Series: Young and Yang (Middle Grade Fic)

AUTHOR: Kristen Kittscher (US)
PUBLISHED: HarperCollins ; 2013.
PAGES/ILL: ~370 pages.
SERIES: Young and Yang. The Wig in the Window ; The Tiara on the Terrace.

PLOT: (Book 1: The Wig in the Window)
Best friends, 7th graders Sophie Young and Grace Yang, love mysteries and have made a game out of spying on their neighbours. When they discover a bloody scene at the home of their bizarre middle-school counsellor, they are on the case to prove she is not what she seems. Soon the girls are breaking secret codes, being followed by a strange blue car, and tailing strangers. As the case heats up, they are under pressure, which threatens their friendship.

REVIEW:
This is a really fun story for fans of The Secret Seven, The Famous Five, Encyclopaedia Brown, and Nancy Drew (and their parents would have likely liked Trixie Belden and the Hardy Boys). The age-range would target children who have long since moved on from the Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew series, but are not be ready for the full series featuring the older Nancy Drew.
The plot has little twists and more suspense than your average middle-grade mystery fiction.
Overall, I highly recommend this series. It would be an appropriate class read-aloud for Grades 4-6

For promoting it in school libraries, I would display this book (along with the others I've listed) together with articles about real-life child investigators, such as this one.

For more mystery and suspense books, check out the list from A Mighty Girl.

AGE: 9+.
GENRE: Detective and Mystery Fiction.
RATING: 4 1/2 - 5 stars.

RIP Alan Rickman (actor) 1946-2016

Rest in Peace, Alan Rickman, a brilliant actor who will, I think, be remembered best for his portrayal of the complex Severus Snape.

Favourite Roald Dahl Characters

For International Book Week, Roalddahl.com has a list of Top 5 Dahl heroes and heroines.

I really can't disagree with their choices, but there are a few I think give top 5 a run for their money and at least deserve an honourable mention. They include:

Grandma from The Witches. She's unflappable, knowledgeable, wise, experienced, and an all-round fun person it would be a pleasure to know.

Mr. Hoppy, the retired bachelor from Esio Trot. This sweet man is ingenious. I envy any woman who is lucky enough to find a man who will go to such lengths to gain her affection. (I should also let you know that this book will have a movie tie-in this year!)

And I absolutely must give accolades to Roald Dahl himself as the lead in his autobiography Boy. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it.

What character would you nominate?

(I would also add, that though they aren't characters, Dahl's books Revolting Rhymes and Dirty Beasts. HILARIOUS and a must in every upper primary school class).

RIP Terry Pratchett (author) 1948-2015

Rest in peace, Terry Pratchett (April 28, 1948 - March 12, 2015), one of the most incredible authors of the 20th/21st Century.

I've reviewed his Bromeliad series, but he is probably most well-known for the epic Discworld books.

Such a sad day!

Here are few news articles about him that have been shared on social media today. Neil Gaiman: ‘Terry Pratchett isn’t jolly. He’s angry’, Sept 2014.

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Might Be The Highest Form of Literature on the Planet, April 2013.

And I really like this from xkcd:

Top Australian Authors

Booktopia ran a poll asking people to vote for their favourite Australian authors. One of the best features of the poll was that you could vote for multiple people (seriously, who can choose only one favourite author?) and then the votes were collated to give us the TOP TEN!

Children's authors in the top ten are Mem Fox (a must for ANY picture book collection), Andy Griffiths (not hard to see how he made the list when you know how his books are gobbled up in primary school), and John Flanagan (author of the popular Ranger's Apprentice series).

Congratulations!

RIP R.A. Montgomery (author) 1936-2014

Rest in Peace, Raymond Almiran Montgomery, author and creator of the choose your own adventure series.

Mortlock Wing of the South Australia State Library voted one of the most beautiful in the world

The Mortlock Wing at the State Library of South Australia has been listed in the top 20 most beautiful libraries in the world! Read more here.

RIP Matthew Richell (publisher) 1973-2014

RIP Matthew Richell, CEO of publishing house Hatchette Australia. He died in a surfing accident at Tamarama.

News item: King James Bible from 1669 found in a charity booksale

A King James Bible printed in 1669 has been found in a Lifeline charity booksale in Wahroonga. It was published by John Bill and Christopher Barker, who were printers for the King. It is missing the title page, but is still worth about $800.