Caroline O’Donoghue, The Gifts That Bind Us (All the Hidden Gifts, #2), Walker Books, February 2022, 416 pp., RRP $18.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781406393101 Things are not the same after last summer. Lily is back but different. Roe’s band is starting to receive the right attention. Fiona is desperate to escape Kilberg. And Maeve? Well, she doesn’t know where she fits in or what she’ll do when she soon graduates school. Plus, all four of them are coming to terms with their new found powers. Instead of bringing the friends closer, exploring their powers drives a wedge between them. Strange things…
Author: Admin
Jeff Kinney, Big Shot (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #16), Penguin Random House, October 2021, 224 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780143796114 Is there anyone who doesn’t know about the ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ books? Wikipedia tells me it is the sixth bestselling book series of all time. Big Shot is number 16 in the series, and there are also other Wimpy World books, an animated TV series, and a number of movies. The central character of these is Greg Heffley, described as a ‘loveable slacker’. The books are written as Greg’s journal, with a stream-of-consciousness style, and move…
Kayla Miller, Click, Walker Books, October 2021, 208 pp., RRP $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760654870 Graphic novels have taken the kidlit world by storm in the last few years and while gate-keepers might be slow on the uptake, kids are clamouring for more. The comic-book style provides a tantalising gateway for exploring serious issues, including bullying, identity, and racism, affecting kids aged 7 years and up. Click, which focuses on fourth grader Olive, is a great introduction to the genre for girls in middle primary. Olive is the kind of girl who has lots of friends but yearns for a BFF.…
Harry Laing (text) and Anne Ryan (illustrator), RapperBee, Ford Street Publishing, October 2021, 102 pp., RRP $14.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781925804775 Make room, Elizabeth Honey; there’s a new kid on the block! Well, not quite a new kid – author Harry Liang has been writing poetry for children since he self-published his first collection back in 2015. In his latest collection entitled Rappe Bee, Liang cements his position at the peak of Australian writers who are making poetry cool again. Rapper Bee is an anthology of over 60 poems where no topic is off limits. Liang’s writing is uninhibited by logic in the…
Renée Ahdieh, The Righteous, Hodder & Stoughton, December 2021, 432 pp., RRP $22.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781529368413 Vampires, werewolves, fey, fiends, magic and mystery all reside in New Orleans, if one knows where to look… Arjun Desai is the only one who can help his friend Odette, who is facing the final death. His fey heritage allows him to cross into the Sylvan Vale, a place of beauty and cruelty, to retrieve a healer powerful enough to save her. However, he must tread carefully in the land he so despises, as prejudice runs deep and the haughty fey would love nothing…
Phoebe McArthur, Lucy Newton Cat Trouble, Christmas Press, November 2021, 67 pp., RRP $13.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780648815464 Lucy Newton Cat Trouble is a sequel to Lucy Newton Little Witch, which was shortlisted for the 2019 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards (see Reading Time Review, February 2019). I would recommend reading the first book beforehand, as there is assumed knowledge regarding Lucy and her backstory. Lucy is an apprentice witch. We meet her, together with Thomas her talking cat, as they travel by train to spend the holidays with her grandparents. Although this book is written by an…
Charles Massy (text) and Mandy Foot (illustrator), The Last Dragon, National Library of Australia, November 2021, 44 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780642279729 Australia leads the world in the rate of mammal extinctions and comes third overall in the rate of species extinctions. Our woeful record requires a change of heart among everyone, and perhaps especially among the young generation coming soon into stewardship of our nation. This book brings one of our most endangered creatures to our attention. The Last Dragon follows the life story of a single Monaro Grassland Earless Dragon, named Timpo, as it wanders across the…
Phillip Marsden, Boss Ladies of Sport, Hachette Australia, December 2021, 32 pp., RRP $19.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780734421197 Featuring successful female athletes, this picture book presents them as cartoonish figures with faces which capture their individual charm. Twenty-five women are examined and say how they have been able to become leaders in their sports. They come from far and wide – from Australia, Italy, Jamaica and many unfamiliar countries. Ariarne Titmus, Ash Barty and many others speak up for girls in sport, urging them to be courageous, fair, do their best and have fun. It describes some of the struggles these…
Lauren J. Streiffer (text) and Rita Ivanova (illustrator), This Small King, One in a Million Publishing, October 2021, 32 pp., RRP 24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780648927822 This Small King is about a young, naughty king who suddenly realises how kindness can transform his kingdom. Initially, the boy king gets his own way by yelling and throwing tantrums. No-one is happy in his kingdom. Until, one strange day, an accident occurred. The king opened his mouth, and out popped a nice word! Slowly he realises that he can rule this kingdom and be strong and kind. The message is clear: everyone is…
Moira Court, Lion is that You?, Fremantle Press, March 2022, 40 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760991241 Young audiences will definitely be thrilled with the beautiful picture book Lion is that You? Undoubtedly, a range of mixed responses can be expected from audiences as they debate the existence or non-existence or perhaps ‘hedge their bets either way’ as to the possible existence of a feral lion living in the bush. There are lions in this bushland, so they say. Shy, secretive mountain lions hidden away. These elusive beasts should not be here, though; their ancestors were left behind long long…