April 2016 - The Boomerang Books Blog

YA Books About Schizophrenia

Lately there’s been a rise of books that deal with important topics: such as mental health. I’m so in favour of this because it a) breaks down stigmas that we might have from not understanding the mental illness, and b) shows us that people are never just “labels” and c) helps us to walk in these characters’ shoes and learn more about how they live.

I’ve read several books recently that deal with Schizophrenia, which is definitely something I didn’t know much about before reading these books. And they are such endlessly good books that I MUST SHARE. I also highly recommend them, of course.

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

This book is absolutely entirely fantastic. It is about Alex who is a highschool senior and struggles to tell the difference between real vs made up. She’s solving a mystery at her school and also has met a very confusing and intense boy, Miles, whom she doesn’t quite know what to do with. I particularly adored this book because it presented Alex as a pretty normal person. YES, she has delusions. But she also has hobbies and dreams and habits. There’s witty banter and relatable high school experiences. It’ll definitely break your heart just a little though at the end there.

Alice and the Fly by James Rice

This one definitely gave me the shivers. It introduces us to Greg who is a very unreliable narrator and suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. It really affects his life and he’s basically undiagnosed and has zero support from his family. They ignore anything “weird” he does. There’s lots of stalking in this one, but we’re so deep in Greg’s thought-process that it’s easy to understand why he does what he does. Honestly it’s a chilling book and it keeps you gripping and flipping pages. Also amazingly writing. Also slightly traumatising.

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

So clearly, after reading this, I am of the opinion that Neal Shusterman is a word GENIUS. I cannot believe how creatively and artistically he wrote this story! Apparently it’s also based upon his own son, who suffers from similar symptoms to the schizophrenic protagonist: Caden. Half of the book is real-life-narrative about Caden. And half the book is his delusions about being on a ship and the weird and nonsensical things that happen. Honestly? It takes a bit of getting used to. But once you’ve conquered those initial confusing first chapters, the book just opens up into this amazingly poignant story about failure and recovery.

OTHER SCHIZOPHRENIC BOOKS

I haven’t read these ones (that to-be-read pile truly is endless) but they look incredibly interesting and I’m keen to try them someday!

I Will Save You follows the story of a boy with no family who works at a beach and is haunted by a best-friend/worst-enemy. Schizo is about a boy’s downward spiral into mental illness and an obsession with his brother and a girlfriend who might not exist. A Blue So Dark is about a girl who’s keeping her artistic mother’s schizophrenia a secret and therefore is her sole carer, all the while denying her own artistic urges because she believes it’ll make her end up like her mother.

Review: Shtum by Jem Lester

Jem Lester’s exceptional debut, Shtum, poignantly depicts the love, anger, guilt and exhaustion felt by the parents of a young boy with severe learning disabilities.

The autism afflicting eleven-year-old Jonah isn’t the kind most readers will be familiar with – that is, the kind displayed by Raymond in the movie Rain Man, or Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Such is the profoundness of Jonah’s autism, he will never develop language; he communicates through laminated cards. Added to that is his complete unpredictability and fearlessness; he is a boy who requires constant monitoring, and is never anything less than a handful. But crucially, Jonah is not a caricature – an embodiment of autism at its highest spectrum. He is a boy with a personality. He is distinct. He is special, like all children. He is the son of Ben and Emma Jewell, and despite their perpetual exhaustion and fluctuating emotions, there is never any doubt, Jonah is loved, and he always will be. But life is not easy – for any of them. And the sad reality is, Jonah needs better care than they can provide at home. He needs placement at a specialist residential school – but the rigmarole involved in securing a slot seems insurmountable when the novel begins…

Both Ben and Emma are at breaking point. The cracks that have always existed in their marriage have turned into chasms. So, believing the breakdown of their marriage would increase the likelihood of Jonah’s placement at a specialist school – it’s a decision that needs to be made by the courts, based on assertions by various well-meaning social workers – Ben and his son move into his Jewish father’s home. This is not a match made in heaven; father and son have a strained relationship, and neither have ever showed much interest in making peace. But for Jonah’s sake, they put aside their differences, and over the next few months Ben battles his own demons, all the while coming to terms with the breakdown of the various relationships in his life, while the shadow of Jonah’s hearing looms large.

Jem Lester’s Shtum is darkly comical, searingly honest, and unputdownable. It’s a book that needs to be read, so that people understand the challenges facing the parents of children with developmental disabilities, and the ripple effects of these hardships – but also because it’s simply a stunning work of fiction, absolutely absorbing and affecting, and in my opinion, one of the finest novels I’ve read this year.

Buy the book here…

Mums are Super! – Small reads, big on Heart

Mums come in all shapes and sizes and deserve adulations, which match their boundless love, tireless efforts, and quiet achievements. To fit them all into one day – Mother’s Day – is a mission impossible so shower your mother with gratitude (and great reads) year round! Or, if you are like me and prefer to share special literary moments with your reasons for motherhood (aka your brood), then curl up with one or two of these titles, together.

Too Cute 0 – 4 year olds

I Love You

This super dinky, pretty in pink board book forms part of the Carry and Play series, which neatly cover most of the celebratory seasons of the year: Christmas, Halloween, Spring time and so on. I Love You is an excellent fit for Mother’s Day given the mummies and babies theme. Simple assuring text, sweet illustrations and a shape and size that is perfect for little people with tiny hands and big hearts to grab on to will ensure hours of devoted reading; they’ll love toting around their very own copy.

Bloomsbury 2016

You have my Heart by Corrine Fenton and Robin Cowcher

Another smallish picture book big on heart is You have my Heart. The suggestion that something special lies within begins with the padded cover and rich depth of joy portrayed by the bright red balloons, which float quietly yet purposefully throughout. The balloon belongs to someone who like us all, drifts through life on an ever-changing tide of emotions. There are good days, great days and ‘tears-tumbling-down days.’ This is a delicate exploration of Parrot’s Six primary emotions and all the other in-between days, ultimately uplifting and reassuring young readers of their value and worth and that they are loved and cherished unconditionally. Cowcher’s restrained two-tone illustrations are superlative. Guaranteed to melt your heart.

The Five Mile Press April 2016

Pre-school Perfect 3 years +

My Mum’s Special Secret by Sally Morgan Illustrated by Ambelin Kwaymullina

Every child thinks their mum is special. It probably has a lot to do with the way she selflessly provides and cares for them. How she always has time to play with them, guide and teach them, watch over them and share with them the small wonders of their immense worlds, much like mother Kookaburra does with her chick. Morgan’s simple conversational text sits comfortably alongside Kwaymullina’s jolly colour-filled illustrations. Bold and bright, big on Aussie character but possessing a theme recognisable in any language, this neat little picture book will reinforce the mother-child bond snuggly.

Omnibus Books April 2016

Nannie Loves by Kylie Dunstan

Celebrating a mother’s love spans many generations including a grandmother’s. By examining each and everything and everyone Nannie loves, Dunstan takes us on a vivid holiday to Nannie’s farm, however for the narrator, it’s a much cherished regular visit. We meet her cows and chooks and Grandpa with his assortment of checked shirts. We ride tractors, wander about the farm, help collect eggs and best of all participate in the beautiful sharing of family and food. It’s a love of country, family, and life that is pure and encompassing and it is superbly rendered by Dunstan’s use of paper collage and pencil illustrations. I love it. I ‘m sure your Nan will, too. Gorgeous for those shared reading occasions when you both want to feel extra special.

Working Title Press March 2016

Fantastic Fun for 4 – 10 year olds

Supermum by Leah Russack Illustrated by Anil Tortop

Have you ever notice just how super your mum is? Perhaps not as she dashes about conjuring up meals, making mess disappear and healing all hurts. For one small child however, their mum’s superpowers are sensational secrets they are busting to share, so they do. This picture book is outrageous fun and exploits the perennial favourites – imaginative play and superheroes – with funky new verve and humour thanks to Tortop’s charismatic illustrations. Crackling with wit and colour, each scene smartly supports Russack’s simple statements – with a nifty twist that every child will immediately warm to. Supermum is proof positive that mums can do just about anything, with or without a cape. Superb for reading aloud and jumping off couches with.

Scholastic Australia April 2016

Take Ted Instead by Cassandra Webb Illustrated by Amanda Francey

It’s the uncluttered natural flow of Webb’s narrative that makes Take Ted Instead a delight to read out loud but it’s Francey’s lavish illustrations that will draw readers back to this tale of bedtime procrastination. Yes, familiar theme but fun new approach with plenty of predictive word play that readers under five will appreciate just as fondly as those slightly older. Our little boy is tired but rather than succumb to bed, clings to a rising determination to send his many varied companions off in his place; my favourite bedtime victim is next-door-neighbour Ned but I think Francey’s portrayal of Ed (the goldfish) is gorgeous, too. Will Ted end up in bed, alone or will bedtime end in peace and joy? A delicious bedtime story to wind up Mother’s Day with.

New Frontier Publishing April 2016

Hope yours is wonderful, too. Happy Mother’s Day to all the Supermums out there.

#ByAustralianBuyAustralian

YA Serious Finales I’m Looking Forward To In 2016

Apparently 2016 is the year of all the YA finales. It’s so exciting! And terrifying, honestly, because while I adore knowing how my favourite series ends….I also get thumped with nerves that it won’t be a satisfactory ending. Series finales need closure and tragedy and triumph. It’s such a hard blend!

But I shall be brave (huzzah!) and slowly devour these YA series that are finishing up in 2016.

(Also, helpfully, it’s a grand time to start these series if you haven’t already; since you won’t have to wait years for their completion!)

The Winner’s Kiss ~ book 3 of the Winner’s Curse trilogy (March)

I’ve read this one already and am enormously pleased at how satisfying the ending was. The first two books were so full of emotional tension and angst as Kestrel and Arin played mind games and war against two countries bent on destroying each other. And ya know, wanting to kiss each other — but absolutely not doing it because forbidden love and all that. Perfect conclusion is PERFECT.

Half Lost ~ book 3 of the Half Bad trilogy (March)

I full admit this book made me cry, and yet was still absolutely brilliant. The war between Black and White witches absolutely comes to a crashing climax. And it ain’t sweet tea parties and sugar cookies, let me tell you. Which surprises exactly no one after how brutal and violent the first two books were.

Morning Star ~ book 3 of the Red Rising trilogy

This is technically a YA-Adult cross over series, because while Darrow was 16 in the first boo, he’s now 23 and leading a rebellion against the tyrannical upper-class: the Golds. This book is brilliant. It perfectly blends the high stakes with an enormous amount of humour. And the plot twists will blow your mind. And blow up planets. Basically everything explodes here and it’s glorious.

Stars Above ~ book 4.5 of the Lunar Chronicles (February)

While the series technically finished with Winter, Marissa Meyer released a collection of novellas to help us say goodbye to this fantastical series. THANK YOU, DEAR AUTHOR. I haven’t read them yet, but it’s high on my to-do list. Apparently some are prequel tales (there’s a Thorn as a child story?!) and others are more epilogue tales. There have been teasers that someone has a wedding. Be still my shipping soul.

The Raven King ~ book 4 of The Raven Cycle (July)

This is definitely my most highly anticipated book of, um, EVER. I’m so ridiculously excited! It concludes my most favourite series in the world and we get the reveal if the main character truly does die, as has been foretold on the very first page of book 1. Yes. That’s 3 books we’ve read in nervous anticipation. Maggie Stiefvater is a genius of words and reader torture. I cannot WAIT.

Calamity ~ book 3 of The Reckoners Trilogy (February)

While I’m still only on book 2, I’m still monstrously excited for the finale! Evil superheroes and assassins out to bring them down? How is this all going to end?! I’m kind of hoping for a happy ending, but, ha. I doubt it.

The Yellow Brick War ~ book 3 of Dorothy Must Die series (April)

This is the last book in the retelling of The Wizard of Oz, which is such a fabulous idea for a retelling by the way. I mean, imagine Oz…and now think of it super creepy. It’s deliciously wonderful! I want to know if sassy Amy takes down the evil Dorothy and whether she gets a happily-ever-after…or NOT. Mwhahaah. (I honestly have no idea how this is going to end. Do I have time for a re-read?!? Time to plot out some theories while I wait for the release!)

Review: Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

Loosely based on Kate DiCamillo’s own childhood,Raymie Nightingale tells the story of ten-year-old Raymie Clarke and her plan to get her father to come back home after he eloped with a dental hygienist.

The year: 1975. The place: Florida. Feeling alone and adrift, Raymie is determined to learn how to twirl a baton in order to win the title of ‘Miss Central Florida Tire 1975.’ She thinks, by winning the title, her photograph will be in the newspaper and be seen by her father, which’ll make him so proud he’ll want to return home, and life will resume as before. Also aspiring to win the competition are two girls, Louisiana Elefante and Beverly Tapinski, both of whom have also lost parents and are seeking ways to move on with their lives. And while this triumvirate start off as competitors, their particular quirky personalities soon merge into friendship, worthy of tagging as the “three Rancheros” by Louisiana. Together they get into all kinds of mischief – but never just for mischiefs sake. Their series of adventures are a consequence of their combined determination to help each other through the challenges they face as individuals, which can only be overcome together.

DiCamillo’s simple prose is so elegant and delightful, offering a meditation on life, death, and friendship in such a way that will enthral younger readers, and adults alike. Raymie Nightingale is unquestionably my favourite children’s novel of the year and deserves mass accolades and designation as a modern classic. It really is that good, and earns an everlasting spot in your child’s bookshelf – or yours!

Buy the book here…

Review: Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

This is a truly wonderful novel that captures the outbreak of the Second World War in London which will hook you from the opening line: “War was declared at 11:15 and Mary North signed up at noon”. We follow Mary North, who from the war’s outset, is determined to use this tumultuous time to change the status quo. Mary is from a well to do family and rather than rest on her family name she wants to get involved in the war effort. She signs up immediately with dreams of becoming a spy or being involved in the newly forming war machine. Instead she is assigned as a school teacher and sent off to prepare the school children of London for evacuation. Mary takes this all in her stride and is even more determined to throw herself wholeheartedly into her new vocation.

Through Mary we meet Tom whose job it is to organise the schooling of those not evacuated. We also meet Tom’s roommate Alistair, an art restorer at the Tate, who also signs up immediately and is sent to France. Through Tom and Alistair we explore another side of the war; the guilt of those who stay behind and the transformation of those from civilian to soldier. After surviving the disaster at Dunkirk Alistair is transferred to Malta, where like those in London, he must survive the endless siege from the air of the Germans.

Cleave expertly captures the early days of the war with everybody disbelieving it can possibly be as bad as the government is trying to prepare them for. When the blitz does begin, much to everyone’s shock and sincere disappointment, he skillfully portrays the change of mood and stiff upper lip attitude employed by Londoners to get by. He contrasts all this with Alistair’s experience of the war showing that despite the contrasts between the Homefront and the frontlines there are also many similarities. Survival and sanity the key ones in both. As the war progresses Cleave conveys the steadfastness of this demeanour, both in London and in Malta, despite everything that happens to the contrary.

This is a truly amazing novel that left me shattered at many different moments. I haven’t read such an original take on the Second World War like this since Life After Life and A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson, and those were both streets ahead of any other novel of the last ten to fifteen years. Cleave captures the spirit of a people so subtly and honestly and how that spirit is harnessed in order to survive. The sense of humour in the book is pitch perfect; dark, sardonic, self-deprecating, infused with camaraderie. At the same time Cleave also shows the darker side of human behaviour.

There are not enough superlatives to describe how brilliant this novel is.

Buy the book here…

Liz Anelli Brings Life to Desert Lake

Liz Anelli is the author and award-winning illustrator of many, many colourful projects including children’s books, magazines, advertisements and educational websites. Her stunning artwork extends to printmaking, graphic design, watercolours, gouache and collage. Howzat!, View From the 32nd Floor and One Photo are a few of the picture books she has illustrated. Today I am thrilled to welcome Liz to Boomerang Books to tell us more about her art work, research and the illustrative creation of her latest gorgeous book, Desert Lake.

The Review:

Desert Lake is a fascinating story of survival and prosperity amongst the flora and fauna inhabiting the seemingly barren land of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.

Presented with two narratives, Pamela Freeman‘s text poses as both a lyrical and animated format and opposite, a smaller font with interesting facts. She tells the story of the rains as they arrive from the north to awaken life beneath the salty surface and enable a propagating community of birds and other wildlife to the area. Liz Anelli‘s brilliant illustrations beautifully depict this contrast, intensity, warmth and spirit with her multi-textured and layered paint, lines, pattern and complementary earthy colours. Even as the birds migrate to more plentiful waters when the lake dries, Anelli’s images carry forth the promise and richness of this outwardly desolate world.

Desert Lake literally thrives on its magical presence. It is captivating, rewarding and exquisite on so many levels. This is one information book that all primary classrooms would benefit from in their studies of Australian topography, climate change and the arts, and for the simple pleasure.

The Interview:

Welcome Liz! You have a style of art that has a distinctive flair yet is diverse in its themes and technique. Did you always paint this way or has your art changed over the years?

My style has certainly evolved over the years. I started out as a line and watercolour wash girl, then discovered how beautifully gouache paint sits on grey paper and gravitated towards dabs of bright colour within a black ink line (which I still do now for some illustrations). About 15 years ago I started incorporating collage and printmaking and learnt Photoshop so that I could choose which elements to cut and stick manually and which to add using my computer. Now I dip into materials and techniques depending on the age audience, subject and purpose of the illustration.

Do you have a favourite piece or project that you have worked on? Why is it special to you?

SO hard to choose! I think I love my illustrated maps above anything else, especially the first one I made of Newcastle, NSW because it was my way of befriending my new city (and country). I cycled around the Port-side suburbs for weeks with my camera and sketchbook, stopping to record every interesting building and industry and asking millions of questions. I found myself helping a prawner boat unload its catch, scampering up the side of a grain ship, in awe under the massive stacker-reclaimer wheel at a coal terminal and whizzing round the docks with a minibus full of excited school children who all wanted to show me their ‘best place to play’.

How did you come to illustrating books for children? What do you love most about this industry?

I illustrated (and wrote) my first picture book whilst still an art student way, way back. But as a child I was much more into reading and writing stories than drawing. My sisters, brother and I indulged in hours of imaginative play. My favourite was the one where we acted out snippets of radio programmes, pretending the stations were tuning in and out as we drove on long car journeys… must have been VERY irritating for our parents (but they never did replace us with a real car radio). I got hooked on drawing at Art School. You walk along the street and see stories being played out all around you. I draw what’s going on and voila… a picture book emerges.

The texture, depth, symmetry and combination of colours and media in Desert Lake are simply divine. How did you plan your process? What were the most challenging aspects in creating this book?

The hardest thing is knowing when to stop. I try out colours and textures on separate bits of paper (and sometimes scan them in when they work better than the ’real thing’). I do a lot of research drawing at the ‘roughs’ stage but then clear my references away to make the artwork more intuitively. There are so many choices to make but in the end each spread has to work as a whole picture in relation to its neighboring pages.

What was it like to collaborate with author Pamela Freeman? How much creative licence did you have working on Desert Lake?

Walker’s ‘Nature Story Series’ allow author and illustrator a more poetic approach than other picture books and I had the sense of a huge amount of freedom. The manuscript changed a lot along the way and although this entailed more work for both of us I think it made the book even better in the end. Our editor played an expert role as catalyst. My compositions come from a lot of real life observation (I had an ASA Research Award to visit the Outback) mixed up with a good shake of imagination. It was cold and dry when I went to the Lake so I also spent hours drawing and watching the colours on the water here in Newcastle Harbour.

What little secrets can you share about the making of Desert Lake? Any minute details that your audience should particularly be aware of?

An insect (that triangular shaped back and white one who appears on several pages) crawled into the seat of my jeans while I was drawing at the lake, I swallowed more than one bush fly and I went to sleep at night with all my clothes on… it was very, very cold. Can you see the little bug hiding on the night-time scene near the end of the book? Tracing paper collage makes very good frogspawn – just the right translucency.

Fun Question! If you lived in the desert which animal would you choose to be and why?

Hopping mouse – so sweet! NOT a bush fly.

You have recently launched a marvellous exhibition of your artwork at the Lovett Gallery in Newcastle. Congratulations! Please tell us a bit more about it. What have been the highlights so far?

We wanted to allow viewers inside the process of creating a picture book so have included the story of our research trips and examples of my storyboards as well as all the original paper artworks. Visitors can spot the variations between these and the printed pages, working out for them selves what parts I ‘collaged’ on screen. We deliberately asked the framer to include all my rough notes and workings around the edges of each piece and I love it when children ask me if I know there is an apple sticker on one… yes, I eat a lot of apples when I’m working.

I’m also enjoying watching another piece of desert floor come to life. We created a 4 metre long panel of one of my sketchbook paintings of the sandy ground with cracks and a few scrubby plants on it and I’ve been helping children make creatures using collage, paint and print in workshops. I think there are over 100 creepy crawlies on there already.

What would be your greatest piece of advice for emerging artists wanting to succeed in illustrating children’s books?

Don’t give up! Network, work hard and make pictures about the things you love not just what you think publishers would like to see. Be yourself, that’s the thing they won’t find anywhere else.

Thank you so much for talking with us, Liz! It’s been a real pleasure! 🙂

To connect with Liz Anelli please visit her website, Facebook and Twitter pages.

Her Desert Lake exhibition displays original artwork, sketches and studies of Liz’s research in the outback. It is being held at the Lovett Gallery in the Newcastle Region Library until May 14. Click here for more details.

Desert Lake is written by Pamela Freeman, illustrated by Liz Anelli and published by Walker Books, 2016.

Pre-order your copy of Desert Lake.

#ByAustralianBuyAustralian

The Girl on the Train – Official Teaser Trailer

Coming to cinemas in October is the much-anticipated film adaptation of The Girl on the Train: an elegantly written mystery that exposes the ugly truths of its characters, and through them, ourselves. On the one hand its a searing indictment of our propensity to make assumptions based on severely limited information – a mere glimpse, an overheard utterance, or in the case of Rachel, one of the novel’s three protagonists, a daily peek through her train window during her commute at a couple she doesn’t know, which results in her fantasizing about their lives. The novel provides a harsh look at the reality of alcoholism; the deliberating impact it can have on the various facets of our lives. And it also shines the spotlight on infidelity; how both the culprit and the victim live on through its resonances. Debut author Paula Hawkins entwines these components with the page-turning traits of a ‘whodunnit’, and in doing so, The Girl on the Train deserves its inevitable Gone Girl comparisons. Both deal with the simple question: how well do we truly know the ones we love? It’s a slow-burn mystery, but its inevitable explosion is well worth waiting for.

Are you looking forward to the release of the film?

Buy the book here…

Marching Forward – Remembering Bravery Reviews

Remembering, honouring, commiserating, – learning. When recently reading ANZAC titles to my maturing primary schooler, she asked, ‘Are there still wars, going on?’ I had to reply that yes, sadly there were. However, by sharing the past and gradually exposing children to the realities of it, hopefully they become better equipped to care enough to avoid and prevent future conflicts. It’s a reality I’d like to hope for. These titles perpetuate that hope while escorting young readers through the historical past.

Forward March by Christobel Mattingley Illustrated by David Kennett Picture Book

This is a curious ANZAC picture book, more of a compilation of ANZAC Day emotions, colours and locations commiserating the loss of our war veterans and the sacrifice they made. The opening page appears sombre and cold at first; pre-dawn on ANZAC Day morn. Look closely though and you’ll notice a pale yellow light entreating hope and promise. It represents one of the many war memorials across Australia where keen crowds gather to remember not only our great-grandads, dads, sons and grandsons, but also the grandmas, mothers, daughters and aunties, all those affected by battles they never ever wished for nor properly understood.

Mattingley’s sparse yet rousing statements honour all those who left their families and land to serve abroad whilst also acknowledging those who stayed behind and kept the country ticking over, ending with the rising of the dawn, the Last Post and a pledge to never forget.

What really captivates though are Kennett’s painted and drawn illustrations clustered in muted sepia-coloured vignettes that resemble the type of photo album your grandmother might have kept. Although an eyeful to take in all at once, these spreads tell of life on the battlefields in ways that leave words gasping. Several international conflicts are depicted including the Boer War, both Great Wars and the Vietnam War giving children wider scope and deeper meaning to exactly what we are remembering when standing at the cenotaph on ANZAC Day.

Ideal for prompting discussion of past world commemorative events amongst early primary schoolers presented with respect and restraint.

Omnibus Books March 2016

Socks, Sandbags & Leeches Letters to my Anzac Dad by Pauline Deeves Illustrated Fiction

This hardcover illustrated tribute to those who served in the First World War is uniquely different to other children’s books drawing on this theme. Significantly, it is told through the eyes of a twelve-year-old child, Ivy whose father has left to fight overseas.

Deeves executes the same breezy epistolary style used in Midnight Burial to inform readers about life back in Australia whilst great chunks of her population were, in many ways, coerced to fight overseas. Through a series of letters written over a period of four years to her father who is first posted to Gallipoli and later France, Ivy describes how she and her mother had to move house, live with their Aunt Hilda and succumb to the restrictions of life during wartime.

Ivy’s voice is delightfully informal and intimate, eliciting strong young reader appeal and interest. She mentions various modernisations and several vagaries of life over 100 years ago that our tech –imbued children of today might well find absurd. I particularly appreciated Ivy’s illustrations included in her letters.

Deeves flourishes fact with fiction in a way that imparts a lot of new and interesting information. Although essentially a story about Socks, Sandbags & Leeches, readers can locate various topics about Conscription, the Retreat from Gallipoli and what school was like for example from the headings listed in the Contents. Scrapbook type pages crammed with authentic sketches, prints and excerpts of the time enhance the appearance of Ivy’s collection of letters and serve to reinforce the information she is relaying to her absent father.

A fascinating storytelling approach and account of the First World War for readers nine to fifteen.

National Library of Australia NLA February 2016

Dreaming the Enemy by David Metzenthen YA novel

I have to include this new novel by master story teller, David Metzenthen, tackling the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress associated with one of our more recent political conflicts. Immersing readers into hot sweating jungle warfare and solider psyche, makes for a challenging read, not for the faint hearted. There’s a possibility it will create lasting impressions but not because of any insensitive gratuitous horror (there isn’t any) rather because it’s narrated in a somewhat disconnected way, from deep inside the head of a returned Vet and his erstwhile Viet Cong nemesis.

If you think you have difficulties getting your head around this psychological battle, spare a thought for the main character, Johnny Shoebridge. His tale of post-Vietnam traumatic anxiety is as wrenching and spellbinding as it is complicated and beautiful. Johnny has left the battlefields but has brought home a dread of living and the ghost-fighter, Khan who relentlessly dogs him. He knows he will remain forever at war if he can’t find a way to lay this phantom to rest.

Metzenthen has woven an elegant web of infinite detail, spinning tragedy and despair with hope and healing, undoable finality with incomplete futures, expanding on the truism that a solider may leave the battlefield behind but that the battle may never truly leave him.

‘Death never ended for the living.’

Wit and plenty of ribald reality checks temper Metzenthen’s breathtaking use of language and meticulous description while characters so real you can literally hear and smell them give you a great sense of tangibility. By the end of it, we come to acknowledge the awful truth we’ve suspected all along just like Khan and Johnny, that war is never really about wanting to kill or having a choice about it. Dreaming the Enemy decries this ultimate tragedy with a force so powerful it leaves your heart heaving.

Older teen readers will gain immeasurably from this stirring read as will the rest of us. Stunning and faultless.

Allen & Unwin 2016

#ByAustralianBuyAustralian

CBCA Notables 2016

The CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) Notables (or long lists) have been announced today.

The short lists will be announced on Friday 20th May at the national conference which is held in Sydney this year.

I’ve listed my favourites (of those I’ve read) below: BOOK OF THE YEAR: EARLY CHILDHOOD

I interviewed the delightful Sara Acton for the most recent edition of Magpies magazine. As Big as You opens up vertically instead of the usual horizontal format to show height. Sara is one of our new illustrators to watch.

Janeen Brian and Ann James have produced innovative picture books in I’m a Dirty Dinosaur and I’m a Hungry Dinosaur (which I reviewed here). It is hard to go past mud and chocolate icing as illustrative media.

Some other favourites are Perfect by Danny Parker and Freya Blackwood, This is a Ball by Beck Stanton and Matt Stanton and This & That by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek.

PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR

Perfect is nominated again in picture book of the year. Other personal favourites are Flight by Armin Greder and Nadia Wheatley. This impressive book seems to be telling a version of the Nativity story but also becomes a refugee story. And there are parallels between Jesus’ early life and that of a refugee. Matt Ottley is long listed twice: for a story of incarceration and hope in Suri’s Wall, written by Lucy Estela and the incomparable Teacup, a refugee story written by Rebecca Young.

Other standouts are Where’s Jessie? by Anne Spudvilas and Janeen Brian (again), Mr Huff by Anna Walker, Adelaide’s Secret World by Elise Hurst and How the Sun Got to Coco’s House by Bob Graham. This is a really strong list and also includes some non-fiction books such as My Gallipoli by Robert Hannaford and Ruth Starke, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda by Bruce Whatley and Eric Bogle and Platypus by Mark Jackson and Sue Whiting.

THE EVE POWNALL AWARD FOR INFORMATION BOOKS looks particularly strong this year and includes We are the Rebels by Clare Wright, Lennie the Legend by Stephanie Own Reeder, The White Mouse: The Story of Nancy Wake by Peter Gouldthorpe, Atmospheric by Carole Wilkinson, and I could easily go on…

BOOK OF THE YEAR: OLDER READERS My picks are Cloudwish by Fiona Wood, Freedom Ride by Sue Lawson (which has just been shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards), The Beauty is in the Walking by James Moloney, The Guy, the Girl, the Artist and His Ex by Gabrielle Williams (also shortlisted for the NSW Prems) and Inbetween Days by Vikki Wakefield, who I am chairing in three sessions at the upcoming SWF. Meg McKinlay is listed here for A Single Stone, continuing her run of being long and shortlisted in both YA and children’s awards.

My pick from a mixed bag for BOOK OF THE YEAR: YOUNGER READERS is Molly and Pim and the Millions of Stars by Martine Murray, which I reviewed here.

Congratulations to everyone who has been long listed. It’s a great honour and shows recognition of your very deserving books.

#ByAustralianBuyAustralian

Review: The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski

I’m following up my recent review of The Winner’s Curse, with a review of the sequel: The Winner’s Crime. And trust me, peoples, you are going to need to devour this WHOLE trilogy. Preferably one book after another. But if you’re still dubious and need convincing: I am here.

Again I re-read this book just recently, and it just gets better the more you read it. The foreshadowing is impeccable! And genius! I just admire this author so much. (When I’m not gnashing my teeth at the torturous cliffhangers that is.)

The Winner’s Crime (book #2) takes off when Kestrel is in her home-country of Valoria, now betrothed to marry the Emperor’s son. She’s being groomed for rule but — she’s unhappy. She’s telling herself she doesn’t love Arin, but…um, #lies. Meanwhile Arin is furious at Kestrel’s continual rejection of him and he doesn’t understand she’s playing a precarious political game of life and death. He seeks dangerous allies. He makes terrible decisions. The romantic angst reaches Level Infinity. And it has a wicked cliffhanger ending. (Ergo, have book 3 on hand!)

Again, I was also super impressed at the amount of deducing going down. I didn’t notice it so much the first time? But Kestrel could look at someone and figure things out. (She is like the fantasy-Roman-Grecian Sherlock.) I loved how much political intrigue and conspiraces were happening. Plots unwound. Nasty backstabbing happened. Spies were bought. Lies everywhere.

I admit to really wishing Kestrel and Arin would work it out. They have problems, oh gosh, do they. But their chemistry is palpable and they spend all their alone time thinking about not thinking about each other. And then when they see each other? Kestrel is trying to make Arin hate her so she doesn’t get murdered for loving him. Her betrothed, the Emperor’s son Verox, is a soft, shy quiet boy and Kestrel definitely doesn’t love him. (I do, though, because he loves puppies!) I felt really bad for Verox, since even his own father doesn’t love him and fully intends for Kestrel to rule.

Kestrel is still the intelligent heroine I came to love in the first book. I adore how she’s still firmly feminine, with pretty dresses and delicate piano pieces, but she is plotting the whole time. I also loved seeing some of Kestrel’s military strategies in play. Arin, on the other hand, is quite the knuckle head. Like I literally wanted to brain him with a teapot several times because he gets very blinded by his righteous love for his people and confusion that Kestrel would “betray” him and he doesn’t stop to get the whole picture. He makes stupid decisions, he’s rash, he doesn’t listen. Which honestly just makes me adore him…especially the torture he goes through in this book. Arin and Kestrel seriously need to sit down, with no one listening in, and TALK. But like that’s going to happen. (Ha ha, nope.)

Also the author doesn’t spare her characters. There’s torture and bleeding and stabbing and Arin gets fairly mangled and many of the favoured secondary characters are unfortunately caught up in it. There’s a torture scene at the beginning that had my skin crawling. I do applaud the author for getting all the characters dirty and bloody and being so very realistic.

The cliff hanger is a thing of torture. But also brilliant. I was on the edge of my seat in the last chapters! The build up is so well written and the way the plots came together (and fell apart) had me gasping and desperate for more. (I am mildly emotionally invested in this series…it’s so hard to tell.)

Basically I loved this book. It was everything a sequel should be and leaves me hungry for the next book and desperate to see how this will all end.

[PURCHASE HERE]

Review: Patagonia’s Tools for Grassroot’s Activists

Patagonia, the repair-what-we-sold-you adventure clothing retail company synonymous with ethical business—and practically a giant stamp of sustainability approval for anything it puts its name to—runs an invite-only conference every couple of years.

For the conference, Patagonia invites heavy hitters in environmental advocacy from whom they can learn. For example, keynote speakers have included Dr Jane Goodall (chimp documenter extraordinaire), Annie Leonard (The Story of Stuff), Bill McKibben (350), and Beth Kanter (leading not-for-profit social media strategist). You know, the kinds of heroes we’d love to be even a little bit like when we grow up.

I’d sell my soul to get into this conference, but I’m far from being one of the heavy hitters in the industry. So the just-released Tools for Grassroots Activists: Best Practices for Success in the Environmental Movement is the closest I’m going to get to being in that room.

Given that this is where my career is heading—I’m this close to finishing a PhD looking at some of this stuff [imagine a thumb and index finger just millimetres apart]—I came to this book with both a keenly critical eye and breathless, fan-girl appreciation.

Edited by Nora Gallagher and Lisa Myers, Tools for Grassroots Activists collates various conference talks and insights gleaned over the conference’s history. My hope was to ferret out some ground-breaking information I could incorporate into my own practice.

And the book does deliver elements of that. Say, for example, tips on refining purpose, and targeting key groups with strategic marketing. But for the most part it offers the also-important elements of motivation and hope and stories about these particular activists’ efforts and learnings.

It outlines in their own words how they have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds throughout their careers, such as defeating the then apparently indestructible tobacco companies that had limitless cash resources to fund their campaigns.

It’s certainly great to hear these not-glossed-over parts (too often history rewrites battles as being efficiently linear rather than painstakingly messy and long-running). And I enjoyed this book and got plenty of shot-in-the-arm inspiration from it, I really did. But—and I fully recognise my expectations might be too high given I’ve spent the last three years avidly analysing this stuff—I was hoping for something a little more.

I understand that the book is a compilation of key lessons from the conference’s history, but it feels a little more cobbled together and a little less robust than expected, with entries varying wildly in structure and theme. Still, once you get your head around that, it’s fine. It meant I ended up dipping in and out of articles and skimming or even skipping the ones that it was apparent weren’t currently suited to me.

Perhaps the biggest barrier to me adoring this text was its design, of which I’m not at all a fan. Highly stylised and eclectic, and with a decidedly plain-Jane font selection, I don’t think it works both in terms of aesthetics, but also in terms of gripping the reader and effectively guiding them through its contents.

Or at least I don’t think it works with the kind of paper on which it’s printed and the book format in which it’s packaged. It just looks a bit grassroots-newsletter amateur and ultimately lets itself down. It’s certainly not the well-designed book I’d expect of a company that understands the combination of form and function is what makes the difference between a successful organisation or approach that can wield good in the world and one that has good intentions but ultimately fails. Again, that could be personal preference and someone else could consider it smashing.

I realise this is a slightly mixed review, and in truth my feelings about this book are mixed. Was it worth publishing and will people derive some benefits from it? Yes, absolutely yes. But could it have been better? Yes. Or, as one of the book’s contributors notes: activists need to get better at how they communicate their messages. Patagonia normally leads by example and it’s doing so with its conferences. Its conference-related publication just needs to catch up.

Review: Superman, Vol. 1 – Before Truth by Gene Luen Yang & John Romita Jr

The Superman titles have undergone a renaissance recently, sparked by the arrival of Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder on ACTION COMICS, and followed by Geoff Johns’ and John Romita Jr.’s brief stint on SUPERMAN. Now Gene Luen Yang steps up to the plate – the acclaimed writer of American Born Chinese – with Before Truth, the first volume in his run on SUPERMAN. And with Romita Jr. by his side, he’s redefining Clark Kent for the ‘New 52’ generation. Fans rejoice: we’ve finally got a Superman who’s emblematic of the character we know and love, who stands for Truth, Justice and the American Way; but also renewed and rejuvenated under this new stewardship.

Before Truth picks up where Johns’ The Men of Tomorrow arc ended. Superman has discovered a new power – a solar flare that obliterates everything in its radius, but leaves him powerless for up to 24 hours. Why introduce a new power into Superman’s mythology, you might ask? Well, this version of Superman is de-powered; he’s not quite the God-like being readers have become accustomed too, so the solar flare ability is effectively a ‘last resort’ option. When all else fails, when Superman has got to lay it all on the line, he ignites. This allows Yang and Romita Jr. the opportunity to showcase Clark Kent’s misapprehension of the human condition; a few sips of alcohol leave him inebriated, and he’s developed a newfound appreciation for food. These are small touches, but they add layers to a Clark Kent who has been fairly uninteresting since DC relaunched with the New 52.

Before Truth introduces the villain Hordr, who has learned Superman’s secret identity and threatens to expose him to the world unless he does precisely what’s demanded of him. Aided by Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, Superman deliberates between his desire to maintain a normal life as Clark Kent and refusal to bow down to the villain’s command. But ultimately, it might be a decision that’s taken out of his hands . . .

Gene Luen Yang and John Romita Jr.’s SUPERMAN is, simply, a rip-roaring superhero tale. They haven’t aspired to redefine Superman’s character or continuity; rather, they’re focused on telling a good story and implores readers to pick up the subsequent volume. There’s no doubt about that. Solid characterisation, rapid pacing, great Romita Jr. art – it’s all here. A Superman story for readers, old and new, to enjoy.

Buy the book here.

Review – Rockhopping by Trace Balla

Attributed as ‘a class act’ by The Australian.

Praised by leading industry professionals.

Acclaimed with prestigious awards.

Her previous title in the series, Rivertime (review), is the winner of several book prizes, including the Readings Children’s Book Prize, the Wilderness Society’s Environment Award, and shortlisted in the CBCA Awards, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and Speech Pathology Australia Awards. Author illustrator Trace Balla has moved us once more with her new graphic, enchanting mountain adventure novel in Rockhopping.

With its sheer gravitational pull, Rockhopping takes its readers to gripping heights (and depths as it turns out!). You’ll discover moments of both unexpected intensity and serendipitous tranquility. Any primary school kid, or adult, excited by the possibilities of a hike through nature (particularly of the more challenging kind), and also those open to fortuitous opportunities won’t be disappointed by this symbolic quest.

Clancy and his happy-go-lucky Uncle Egg spontaneously plan another camping trip following the success of their last one canoeing on the Glenelg River. Their aim is to find the source of the river. But Uncle Egg knows it won’t be easy so he ensures Clancy is trained and prepared weeks ahead of their journey. Backpacks full of supplies in tow, the pair begin their climb at the side of the Gariwerd (the Grampians) mountain range. Their time trekking around the rocks comes with not only physical, but emotional, strains. Using all their resources they find strength, willpower, companionship and loyalty to face and overcome the setbacks (including a rigorous endurance test by Uncle Egg to rescue Clancy, and his backpack, from a fall into a ravine). But at the same time they lap up the chances to appreciate each other and the wonder and beauty of the creatures and sights around them.

Trace Balla‘s text and illustrations are so child-friendly with their progressive narrative, enthralling dialogue and lively sequenced images that it makes us want to have a nature adventure of our own just to be able to document it in the same way! Her research and insights into the Victorian Range region, the Indigenous people and their history, ecologists and her own up close and personal encounters with leeches, swamps and cliffs are brilliantly intertwined into this book. Just like Clancy and Uncle Egg, Balla’s inspiration stemmed out of unforeseen travels and discoveries. Her message is so affecting:

“When you stop trying to get anywhere and just be, a whole world of wonder can open up to you… The more you look the more you find out. It’s also about realising we are part of the natural world, rather than separate to it… It is a book that reminds us about being in touch with the earth.”

Rockhopping is an enriching, magical delight with endless scope for environmental, social and historical study as well as inciting self-discovery and philosophical reflections. Certainly an adventure you won’t want to miss!

Purchase Rockhopping by Trace Balla, published by Allen&Unwin, 2016.

#ByAustralianBuyAustralian

Review: The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is so good that I’ve read it TWICE. (And I’m notorious for not being a rereader because of all the new books clamouring for my attention.) And my star-rating went up on the second read, because I appreciated the writing style and the psychological angle on battle tactics so very much. It’s an epic fantasy, yes, but it focuses on mind games and cunning plots and ploys.

Basically, it is everything. (You’re going to need it, I basically promise.)

Kestrel is the daughter of a Valorian general and she has a choice: get married, or go to war. She doesn’t want either. She wants to play piano. But she’s also insanely smart, quick-witted and often gives amazing battle tactics to her father. Then — enter ARIN. The slave she bought on impulse, but who’s actually a rebel plant, and plans to take down everything Kestrel loves. Cue forbidden, possible romance. It’s dual narrated by them both.

Kestrel is one of my all-time favourite heroines because she is smart and quiet and small and kind of weak on the battle field but oh so intelligent. She blackmails. She deduces. She has a snippy answer for you if you’re stupid. She is kind…but she will stab you if forced. She is a complex creature. I also love how she does anything to keep her piano playing fingers safe. That’s why weapons are her nemesis. What if she breaks her hand and can’t play?! #priorities

Arin is definitely a hothead and rash and quite a few times I wanted to strangle him because he rebuffs all attempts at friendship with Kestrel and he does BAD REBEL THINGS. But he really cares about his people. And the way he grows over the course of the book?! Spectacular. I love Arin.

I also adore how short and concise the story was. It never rambled. The writing is snappy and punchy and it has the most refreshing voice in the unvierse. Plus world building? YOU GOT IT. I adore how the world is based on Grecian-Roman times, with a few twists and how it has so much culture and history. Plus the plot wasn’t super fast, but it was definitely always moving forward and weaving in plots and blackmail. Kestrel is forever scheming. And there’s rebellion from the slave in the wind. Also throw in a bit of torture and bleeding and copious strategy games — which Kestrel always wins, because she’s clever and rather a gambler.

And have you seen that cover?! It’s so gorgeous I mostly want to hug it. The series’ covers just get better as they go on, too.

I am a hugely enthusiastic fan of this series. It has action, but yet it focuses on strategy and the psychology of battle and emotion. It has stabby moments and let’s-wear-pretty-dresses moments and betrayals and alliances and murder. Plus it’s epic and concise. I really cannot ask for more in this incredible fantasy series.

[PURCHASE HERE]

Getting Serious about Series # 4 – Ripper Reads for Girls

I don’t usually like to categorise reads into which gender they might appeal to better. I believe every child is individual and will find a story to fit their unique reading tastes no matter how pink the cover or how boyish the hero. To say that boys should be directed to sports orientated titles and little girls to books about bunnies is pre-historic thinking and infers we (little girls) don’t like puppy dogs’ tails and snails. Simply not true! However, there can be no denying that certain reads will attract certain readers more powerfully than others. This luscious collection of chapter books and mid-graders will undoubtedly appeal to the sweet-toothed predilections of little misses given they are choking with cuteness and gee gees and unicorns.

Lola’s Toy Box by Danny Parker Illustrated by Guy Shield

This is a perfectly placed first-time-chapter-book series for little readers just putting their A B Cs together. These books provide useful stepping-stones in the crossover from readers to more exciting chapter books, each with a softly delivered message and each peppered with adventure. Anyone with an animated imagination and insatiable love for their toys will adore Lola’s Toy Box series. Lola and her toy clown Buddy, chance upon a portal – an old toy box, which transports them time after time to the varied lands of The Kingdom where they experience toy-filled adventures beyond their wildest dreams.

The Patchwork Picnic is the first of this series so far. Other exciting toy-land destinations include The Plastic Palace, On the Story Sea, and The Treasure Trove. The Timberfield Talent Show is the very latest release. Wild and whimsical, just what five to seven-year-old emerging readers need.

Hardie Grant Egmont 2015 – February 2016

Pine Valley Ponies by Kate Welshman Illustrated by Heath McKenzie

Pint-sized people from six years of age who love ponies, have ponies, ride ponies or want to ride ponies will fall over themselves with this new pony series. McKenzie’s tummy tickling drawings (his horse characters are darling!) ably romp alongside short, easy-to-read chapters about Maddy and her pony, Snowy and their induction into the Pine Valley Riding ranch.

It’s not all smooth cantering for Maddy however, as she attempts to fit in amongst the fancy-pantsed, equine experienced girls of her class. However, the call of adventure soon overrides difficulties and cements her love of horse riding, as it will for those absorbed in her antics. Start with The Forbidden Trail and move onto The Runaway Foal then prepare yourself for The Pony Show.

There is much for horse-orientated kids to love here, from the bright pastel and foil covers, enticing page layouts, pony profiles, nifty horsey Q & A and loads more besides. Well recommended.

Scholastic Press October 2015 – March 2016

Ruby Wishfingers by Deborah Kelly Illustrated by Leigh Hedstrom

Ruby Wishfingers is an absolute crack up of a series. I loved the first instalment, Skydancer’s Escape and can’t wait to get into Toady-ally Magic. Suitable for slightly older primary aged readers, this tantalising new series still features terrific line drawings and easy to digest chapters but it’s the humour infused story line, flavoured with more than a hint of magic that truly makes Ruby irresistible.

She’s your run of the mill ordinary girl with a peculiar name who one day awakens with a weird tingling sensation in her fingertips. She soon realises it’s a force to be reckoned with and that you should be careful what you wish for.

Loaded with lovable characters, talking pocket-sized unicorns, indignant felines, jellybean rain and magic, Ruby Wishfingers books will not disappoint those who love adventure and fast zany reads. My pick of the crop.

Wombat Books March 2016

Keeper of the Crystals by Jess Black Illustrated by Celeste Hulme

The things you’ll notice first about this adventure fantasy series are the brilliant covers and sparkly titles. Each of this four part series about Eve and her unlikely companion, Oscar lures young readers in like fish to wriggling worms. It begins when the pair unwittingly unleash the power of the crystals after they open a forbidden wooden box in Eve’s Nan’s attic.

The initial crystal is of a small unicorn, which is a portal into a mysterious fantastical far away land, Panthor. Suggestions of environmental instability and political oppression in each of the strange new worlds Eve and Oscar are transported to resonate throughout these tales albeit all disguised with action, myth, and fantasy for the young reader.

An attractive series that would suit readers seven years and above and those with a penchant for the surreal.

New Frontier Publishing June 2015 – March 2016

#ByAustralianBuyAustralian

Review: Lily and the Octopus by Steve Rowley

Both laugh-out-loud funny and weep-into-your-hanky heartbreaking, Lily and the Octopus introduces a spectacular new voice and leaves its mark on the landscape of great fiction. For anyone who has ever loved and lost a pet, anyone who has struggled to find meaning in the face of death and feared its residual solitude, Steven Rowley’s debut is unmissable and provides a potent catharsis.

Ted is a struggling writer whose life is in somewhat of a downward spiral. It’s not careening, it’s still salvageable, but it’s on a definite decline. His dachshund, Lily, is his only salvation; the one constant in his life, who stood by him during his breakup, through good times and bad. Their bond will not be unique for dog owners; I’m guilty of occasionally conversing with my Golden Retriever as though he understands and can answer back. He can’t do the former – not with words, anyway; but sometimes I’m positive Eddy knows precisely what I’m saying…

Things take a turn for the worse when Ted discovers an “octopus” – a tumour – on Lily’s head, and realises his greatest friendship, the companionship he’s held dear for so many years, is nearing its end. The manifestation of Ted’s reaction – which fall across the emotional spectrum – form the basis of Rowley’s novel. We all struggle with mortality – our own, our loved ones – but for the emotionally-challenged Ted, it’s potentially more than he can cope with.

Much of Lily and the Octopus is biographical – Rowley admits as much in his note in the endnote of the novel – and he utilises this raw, true emotion to pummel the reader with emotional gut-punches that will leave you heartbroken. But it’s more than a replay of real-life events; Rowley’s novel is packed with inspired digressions and forces readers to question the relatively of truth. It finds a perfect harmony between truth and fiction.

Lily and the Octopus has earned comparisons to The Life of Pi and The Art of Racing in the Rain — and deservedly so. So poignant and true, it’s a novel that will break your heart — and you’ll know it’s doing so from its opening pages —but despite it, you won’t be able to put it down, or want it to end. It is, quite, simply magical. Certainly one of the finest novels of 2016.

Order Lily and the Octopus here!

Picture Books of the Curious Kind

I’m always up for a good imaginative mystery that gets my mind, and heart, racing. It must be that dopamine rush I get when experiencing something novel and exciting, the eager anticipation and engagement, and finding something I can relate to. For kids it would be no different and the following two picture books, not surprisingly, tick all the boxes in the ‘curiosity’ department.

Arthur and the Curiosity, Lucinda Gifford (author, illus.), The Five Mile Press, 2016.

When adults are oblivious to the hidden secrets and wondrous treasures of the world because they are overly concerned with ‘moving on through’. That’s the situation that Arthur experiences on his school trip to the museum. His teacher takes little notice of the amazing artefacts and ancient wonders as she hauls her class across the landscape pages. But Arthur’s not so heedless. Amongst and within the exhibits Arthur notices a ‘CURIOSITY’ – a mischievous green creature that seems all but a figure of his imagination. Taking his time to examine his surroundings, Arthur gains much more than he bargained for than any of his bustling peers. The final page leaves us with a sneaking suspicion that Arthur’s excursion has left him with a lasting impression!

Lucinda Gifford‘s bright and colourful illustrations are playful and eye-catching, allowing readers plenty of scope for discovery and delight as they ‘move on through’ the book at a steady pace. Her text is equally joyful and witty with double meanings that are sure to set tongues wagging with the endless conversational possibilities. The ‘curiosity’ is “…the UNUSUALLY active volcano.” and “…an EXTRAORDINARY mummy in the Ancient Egypt exhibition. Poor Miss Blunkett was trying to wrap things up.”

Arthur and the Curiosity is a fun read to explore and enjoy with its elements of humour and surprise. Children from age three and up will also relish the opportunities to identify with and show ‘curiosity’ towards the diverse characters, topics and experiences that are fostered by this book.

Arthur and the Curiosity is being launched on April 16th at The Little Bookroom. See details here.

The House on the Hill, Kyle Mewburn (author), Sarah Davis (illus.), Scholastic Australia, 2016.

‘Curiosity’ can present itself in many forms; and in this book it presents with a thrilling anticipation. Here is a story to send shivers of curiosity up your spine in the hauntingly stunning, The House on the Hill. With high levels of suspense to chill your bones, this poetic spookfest is a winner.

With Mewburn‘s ode to Edgar Allan Poe’s Raven, his romantically suave language and rhythmic canter beautifully rolls off the tongue. Sarah Davis‘s monochromatic, sepia toned imagery marries flawlessly with the spine-tingling lyrics to create an optimal intensity of creepiness and tension.

When two young ghosts are beckoned by the bell in the house on the hill, they find themselves “Upon the gate a portent hung, a dragon’s claw, a serpent’s tongue.” The initial terror slowly dissipates with more and more clues being revealed as the characters edge closer to their destination. Child-friendly hints dubiously lure us towards the dingy dwelling, like dancing moths, jack-o-lanterns and the characters’ outfits that appear distinctly like white sheets with cut-out eye holes. Davis’s striking illustrations with her extreme angles and perspectives, perfectly placed focal objects and effective use of light and shade draw us in with every breath as we follow the ‘ghosts’, and their cat, on their journey through the ‘haunted’ house on the hill. And just when our hearts can’t race any faster, we reach the final reveal and encounter the most ghoulish group of vile creatures – children!

Ideal for your Halloween thrills and celebrations, but equally fun-tastic all the year round. Behind the moodiness and apprehension, The House on the Hill takes preschoolers through an adventure of bravery, friendship and togetherness. There is loads of room for educational opportunities with its brilliant use of poetry, vocabulary, visual literacy and the arts.

You can watch the spooktacular book reading with Kyle Mewburn here.

Teaching notes are available at the Scholastic website.

#ByAustralianBuyAustralian

8 Books With Bees on the Cover

I follow a number of book reviewers on YouTube and one of them recently mentioned their affection for books with bees on the cover. This captured my attention immediately, because I have the same bias for books with keys on the front, so I decided to keep my eyes open for bee-themed book covers and group them together.

Here’s a list of 8 books with bees on the cover.

1. The Beekeeper’s Secret by Josephine Moon
This book seems to be everywhere at the moment, and I guess it’s no surprise given it was published on 1 April 2016. It’s a mystery novel about families and secrets.

2. The Bees by Laline Paull
The Bees is being pitched as The Handmaid’s Tale meets Watership Down and given that the main character Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, and this is the story of her life, I can totally see why. I loved Watership Down this year, so I might give this one a go.

3. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King
Most Arthur Conan Doyle fans know about Sherlock’s love of bees and fans of TV shows Sherlock and Elementary might enjoy reading The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. Published in 1994, it’s the first in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Homes series, which now has 14 books in the series.

4. The World Without Us by Mireille Juchau
I think this is my favourite cover on the list. The World Without Us is a story of secrets and survival, family and community, loss and renewal.

5. Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar
This is a coming-of-age story featuring Carol and her mentally ill Grandfather.

6. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
I’m a huge fan of the Penguin clothbound classic series, and they offer a beautiful edition of Far From the Madding Crowd in their collection. Having said that, here’s another stunning edition with bees on the cover.

7. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Probably the most well known book on the list, The Secret Life of Bees is a bestselling novel that was made into a film starring Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, and Alicia Keys.

8. The Bees by Carol Ann Duffy
This is a poetry collection and here’s an excerpt from the blurb: Woven and weaving through the book is its presiding spirit: the bee. Sometimes the bee is Duffy’s subject, sometimes it strays into the poem, or hovers at its edge. In the end, Duffy’s point is clear: the bee symbolizes what we have left of grace in the world, and what is most precious and necessary for us to protect. Check out the stunning blue hardcover edition.

Hope you enjoyed this collection of books. If you can’t go past a good book list, check out my list of 14 Books With Keys on the Cover.

#ByAustralianBuyAustralian

Review: The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

With Cinda Williams Chima spin-off-series Flamecaster coming out SO SOON, I think it’s a very good time to revisit the original Seven Realms series — which you need to read. Absolutely desperately need. Trust me. It’s YA epic fantasy at it’s finest.

(Note: I’m not 100% sure if you need to read The Demon King series before Flamecaster, as I haven’t read Flamecaster yet. BUT! Read it to be sure because it’s good and you need good books in your life.)

So oh wow…oh wow. I will officially confess that The Demon King is one of my most favourite fantasy series in the history of ever. EVER. This is not a drill, peoples! This book has everything I want and love in an epic fantasy. After flipping every page I kept thinking that this book was just made for me. It’s like it went through a checklist of things I adore.

Epic Things In This Book:

It has a Matriarchy and a Queendom. YES THAT’S RIGHT FOLKS. WOMEN RULE.
There are wizards and magic and it all has rules. I love this. I love when magic has rules because it feels more real. And I love the detail of the magic system! I’ve only read detailed magic systems in Brandon Sanderson‘s books (which are very pleasing, by the way, and you should read them).
It has thieves! Grifters! Charmers! Sleight of hand!
Two epic dual narrators (Han and Raisa) who are sassy and strong and interesting and stubborn and awesome.
The world is large, dimensional and has tons of culture!!

The plot is basically about Han discovering an amulet that belonged to an ancient and dead demon king and…he keeps it. Smart (not) boy. Then there are powerful dark wizards after him to get it back. Contrasting to the story of Princess Raisa who is worried her mother, the Queen, is being brain-washed by resident wizards and wants to marry Raisa off to a suitor who will potential destroy the whole realm.

So basically The Demon King did no wrong. Plus the characters were my favourite part! It’s dual-narrated by Raisa (heir queen) and Han (retired streetlord and thief). They were both epic I couldn’t even pick a favourite! Hans was all swagger and scruff (and he loved his family really fiercely) and he was always in trouble and had such a smart mouth. And Raisa was epically stubborn and sassy and really cared about her queendom. She didn’t want to be a puppet queen.

As for secondary characters? Amon was Raisa’s childhood friend and guard, and he was so loyal and basically a precious little stubborn cinnamon roll. Fire Dancer, Han’s best friend, was epic (although not in the story that much) and a bit of a tortured soul.

I also feel like one of the people groups of the book were influenced by Native American culture. (That’s what I surmise anyway.) I love this! Because I hadn’t read a fantasy book with that kind of influence yet. But they had names like “Fire Dancer” and “Hunts Alone” and they learned tribal things and were warriors and had deerskin leggings…but, like I said, only “influenced”. It all felt different and magical, but I think it was a pleasant nod in that direction. Plus I loved how there were so many cultures and groups of people in this world. The townsfolk were your average medieval scruffbags, and the rich people were nearly Renaissance fantasy. Plus add in all the wizards and the wizard and warrior schools. IT JUST HAD EVERYTHING.

So basically. Go read this. I don’t even know what else to say except: it is glorious and everything a YA fantasy should be.

[PURCHASE HERE]

Powerfully Poignant – Historical MG reviews

Being part of the human species is not always a club I’m proud to belong to. We can be pretty awful to each other sometimes even though most of us, most of the time err on the side of kindness. History allows us to mark the good times and the kind people. More frequently however, it serves as a reminder of the inglorious periods of our human existence. We cannot and should not hide from them if we want humanity to evolve, which is why these next three books make for such fundamental reading. All would complement the historical fiction shelves of young readers aged between 11 and 15. All encourage us to recognise discrimination, understand its origins, and be brave enough to fight its ugly consequences. All invite us to care in a powerfully poignant way.

One Thousand Hills by James Roy and Noel Zihabamwe

This book is devastating. Powerful and wrenching yet achingly beautiful. Roy and Zihabamwe have given one ten-year-old boy a voice among an ocean of hundreds of thousands that were silenced without reason or mercy. Written with understated force and crisp, almost child-like clarity, One Thousand Hills traces the tension fraught days leading up to one of the most despicable acts of genocide the world as ever known, the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Pascal lives in Agabande, close to Kigali, in the heart of Rwanda. His life is simple and idyllic despite the taunts of his older brother and annoying traits of his little sister, Nadine. His parents work hard, worship what is good and Godly, and provide for their family as devoutly as the rest of the villagers who reside in the verdant mountainous countryside. They are a mixed family of Hutu and Tutsis, yet they share the same brutality and sheer ‘awfulness’ of this crime against humanity, born of fear and a need to sustain power with over 800,000 other Rwandans.

This novel does not sensationalise the violence nor does it dwell on the political legitimacy and shortcomings of the world’s nations who at first refused to acknowledge the genocide and certainly did nothing to prevent or end it. Instead, readers are shown how Pascal, via his vivid and eloquent narrations to a counsellor in Brussels some five years later, survived the ordeal and how his experiences changed him.

His voice rings loud and pure yet is tragically and irreversibly altered by what he has seen and had to do to save himself and Nadine. The final picture is not a straightforward prediction of how the previously pious and life-loving Pascal will evolve. He is at the endpoint, painfully sad and despondent; we, like the counsellor are incredulous and shocked that he has emerged with any sense of hope at all.

Despairing and gut wrenching, yes, however rather than fuelling hatred and disgust, this poignant tale promotes understanding and hope ‘to prevent children having to hide or run in fear from conflicts that have nothing to do with them.’ (Paraphrased from James Roy’s dedication.)

Powerful, essential reading.

My Holocaust Story: Hanna by Goldie Alexander

This is the first title in the Holocaust series aimed at upper primary readers and at first glance, I had mixed feelings about curling up to read this one. On one hand, I find the potency and importance of this subject terribly arresting but on the other, if handled oafishly instils depression and worse, a kind of muted blasé trance – we’ve-heard-and-seen-it-all-before kind of attitude. Happy to report, Hanna exhibits none of the latter and is an excellent introduction of the Holocaust and its impact for young readers.

Peppered with edgy characters, spirited narration, and well-paced drama, Hanna is another title that skilfully addresses the atrocities of ethnic cleansing without bogging young minds previously unexposed to the grim details of WW II.

Hanna Kaminsky is a Polish Jew forced into hiding with her family, then surviving in the Warsaw Ghetto at the onset of WW II. Like Pascal, she can almost taste the rising tension of political unrest but is too absorbed by her love of gymnastics, her best friend, and her warm family life to comprehend the danger it represents.

Pascal’s refuge was an old disused water tank. Hanna’s is reading. Throughout her nerve-destroying confinement she clings to the one novel her mother allowed her to flee with, The Scarlet Pimpernel. She begins to mirror her survival on his character and adopts the mantra ‘pluck and audacity’ to make it through each moment of escalating horror. In spite of her own hardships, Hanna shows spunk and fortitude in the face of adversity, using them to help others in dire need.

Alexander’s historical notes give this story depth and dimension describing the staggering loss of life associated with the Holocaust, millions being children, but again are presented in a balanced, informative way. For there is no need to over-describe the tragedy of these events.

It’s interesting to note this title is endorsed by Courage to Care, an organisation devoted to educating and challenging young people to stand up to injustices rather than just being passive bystanders.

Inspiring and purposeful.

Paper Planes by Allayne L. Webster

This did not pull me as much as the title and cover promised it might owing to continued overzealous exposition however, it is nonetheless a fascinating account of the conflict th

at divided a nation and its people for nearly half a decade. Ashamedly, I knew very little about the Civil War that savaged the former Yugoslavia in the early 90s in spite of the fact that I was living and working in Europe at the time.

Paper Planes traces the plight of one family in Sarajevo through the eyes of the quite naive 12-year-old Niko and his eventual escape from the city under siege. Flecked with historic accuracies, this story does prick the emotions and beggars the belief as to how we humans are (still) able to fight our fellow man in such prehistoric ways for so little substantial reason.

Recommended for mid-grade readers, Paper Planes is another story about a terrible war and cultural genocide, the sufferers of which are often the innocents; the children and the people who never wanted it in the first place and like all war-torn tales, it is based on real historical facts and the lives of those who lived them.

Find all books here.

Scholastic Australia March 2015 – March 2016

#ByAustralianBuyAustralian

Review: Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick

Every Exquisite Thing is a powerful and heartfelt novel about adolescence, and the perpetual journey of self-discovery. Nanette O’Hare is a teenager who been pigeon-holed into her role as dutiful daughter, industrious student, and soccer star. She has immersed herself into the life that has been moulder for her, rather than allowed the freedom to find her own path. She’s simply caught in a slipstream; going with the flow.

But when her favourite teacher gifts her a worn, battered copy of the out-of-print cult classic novel The Bubblegum Reaper, Nanette’s life skews wildly. First she befriends the reclusive author of her now-favourite novel; then she falls in love with a troubled young poet with a twisted perspective of justice; and as she begins rebelling against her life’s ‘regular scheduled programming’ and attempts to recalibrate her life according to her own desires rather than everybody else’s, she realises just how difficult it to be comfortable in your own skin, and be true to who you are, in a world that habitually rejects personalities outside its inhibitive definition of ‘normal.’

The beauty – and sadness – of Every Exquisite Thing is its trueness to the blight of adolescents everywhere. All of us, at one point or another, and even as we’ve moved beyond our teenage years into adulthood, have struggled with the shackles placed upon us by our family or friends, or society in general. How many of us persisted with something because it has been expected of us? Or because weassumed something was expected of us? And who’s to say those ‘shackles’ were wrong? Untethered, would we have made better choices? Who’s to know? The point is, we can either conform or rebel, and neither option guarantees success or failure. We’re all on a journey, and we just have to hope we have smiles on our faces at the end of it. Life is a serious of choices, but as an adolescent, those decisions can seem unfathomable.

Every Exquisite Thing is a true-to-life tale that impresses thanks to its authentic characters. Matthew Quick’s always had that uncanny knack of perfectly encapsulating the teenage psyche and detailing their struggles. This isn’t necessarily an innovative take on a traditional narrative, but it’s emotionally true, and is ripe with enough humour and a likable cast to propel it above its competition.

Pre-order now to be one of the first to receive this book!

Review: Secret Hero Society – Study Hall of Justice by Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen

The cynic in me wanted to view Derek Fridolfs’ and Dustin Nguyen’s Secret Hero Society: Study Hall of Justice as a perfunctory vehicle to spotlight younger versions of DC comics heroes and villains ahead of the release of the blockbuster film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. But I’m a sucker for the DC’s ‘trinity’ – Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman – and I’m a long-time admirer of Dustin Nguyen’s art. So despite my hesitations, I pulled a copy from the shelf and dived in… and I was more than pleasantly surprised. I was delighted. This is a book that’ll have both adults and kids in stitches, scouring pages for inside jokes and references, and enraptured by the core mystery. In other words, it’s a winner.

Young Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent and Diana Prince form their own Junior Detective Agency in the halls of Ducard Academy in Gotham City when they realise there’s more to their new boarding school for ‘gifted’ children than meets the eye. They’re an oddball triumvirate, each displaying the divisive characteristics that’ve been portrayed in the comics for decades. Together, they unravel the mystery behind the school’s secret headmaster, overcoming the villainous obstacles in their way including fellow students Lex Luthor, Harley Quinn and the Joker, as well as dastardly school staff including General Zod, Hugo Strange, Vandal Savage, and so forth.

Secret Hero Society: Study Hall of Justice is layered with references that young fans and older will enjoy – but every element is explicated well enough to ensure the layman won’t be left lost and confused. This is fundamentally a story about friendship – how different personalities, regardless of upbringing, can be moulded into an effective team – with a good amount of super-heroics thrown in. It’s told through traditional comic book pages, journal entries, pamphlets, text messages, and report cards, and the variation enhances the tale’s readability. The only flaw I identified was the novel’s pacing. The story takes its time to get going – it’s not plodding, but necessarily measured in order to establish the characters and their world – but in contrast the climax feels rushed, like suddenly the storytellers realised they were running out of pages. It’s not a major issue, and it certainly doesn’t take away from the novel’s successes, but it’s a noticeable stumble.

This is the kind of book I wish had been around when I was a kid. It’s fun and quirky, but doesn’t talk down to readers. I’d love to see further adventures in this universe, and there’s certainly a ton more characters to explore from the DC Universe.

Buy the book here…

Jess Racklyeft Touches Hearts with ‘Smile Cry’

Jess Racklyeft is the illustrator behind her adorably heartwarming debut picture book. With her beautiful, vast array of design and art work and use of mixed media, Jess’s passion and talent shines brightly in Smile Cry. Today we find out more about her illustrative inspiration.

Review:

“It’s such a cool book! It never finishes and you could just read it all day!” – Miss M, age 6.

The fun flip-over format with its narrative meeting in the middle is just the beginning of what makes this book so special. Smile Cry, where you can start at either end, deliciously offers its readers a gourmet of emotive goodness to explore and ponder.

My two daughters, ages 3 and 6, perfectly fit the target age group for this clever story, and our first reading experience was … unforgettable! Each page turn, whether we were enjoying the kinds of ‘smiles’ or the types of ‘cries’, motioned us into role-play and thought-provoking action.

The reactions of the three cute characters – piglet, bunny and cat – are easily identifiable as they face a mixed bag of situations, and feelings. Tania McCartney‘s text is wholesome and pure with sentiments of depth that delve further than it appears on the surface. Her beautifully written phrases allow their readers to consider the subtleties of each emotion. It may be a sorrowful, disappointed or even a joyful cry, or an ecstatic, satisfied or grimacing smile. From a ‘hug a cuddly monkey smile’ to ‘perhaps it’s a lost cry’, or a ‘tickle smile’ to a ‘tickle cry’, the level of warmth and empathy will touch each heart in different ways.

Jess Racklyeft‘s illustrations perfectly suit the delicate nature of the story with their pencil and watercolour softness and pastel tones, not to mention her sweet, cuddly characters that exude personality and warmth. I also love how Jess has included fine details and layers to turn each spread into a story of its own.

Smile Cry is a divinely heartfelt book, chock-full of sweet and savoury sentimental moments. It is a valuable resource for building foundations for sound emotional development. Readers from age three will simply gobble it up at every turn, over and over again.

EK Books, March 2016.

Interview:

Congratulations, Jess, on the recent release of your first picture book, Smile Cry! How do you plan on celebrating its launch?

Thank you so much! On Saturday April 9th I’ll be launching the book at The Little Bookroom in Carlton North (Melbourne). This is my local bookshop, and since I wandered in there almost four years ago with my baby has been a place of inspiration and support… They’ve been stocking my cards and prints, and now my first book.
On the day we will have tasty baked goods, drinks and lots of games. A musician friend Claire Hollingsworth will be playing a few songs, and I’m looking forward to sending it off into the world with some cake and champagne. The fantastic author Tania McCartney recently launched the book in Canberra and it looked like such an amazing day.

What were your thoughts on Smile Cry when it was handed to you to illustrate?

It was a big build up as I had entered a competition to illustrate the book that Tania and the publisher Anouska had run on an online drawing group, the 52 Week Challenge. I had seen a couple of lines of text from the book to create my entry, but wasn’t sure how the narrative would work or the characters etc. So when I first saw the manuscript I was so excited about the possibilities. The text was so image-filled, Tania had put together such a sweet and sensitive manuscript and my mind was racing with the illustrative possibilities!

What was it like to collaborate with the talented Tania McCartney?

She’s just a dream to work with. She’s so passionate about children’s books (like me!) and has so much respect for the industry and the process. I used to work for a children’s publisher and I know usually the author and illustrator don’t have a great deal of interaction in the process, but I was so lucky EK Books allowed us to work closely on it. I think this resulted in the best outcome for us both – and we had so much fun through the process. She’s an inspiration.

What little secrets can you share about the making of Smile Cry?

On “An ate all the pies smile” I snuck in a little copy the paper The Age. One of my favourite pastimes pre kids was an afternoon of sun lounging with the paper in the park with some baked goods. Sadly, this doesn’t last more than a few minutes these days, but I drew it remembering those days very fondly J. Also, I created a very subtle colour palette for each side – Smile has slightly warmed tones, and cry cooler.

I love the softness of your lines, tones and sweet characters in the book. This style perfectly suits the gentle nature of the story. What was your favourite part of the book to work on? Why is this meaningful to you?

Thank you so much! It’s funny because I did another book around the same time, and by coincidence they are coming out the same month (The Midnight Possum) – it’s a completely different style though, and I didn’t actually consciously plan out the look as much as I now see they have. It just sort of came together in a very easy way (with a lot of drawing, of course!).

In terms of my favourite part… I loved working on all of it to be honest! It’s been a lifelong dream to illustrate picture books and the process was just a joy. I think the pig walking in the forest page was perhaps my happiest one as it is my happy place being in nature too.

Your illustrative repertoire is wide with work including children’s books, painting and design of cards and prints. Is any one venue more challenging than the rest? Where do you plan for your art to take you in the future?

I had a long time working in other industries before working as a freelance illustrator, so when I set out to make my career viable and stable, I wanted to gain work in a lot of areas. It’s been pretty challenging trying to keep up with all the different projects and clients, especially since we had a second baby, but I do enjoy working on lots of different things. I would say picture books are the most challenging as you have to dive so deeply into the project, but it is something I would like to do more of. I hope one day to both write and draw my own books, as well as create a line of décor products for kids (I love translating illustrations to different mediums – eg doonas!).

Sounds gorgeous!

Have you always wanted to be an artist? What do you love about illustrating for children?

I have, although I got swept into working in a variety of other jobs before I got back to my true work love, illustration! I love the fact that you are creating work that a child can connect with and it may stick with them for the rest of their life. I reflect back on my favourite books from my own childhood, and the way they spoke to me so strongly in an emotive or imaginative way.

What does your work space look like? Is there an item in your studio that you cannot live without? What are your favourite mediums to use?

We are really lucky in that we have a “granny flat” out the back of our garden which has beautiful light, and an intercom so I can hear when our bub wakes! I love working with watercolours (and always have) although more and more I am having fun experimenting with digital media. I’ve also been scanning in my 3 year old’s artwork and use some of this for collage material for my work, or for drawing with her – for example last October she did some watercolour marks and I made an Australian bird painting a day in ink.

How did you get your break in the industry? What is your greatest tip for emerging illustrators?

I sent the most amazing lady, Patricia Howes from Omnibus, my portfolio for 6 YEARS! While I look at my first work and grimace, she was so kind and would send the most helpful feedback – and called me to say I had a job illustrating a book with Sally Morgan (you could have blown me over with a feather). I’ve also been lucky to have yearly catch ups with Anna Walker, and amazing people like Tania and EK Books to support me through the process of working on my first book. So I guess I am saying – make connections, friendships and keep chipping away, as all those incredible people from the industry are usually also very kind and happy to share their knowledge.

What are you currently working on? Any exciting projects or upcoming events that you can share with us?

In October my next book will be released with Scholastic, called One Little Koala. Right now I am working on many many client projects, from designing resin jewellery for Erstwilder, creating portraits for my Etsy shop, designing candle labels for a non-profit, painting a peony for a wedding gift, designing fabric etc…. I keep a little overview of projects on my website www.jessesmess.com as they come to fruition. But in the background I am always musing over the next possible book project, so hopefully next year I will have a couple more out in the world J

Looking forward to seeing more amazing art from you. Thank you so much for joining us at Boomerang Books, Jess!

Thank you so so much for having me!

Purchase Smile Cry.

Find details for the launch here.

Jess Racklyeft can be found at her website, on Facebook and at her Etsy store.

#ByAustralianBuyAustralian

Best Historical Fiction YA Books

I grew up reading historical fiction so I have an insurmountable love for it. It always brings back memories, you know?! Glorious memories of a childhood spent between book pages…and in tears because, let’s face it: WWII books are ALWAYS devastating. Actually history in general can be altogether nasty. But it makes such good stories.

And today’s list is about my top YA historical fiction picks. They’ll probably all make you cry. I’m not even sorry for recommending them.

H I S T O R I C A L F I C T I O N

CODE NAME VERITY: This book had me absolutely sobbing. It is such a powerful story of two girls blazing paths of feministic glory in WWII. One is a pilot. The other is a spy. It will probably break your heart. (Just warning you.) But must be, without a doubt, one of the best books I’ve ever read.
ROSE UNDER FIRE: This is a companion novel to the above, but can be read alone! It’s a little quicker in pacing and focuses on Rose, a WWII pilot, who gets caught by the Germans and put in a concentration camp. Again: tears. It’s so beautifully and emotionally written.
I AM DAVID: This is a bit of an old book, but still a story that absolutely sticks to my soul. David was born in a concentration camp, so when he escapes he has basically ZERO social skills or understanding of the world. It is so sad/sweet to see him struggling to fit into society and also find a home. BREAK MY HEART WHY DON’T YOU, WWII STORIES.

PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG: Another WWII story, but this one is by the point of view of a German girl who knows Hitler. It’s extremely interesting to read the story from this angle and see how a teenage girl reacts. Plus it shows a more human side to Hitler which is chilling.
UNDER A PAINTED SKY: Now let’s zoom backwards to the Gold Rush era! This book just wins for diversity because it features a Chinese protagonist (who’s also a violinist) who is on the run to the gold fields with an escaped slave. Another female friendship that is totally awesome!
WALK ON EARTH A STRANGER: Another goldrush book! But this one has a hint of magical fantasy in it too, since Lee can magically “detect gold”. Talk about handy right? Until it gets your family killed. Ahem. This is more about the journey towards California, but the writing is just ridiculously beautiful.

A MAD AND WICKED FOLLY: Time for Women’s Rights! HUZZAH! This is about the suffragette movement…and Victoria’s quest to be a painter and artist and not just get shuffled off to be married to some guy.
LIES WE TELL OURSELVES: This is set in 1959, where a group of black students are attending an all-white highschool. It talks honestly and brutally about the racism of that time…and oh gosh, people’s actions just made me so sick. It’s definitely a very important story to be told.
THE GAME OF LOVE AND DEATH: This is a slightly paranormal twist on the early 1900s, where Love and Death are personified people and have this “game” where they see if two unlikely people will get together. (Death trying to break them up; Love getting them together.) It’s a romance between an African-American musician and a white orphan boy…and in that era the odds are pretty much not in their favour. And oh is this book incredible!

14 Books With Keys on the Cover

I’m always influenced by a well-designed book cover or dust jacket, and a book with a key on the cover almost always grabs my attention. Once I started taking notice of the symbolism of keys in book cover design, it didn’t take me long before I started making a list (because I love a good list).

First for the ones I’ve read:

1. The Observations by Jane Harris
2. 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz
3. The Servants by Michael Marshall Smith
4. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
5. The Collector by John Fowles

It should be said that for these 5 books, the covers were much better than the novels. I gave The Collector a 4 star rating, 3 star ratings to two of the books in the list and one 2 star and one 1 star rating to the rest. Now that I consider these ratings alongside their appealing cover designs, perhaps there’s some truth to not judging a book by it’s cover. Just because a book speaks to you, doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy it.

There’s a plethora of keys decorating all kinds of book covers out there, some old and some new, some enticing, and some less so. One of my favourite classics cover of all time is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, number 13 in the list and the cover of The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon calls out to me whenever I see it. I can almost hear those keys jangling in the snow.

6. The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon
7. Secret Obsession by Kimberla Lawson Roby
8. Altar of Bones by Philip Carter
9. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
10. Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson

Elena Ferrante is popular this year, and the keys on the front cover (pictured right) speak to me about unlocking the mystery of the author’s identity almost as much as her novel The Days of Abandonment.

11. Magician by Raymond E. Feist
12. The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
13. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
14. The Inquisitor’s Key by Jefferson Bass

Can you recommend any of these? Have I missed any of your favourite covers in this list?
Are you influenced by cover art? Let me know in the comments.

Australian YA: Meet Will Kostakis and The Sidekicks

Will Kostakis has a great reputation in the world of Australian YA. He seems to be vastly energetic and enthusiastic and is viewed with enormous affection by readers of YA.

Will’s new YA novel The Sidekicks has just been published by Penguin Books Australia.

It’s a poignant, appealing story about three disparate guys in Year Eleven with one thing in common.
Olympic hopeful swimmer, Ryan is exceptionally well drawn and endearing.

Thanks for speaking with Boomerang Books, Will.

What’s your background and how else do you spend your time?

I balance my time between working as a freelance journalist and writing books. As my career has developed, I do less of the former and more of the latter, which is a dream come true. I like to keep as active as I can – if I had my way, I’d spend my days stuck to my desk, so I break up long stints at the computer with walks and swims.

Why did you write The Sidekicks?

The First Third was intended as a love letter to families, but one of the more surprising aspects for me was just how much I enjoyed writing the central friendship. I knew I wanted my next book to explore male friendships. That want, coupled with a desire to reflect on what it was like to lose a close friend in high school, inspired me to write The Sidekicks.

Could you tell us about your main characters and how they interact?

I wanted three distinct protagonists, who acted and reacted in three distinct ways. There’s Ryan, the school’s prized athlete, Harley, the smart-arse, and Miles, academic powerhouse slash evil genius. They grieve in different ways, and they don’t get along, at least not at first. The deceased Isaac was sun and they orbited him. The Sidekicks is them rebuilding their lives without someone to orbit and tracing a path back to each other.

What about their mothers? (you write about families with such affirmation)

I am so clearly the product of a single-parent household, and I think my works’ consistent focus on mother-son relationships reflects that. I see YA as books about teens on the edge of the rest of their lives, of adulthood, and you can see that at play with the way the boys relate to their mothers. While Ryan’s is a quiet army (albeit ever-present and suffocating), Harley’s is absent, and Miles’s is so light-hearted and warm, my favourite mother in the book is Sue. She is mourning her son’s death and her passages really epitomise that transition from teen to adult.

I know it’s only just been published but have you received any responses from readers about The Sidekicks that particularly resonate with you?

Given the novel has three very different protagonists, it has connected with readers for various reasons, but what resonates with me the most is the way readers have embraced Ryan as he struggles to come out. Writing him gave me the confidence to come out publicly myself. While we’re very different, his journey echoes mine, and to see readers of all ages, genders and sexualities throwing their support behind him… It’s been surreal.

What are you working on at the moment?
Ah, loose lips sink ships! I will say I’m loving it. Hopefully I won’t have to keep it secret much longer.

What have you recently enjoyed reading?
I recently finished my second reading of Jay Kristoff and Amie Kauffman’s Illuminae … Even better the second time. There were so many details I missed!

All the best with The Sidekicks, Will.

#ByAustralianBuyAustralian