Jenni Connor, Writing and Education Consultant and CBCA (Tas Branch) member, suggests novels with appeal for 10-16 year olds…
This collection is a bit of a mixed bag containing titles accessible by less confident readers from around Year 5, through to challenging novels for adolescents nearing the end of secondary school. It includes some ‘historical fiction’, some contemporary social commentary and some fantasy.
To begin with:
Tashi and the Wicked Magician, Anna & Barbara Fienberg (A & U, 2014). Children who have enjoyed the Tashi picture books will find this collection of stories a lovely bridge into junior novels.
The Big Book of Mr Badger, Leigh Hobbs (A & U, 2015). Four Mr Badger stories in one volume for fans of his quirky sense of humour.
Social realism for 10+:
Run, Pip, Run FC Jones (A & U, 2015). Pip is a wonderful, feisty, female hero who, with her loyal friends, valiantly avoids being taken into care when her beloved grandfather is hospitalised. A heart-warming, emotionally true story despite its charming fanciful elements.
Fantasy for 10-16:
Star of Deltora series, Emily Rodda (Scholastic, 2015). Emily Rodda is a supreme fantasy writer whose lyrical prose often takes my breath away. In this series Britta takes to the nine seas to win the Rosalyn Apprenticeship and redeem her family honour. Likely to engage capable readers from 10+ who are into this genre.
Battle of the Heroes, Kate Forsyth (Scholastic, 2015). The fifth and final title in The Impossible Quest series meets all expectations for a classic quest fantasy: a medieval setting with more than a touch of magic, an ancient prophecy waiting to be fulfilled, four redoubtable friends tasked with awakening the legendary warriors, spells with impossible ingredients and battles aplenty.
Fetcher’s Song, Lian Tanner (A & U, 2015). The thrilling conclusion to The Hidden series, this title is a tour de force of Tanner’s brilliant mastery of the genre and will delight fantasy enthusiasts at the upper end of the age spectrum.
A set of historical novels for 11-16 year old capable readers:
A New Australian Series, from Scholastic: Bridget, James Moloney; Kerenza, Rosanne Hawke; Sian, D. Luckett. Readers who have exhausted the Our Australian Girl series will relish this new set of historical novels about young people immigrating to Australia.
Pennies for Hitler, Jackie French (Angus & Robertson, 2012). A companion to Hitler’s Daughter (1999), Pennies for Hitler is set in 1939 and features Georg, a privileged British child caught up in Nazi Germany and forced to confront some of the big questions about human nature, killing, kindness and self interest.
Soon, Morris Gleitzman (Viking, 2015). Soon is the newest instalment in Gleitzman’s series of novels (Once, Then, After, and Now) featuring the epic story of Felix, a Polish Jew on the run from the Nazis. Soon is set after the Second World War, when times are really tough and Felix discovers that he didn’t leave all evil behind when the holocaust ended. The characters mature through the series and the novels increasingly require readers with emotional and literary sophistication and resilience.
Making Bombs for Hitler, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch (Scholastic, 2012). More journalistic than ‘literary’, this is a graphic account of one girl’s struggle for survival in a German munitions factory. Detailed in its description of the horrors the young women endured, the novel is not for the faint-hearted, even at the older end of the adolescent readership. However, it is an important addition to the growing collection of fictionalised recounts that help us not to forget and urge us never to repeat.
A novel set in contemporary Israel-Palestine:
The Cat at the Wall, Deborah Ellis (A & U, 2015). Best known for her Parvana and Diego novels, in this new title, Deborah Ellis makes a radical departure from her previous narrative style. Clare, who was once a 13 year old girl, finds herself reincarnated as a stray cat in the West Bank, trapped in a house with two young soldiers and a little boy. The novel seems part of Ellis’ admirable quest to understand the complexities of the Middle East situation and to convey it through new eyes and new perspectives.