbk) ISBN 978 1 7601 2426 7 Books three and four of the Phoenix Files series (in this second collected volume) continue the frantic efforts of Jordan, Luke and Peter as they flee from the clutches of the omnipotent and terrifying Shackleton Co-operative. Shackleton’s release of his doomsday weapon, Tabitha, grows closer with each passing page and the chapter headings promote a sense of drama by counting down the number of days to end of the world. There is much running, hiding,…
Sara Acton, As Big As You, Scholastic, 1 September 2015, 32pp., $24.99 (hbk) ISBN 9781743629697 This text has an unusual format where the pages lift up rather than turning to the left – imagine a normal picture book with the binding across the top of the page rather than along the left hand edge. The different design allows the story of Claude the adult elephant and Finlay the baby elephant to be illustrated with a sense of height which visually captures the difference in size between the two animals. The discrepancy in size forms the basis for the action of…
P.Crumble (text) Lucinda Gifford (illus) The Witch’s Britches, Scholastic, 1 September 2015, 24pp., $14.99 (pbk) ISBN 978 1 76015 1539 The premise of this story is that we have mistakenly believed that the magic power of witches comes from their wand whereas the truth is it comes from their britches. When young Ethel attends witch school she is given her magic britches with a warning that they will not work unless kept clean. One day they are blown off the clothes line and into the local park where they create havoc by making people’s wishes come true. The park is…
Laura Dockrill Lorali, Hot Key Books, 1 July 2015, 337pp., $16.95 (pbk) ISBN 9781471404221 This is one of the most original fantasy tales I’ve read in a long time, with incredible detail and an intriguing array of very different characters, some of whom also narrate the story. The key characters of Rory and Lorali provide a strong moral compass for some of those that are less than well intentioned, so that by the end readers are left to draw their own conclusions, while still probably having questions but also satisfaction in the conclusion. It is not a book for the faint hearted in…
Denise Kirby, The Way In (88 Lime Street #1), Scholastic, 1 May 2015, 272pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781742991009 This is a great book for readers who like to work with puzzles. It is set in an interesting and intriguing old house that’s full of secrets just waiting to be explored. The house has a mind and a personality of its own which provides the characters with all sorts of dilemmas to work through. Ellen and her family are the newest family to reside in this house but it is really only Ellen who is fully in tune with the house’s mysteries. Although she…
Anna Branford (text), Lisa Coutts (illus), The Midnight Owl (Lily the Elf), Walker, 1 May 2015, 47pp., $7.95 (pbk) ISBN 9781925081053 Anna Branford (text), Lisa Coutts (illus), The Precious Ring (Lily the Elf), Walker, 1 May 2015, 47pp., $7.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781925081046 These two books are part of a bigger series about Lily the elf. Content wise they are about Lily and her beloved Granny, and tell stories about the dilemmas of being a little elf dealing with the daily challenges of life. Luckily Granny is always there to support Lily as she works her way through each of these challenges. These…