My Sister Rosa (YA/Adult Fic)

AUTHOR: Justine Larbalestier (US)
PUBLISHED: Allen & Unwin ; 2016.
PAGES/ILL: ~400 pages.

PLOT:
Teenager Che has a lot of things he wants to do. Improve his boxing. Get a girlfriend. Leave New York and go back home to Sydney. But the most important thing is keeping his little sister, Rosa, in line.
Rosa is cruel. She delights in deception and making other people hurt. Che is convinced she's a sociopath, but Rosa's sweet outward disposition easily fools the people around them. Che's life gets increasingly complicated as Rosa's games lead to horrific consequences.

REVIEW:
This is being advertised as a YA novel, but I would emphasise that it is for OLDER young adults (17+).

This is one of the best books I've read this year. I'm writing this a few months after I finished the book and it has still stuck with me. It's a great story if you can handle sociopathic children completely devoid of empathy who delight in manipulating others (and the reality that they DO exist).

AGE: 17+/Adult.
GENRE: Realistic psychological/thriller fiction.
RATING: STRONG 5 stars.

Beyond the Laughing Sky (Jnr Fic)

AUTHOR: Michelle Cuevas (US)
PUBLISHED: Dial Books ; 2014.
PAGES/ILL: ~160 pages.

PLOT:
Ten-year-old Nashville doesn’t feel like he belongs with his family, in his town, or even in this world. He was hatched from an egg his father found on the sidewalk and has grown into something not quite boy and not quite bird. Despite the support of his loving parents and his adoring sister, Junebug, Nashville wishes more than anything that he could join his fellow birds up in the sky.

Some people in town understand him, but most don't. Children in his class are curious and can be cruel, but gradually they accept Nashville for who he is. Eventually, he builds himself some wings and flies away.

REVIEW:
This is a sweet little story about individual differences. It would be an appropriate read-aloud for a year 1 class.

AGE: 7+.
RATING: 3 1/2 stars.

Series: Everest (Middle Grade Fic)

AUTHOR: Gordon Korman (Canada)
PUBLISHED: Scholastic ; 2012, c2002.
PAGES/ILL: ~130 pages.
SERIES: Everest: 1. The Contest 2. The Climb 3. The Summit.

PLOT: (Book 1: The Contest)
Teenagers from across America have the chance to be on the youngest team ever to climb Everest. After winning a sports drink promotion, they must compete in boot camp to prove they have what it takes to survive on the mountain. Dominic is the smallest and the youngest and is in danger of being cut at every turn. The competition is fierce, and some contestants will go to any lengths to make the team.

REVIEW:
This adventure will appeal particularly to boys in upper primary school. I would also recommend it to reluctant readers and it could be used as a year 5 class read aloud. Themes include survival, friendship and interpersonal relationships, being highly skilled, competition, etc.

AGE: 10+.
GENRE: Realistic fiction, Adventure
RATING: 4 1/2 stars.

Paper Planes (Jnr Fic)

AUTHOR: Steve Worland (Aust)
PUBLISHED: Puffin ; 2015.
PAGES/ILL: 196 pages.

PLOT:
Twelve-year-old Dylan Webber lives in outback Western Australia in a small country town. When he discovers he has a talent for folding and flying paper planes, Dylan begins a journey to reach the World Junior Paper Plane Championships in Japan.
Along the way he makes unlikely new friends, clashes with powerful rivals and comes to terms with his family's past before facing his greatest challenge: to create a paper plane that will compete with the best in the world.

REVIEW:
Written in the second person, present tense, this is a quick and easy read. It is based on the screenplay of the movie. I'm sure it will appeal to primary school children who see the movie.

AGE: 7+.
GENRE: Realistic fiction.
RATING: 4 1/2 stars.

Series: Death & Co. (Fic)

AUTHOR: McCune, D.J. (Ireland)
PUBLISHED: Hot Key Books, c2013.
PAGES/ILL: 279 pages
SERIES: Frankie Death & Co.
FIRST BOOK: Death & Co.

PLOT:
Lumen are charged with guiding souls down their Light after death. Luman can move fairly freely between the real world and the Hinterland where they meet the souls. Adam belongs to a Luman family, but he's not sure he wants the job. He likes being 'normal' - having friends, going to schools, and beginning to date girls. But Adam has a special gift, and when he starts to embrace it, he realises he can change more than his own destiny. But not without a price...

REVIEW:
This is one of those books which, for the most part, I liked, but which didn't live up to potential. Some parts of the story I'd give a strong 4 stars. Other parts get a 2.
For the potential appeal to children, I give it 4 stars.

The premise of the plot (adapting the 'Ferryman' folklore) is great and it's such a pity that the author didn't do it justice. The target audience is supposed to be teen, but it reads more like a middle grade book.

I found Adam and his friends fairly juvenile. A sub-plot has Adam and his friends playing pranks on a head teacher, fooling and humiliating him. The story shows this teacher as a bully and dumb enough to fall for the pranks - a very juvenile idea. This sub-plot was not necessary and just took time away from the main story line (exploring the world of the Lumen). Sure, it introduced us to the 'normal' part of Adam's life, but it wasn't done particularly well. It felt too lower and middle grade (Captain Underpants-esque) compared to the other themes (you'd think a boy who has grown up with the responsibility of helping souls move on after death would have a little more maturity).

There were missed opportunities for character development and world-building. Children won't notice the lack of development so much, but it would have contributed making the book higher quality (obviously).

Overall, I did enjoy reading the book and will read the next one. Unfortunately, it could have been so much more (hopefully the next book/s will build a bit more guts into the story line).

I can see that it does have appeal for children (suitable age depends on the child). While it's promoted for YA, it's more pre-adolescent (9 or 10+), although you'd have to know the 9 y.o to know how much 'death' is ok for them (for example, in one scene Adam and his family are in the Hinterland, helping souls who have just been mass-executed in a military coup). It's for kids who have moved way beyond Diary of a Wimpy Kid/Captain Underpants, but are no where near ready for Hunger Games. It's about on par with the early Harry Potters or Skulduggery Pleasants.

AGE: 9-14.
GENRE: Fantasy fiction.
RATING: 3 1/2 - 4 stars.

Series: Shoutykid (Jnr Fic)

AUTHOR: Simon Mayle (UK)
PUBLISHED: HarperCollins, c2014.
PAGES/ILL: 397 pages, ill.
SERIES: Shoutykid.
FIRST BOOK: How Harry Riddles Made a Mega-Amazing Zombie Movie.

PLOT:
Told through a series of texts, emails and letters, follow Harry Riddles' ups and downs in life with school, girls and his family.
When his dad looses his job, Harry begins thinking that making a zombie movie might just be his ticket to success (and money).

REVIEW:
This book will appeal to fans of Captain Underpants, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Charlie Merrick's Misfits, or Compton Valance. The format will have high appeal with reluctant and struggling readers.

AGE: 7-10.
GENRE: Realistic fiction
RATING: 4 stars (not because it is a literary great, but because of its high appeal to under 10s, especially reluctant readers).

Series: The Mapmaker Chronicles (Fic)

AUTHOR: A.L. Tait (Aust)
PUBLISHED: Lothian, c2014.
PAGES/ILL: 238 pages.
SERIES: The Mapmaker Chronicles
FIRST BOOK: Race to the End of the World

PLOT: (Race to the End of the World)
Quinn is just a farmer's son. And one of the very few not of the nobility to know how to read and write, thanks to his mother. He also has a phenomenal memory. It is these skills that the King is looking for when he decides that his kingdom should be the first to map the entire world, so Quinn must leave his family and embark on an adventure he's not sure he really wants.

The King has decided three ships will compete against each other to be the first to bring home the most detailed map. Quinn is recruited to a ship captained by a slave who is competing for his freedom, and along the way they encounter strange creatures, barbaric tribes, and subterfuge from the other competitors.

REVIEW:
Promoted as being the next 'Ranger's Apprentice', this story was enticing enough that I read it in one sitting (about 3 hours or so) one night and will be on the look-out for the next book. While, as an adult, I would have liked a little more character and story development, there is enough to make it accessible for younger children and still interesting for older readers. The journey is based on how explorers created maps in the past and includes encounters with unknowns such as a narwhal and the aurora borealis. Told in the third person and mostly from Quinn's point of view, it deserves a solid recommendation.

Would be a good class read-aloud for grades 3-5.

AGE: 7-12. (Reading age about 9+).
GENRE: Fantasy fiction
RATING: 5 stars.

Series: The League of Princes (Fic)

AUTHOR: Christopher Healy (USA)
PUBLISHED: HarperCollins, c2014.
PAGES/ILL: 516 pages, illustrations.
SERIES: The League of Princes / The Hero's Guides
FIRST BOOK: The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom

PLOT: (The Hero's Guide to Being and Outlaw -#3)
Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. Known as the League of Princes, but we know them simply as "Prince Charming". These are the princes who live in a land with Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel. And they must join forces to fight evil and save their kingdoms.

When an evil wizard plots to take over the 13 kingdoms (and his plot is a good one - frame the princes for murder, kidnap the 'victim', and get the bards to sing songs about how horrible they are), the League must pull together to clear their names and defeat evil, all while escaping prison, trolls, witches and more.

REVIEW:
Lighthearted and easy to read, with the occasional suspenseful moments, this is a fun romp.
It maintains the reader's interest with challenges which aren't solved in a single chapter, and reasonably well-developed characters.

Recommended for those looking for something in a similar vein but a bit meatier than Treasure Hunters.

Would be a good class read-aloud for grades 3-5.

AGE: 8-13. (Reading age 9+).

GENRE: Fantasy fiction
RATING: 4 - 4 1/2 stars.

My Brother's Secret (YA Fic)

AUTHOR: Dan Smith (UK)
PUBLISHED: London : Chicken House, c2014.

PLOT:
Germany, 1941. 12-year-old Karl Engel is looking forward to joining the Hitler Youth, like all boys his age.

But when his father is killed, and his family moves in with his grandparents, he discovers things that leave his faith in the Führer shaken. Everyone seems to know something he doesn't. When he joins his brother in rebellion, his life will never be the same.

REVIEW:
This book is very interesting (I read it on my lunch break over a week and it was very difficult to get back to work :) ), and could be recommended to reluctant readers and to tweens/teens interested in history. It could be included on the reading list when introducing WW2 - certainly it lends itself to further discussion about Germany and the war, and how it may have felt to be a German at that time.
I liked the progression of the main character (from a very naive and rather irritating boy to a character with courage and convictions) and the inclusion of factual information about the Edelweiss Pirates.

This book could be a class read-aloud with 6th or 7th graders.

Also in this vein (war): Boy in the Striped Pajamas or Then.


AGE: 12-15. While the actual reading level is around age 10 or 11, the topics require a little maturity if you want children to read this and understand the implications in the broader context of a complex real-life war.
GENRE: Realistic fiction / Historical fiction.
RATING: 4 - 4 1/2 stars.

The Adventures of Sir Roderick, The Not-Very Brave (Fic)

AUTHOR: James O'Loghlin (Aust)
PUBLISHED: Australia : Pan, c2014.

PLOT:
Being a knight is the last thing Roderick wants, but that's what he becomes when he saves the Queen's life. When the Queen bids her knights to seek out a wizard, he must go where he is sent, and thus begins an adventure involving an invisible girl, a talking bear (who is rather funny), the wizard, a kidnapping, giant cockroaches, and more!

REVIEW:
The bear adds some light humour, and the plot has enough twists that it stays interesting till the end. There are some moments that could be scary for some children (but certainly not as scary as Goosebumps and the like). There are themes of magic, friendship, betrayal, bravery and courage, questioning authority, trust, and self-actualisation.

It would be a good option for a third-grade read aloud (the plot would go way over the heads of some 2nd graders).

AGE: 8-12.
GENRE: Fantasy fiction.
RATING: 4 - 4 1/2 stars.

The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish (PB)

AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman (AUS); ILLUSTRATOR: Dave McKean
PUBLISHED: Australia : HarperCollins, c1998.

PLOT:
When a boy swaps his dad for his friend's goldfish, chaos ensues. Mum is not impressed and demands that he swap them back, but in the meantime, his friend has swapped his dad for something else. The boy and his sister go on a hunt to get their dad back.

REVIEW:
Very funny. Lots of subtleties to the story that may go over the heads of some kids, but enjoyable all the same; even more so for the child who gets the jokes. It would lend itself well for children to create their own stories about something that keeps getting swapped for something else and how one might hunt it down.

AGE: 4-10.
RATING: 5 stars

Heap House (Jnr Fic)

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Edward Carey
PUBLISHED: London : Hot Key Books, 2013.

PLOT: (spoiler alert)
In an alternate England, all of London's garbage is owned by one family (the Iremongers), and has been for generations. All the garbage is shipped to one location - the Heaps, which spread for miles in enormous mounds. In the middle of the heaps is a mansion, put together from bits and pieces of houses that have been acquired over the years by the Iremonger forefathers. Here live the Iremongers - generations of them. All the aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. They also intermarry by pre-arrangement (the fact that this leads to genetic abnormalities is not addressed directly, but is hinted at). The 'pure blood' Iremongers live in the top part of the house, and the non-pure bloods, distant relations, are their servants. Because the family's wealth is built from what is scavenged from the heaps, objects are treasured. In fact, they have a bizarre ritual that every Iremonger (pure-blood and servants alike) are given a birth object at birth. (We find that they mix a piece of the object with the Iremonger's blood and then inject it back into the Iremonger, which causes the object and Iremonger to be bound to each other - the Iremonger will die without their birth object).

Clod, a pure-blood, has the unusual gift that he can hear the birth objects talking. They call out names; their own names. Clod's birth object, a bath plug, says 'James Henry Haywood'.
We discover that there in a strange disease around which causes people to turn into objects, and in fact that is what all the birth objects are - people. If a birth object and Iremonger are separated for too long, the object will turn back into a person (with no memory), and the Iremonger will turn into an object.

Trouble starts when a non-Iremonger, Lucy, is accidentally bought into the house as a servant and given a birth object. This is such a terrible trespass that the objects take on a life of their own beyond simply saying their names; they being to move of their own accord and revolt, joining together to form a Gathering (they become sort of robotic, the objects becoming one Being intent on destruction and growing larger with every object that joins it). If it escapes the house into the heaps, it will become a monster, gathering all the objects from the massive heaps of garbage surrounding the house.

Lucy, being a non-Iremonger, can't understand their way of life, but she strikes up a friendship with Clod, who, predictably, falls in love with her. Any relationship between the servants and the upper house is forbidden, so their friendship is secret, until the chaos starts and it comes out that a servant has been mixing (even kissing! oh the horror!) an upper house Iremonger. This sin is, of course, part of the reason why the objects are in revolt, and the servant Iremongers are out for Lucy's blood (literally).

As chaos rages through the house, Lucy escapes and hides about the house, and Clod is chased by the Gathering. Eventually, they meet up again, with plans to escape the house (another thing that is forbidden) and live together happily ever after. Just as the Gathering is about to let all hell break lose, the Grandfather comes in and destroys it. Clod and Lucy are then turned into objects, their birth objects turn back into people. and here the story ends, presumably with life for the Iremongers returning to how it has been - uninterrupted by Iremongers, servants, and objects which don't know their place.

Woven throughout the story are themes of dysfunctional families, friendship, bullying, death, and social taboos.

REVIEW:
I have to say, I found it really hard to get into this book. The story struggled and dragged in many parts. Everything was predictable. The author failed to draw the reader in, and I had little empathy for anyone other than Clod and his friend, Tummis (a bullied and misunderstood teen who eventually commits suicide).

The story is slightly enhanced by portraits of the different Iremonger family and servant members and  illustrations of the cross sections of the upper and lower house on the front and back pages, but these illustrations are not enough to pull it up a notch.
Apparently, the book is the first in what will be a trilogy, but I will be avoiding it. It's not the most rubbish book I've ever picked up (it was a struggle, but I did finish), but I found it a waste of my time and I would not recommend it to anyone. For children who like quirky ideas, there are FAR FAR better titles (such a Lemony Snicket, Skulduggery Pleasant, or The Graveyard Book - comparing The Graveyard Book to Heap House is like comparing chocolate mousse to a mud pie).

AGE: it is marketed at ages 9-12, but I would hesitate to recommend it to under 11's.
RATING: 2 stars

The Nowhere Box (PB)

AUTHOR: Sam Zuppardi
PUBLISHED: 2013?

PLOT:
George's little brothers wreck his toys and his games and trail after him wherever he goes. Try as he might, there's just no hiding from them. George has had enough! So he commandeers an empty washing-machine box and goes to the one place his brothers can't follow: Nowhere. Nowhere is amazing! It's magnificent! It's also, however, free of pirates and dragons and...well, anyone at all. Eventually George decides that Nowhere isn't as fun as he thought it would be, and returns home to his adoring younger brothers, who are more than happy to play pirates and dragons.

REVIEW:
An ode to imagination - and annoying but indispensable siblings. A great book for early primary school ages learning that younger brothers and sisters may be annoying, (and it is important to have you own space), but also that they can be a lot of fun to play with, and you can't do without them.

AGE: 4-7
RATING: 4 stars

Doodleday (PB)

AUTHOR: Ross Collins
PUBLISHED: 2012, c2011

PLOT:
Mum has just one thing to tell Harvey on Doodleday - no drawing allowed! But before Dudley can ask why you don't draw on Doodleday, she's out the door. Surely one little fly won't hurt? Not until Harvey's fly comes to life and starts to wreck the kitchen, that is! What can Harvey draw that will catch it? Will anything, or anyone, be capable of stopping Harvey's rampaging doodles?

REVIEW:
The thought of line drawings coming to life and causing chaos is just a lot of fun.

AGE: 3-7
RATING: 4 stars

The Santa Trap (PB)

AUTHOR: Jonathan Emmett ; ILLUSTRATOR: Poly Bernatene
PUBLISHED: 2010, c2009

PLOT:
Bradley Bartleby is bad, and the older he got, the badder he became. He's greedy and naughty and selfish and spoilt -- and Santa Claus knows it. But when beastly Bradley empties his Christmas stocking to find nothing but a pair of socks, he does quite the baddest thing he has EVER tried to do. He builds a trap -- a SANTA TRAP! With guillotines, dynamite and a tiger or two, Santa doesn't stand a chance. Will Santa be forgiving?

REVIEW:
Most children love it when the bad kid gets what's coming to him in stories. The simple karma of a child who gets trapped in his own trap is a winner, not to mention the story is told beautifully, with illustrations to match.
AGE: 4-8
RATING: 4 1/2 stars

Rules of Summer (PB)

AUTHOR: Shaun Tan
PUBLISHED: 2013

PLOT/REVIEW:
A deceptively simple story about two boys, one older and one younger, and the kind of rules that might govern any relationship between close friends or siblings. Rules that are often so strange or arbitrary, they seem impossible to understand from the outside.
Yet through each exquisite illustration of this nearly wordless narrative, we can understand the story of friendship that is so familiar - something friendship is easy, and sometimes it is hard. As you venture deep into the story, the images and the story line become darker, more mysterious and unsettling, but it draws together at the end to affirm the bond of deep friendship.

AGE: 6-10
RATING: 4 stars

Tales From Outer Suburbia (short stories) (YA Fic)

AUTHOR: Shaun Tan (Aust)
PUBLISHED: 2013

Fifteen illustrated short stories set in the Australian suburbs. Stories include: The water buffalo -- Eric -- Broken toys -- Distant rain -- Undertow -- Grandpa's story -- No other country -- Stick figures -- The nameless holiday -- The amnesia machine -- Alert but not alarmed -- Wake -- Make your own pet -- Our expedition -- Night of the turtle rescue

PLOT (Eric): Eric is a foreign exchange student (the pictures make him seem alien-esque) comes to stay. Some of his behaviour seems very strange, but Mum just says "Maybe it's a cultural thing." But they're not really sure if he's happy or not. It's only when he mysteriously leaves that they find his thank-you gift.

REVIEW: Quite a charming collection of short stories, some humorous, some haunting and thought-provoking.

AGE: middle primary school to junior highschool.
GENRE: various
REVIEW: 5 stars

Just a Dog (Fic)

AUTHOR: Michael Gerard Bauer (Aust)
PUBLISHED: 2010

PLOT:
An ultimately sad little book about a dog and his family as told through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy. It is a collection of stories about the dog's antics, and how a dog can truly be a member of the family.

REVIEW:
It made me laugh, and brought a tear to my eye, and reminded me of the dogs I've had in my life.

One criticism I have is the grammar and the over-misuse of the word "but" instead of "though" at the end of sentences ("It was good but."; "I didn't mind but.") Yes, it is supposed to be how the boy is talking, but it actually gets distracting and quite annoying. I'll go through my copy and edit it properly before I give it or read it to a child.
I wouldn't give the book to children under 10, or to sensitive children, as there are some themes (financial and marital problems, fighting, suggestions of infidelity, animals being scared and eventually dying) that will be confusing and/or confronting to some children.

AGE: Ages 10/11-15 (take maturity into account when suggesting this book)
GENRE: Realistic fiction
RATING: 4 1/2 stars

The Wrong Book (PB)

AUTHOR: Nick Bland (Aust)
PUBLISHED: 2009

PLOT: Nicholas is trying to tell a story, but he keeps being interrupted by characters from other stories... they are invading the wrong book!

REVIEW: Very funny, with fantastic pictures.

AGE: Preschool - Primary school
RATING: 5 stars.

Stuck (PB)

AUTHOR: Oliver Jeffers (Northern Ireland; U.S.)
PUBLISHED: 2011

When Floyd's kite gets stuck in a tree, he throws everything from a shoe, to the kitchen sink, to a whale after it to get it down.  What will happen to the kite?  (not to mention the whale...)
Jeffers does it again with a book that will delight all readers.

AGE: Preschool - Primary school ages
RATING: 5 stars