The boy, who remains nameless throughout the story, lives on an outback farm with his parents. The land has been cleared to make way for the wheat, and the parents have ambitions for their son to take over the farm and expand it in the future. But they are blind to the uniqueness of both the land and their son. The boy’s soul is tortured by the hardship of farm life, by the felling of the trees that takes habitat from the native animals, and by the lack of understanding that his parents show towards the boy’s feelings and nature. So when they are furious at the boy for renting a book from the library man, the boy makes a decision – to leave the farm and never return.
There are many interwoven strands in this unusual picture book – environment, individualism, teenage choices and families. Susy Boyer’s light pencil illustrations match the quality of light that you get in the outback – the washed-out colours and white, white light. Gary Crew has been on an environmental kick of late, and is working with an interesting selection of illustrators. The bleak ending may not be to everyone’s tastes, but it is certainly different.
Recommended for upper primary and above.
The Naming of Tishkin Silk is one of the most moving books you will ever read.
Griffin Silk is an uncommon boy, born after Scarlet, Indigo, Violet, Amber and Saffron, on that most uncommon of days, the twenty-ninth of February. But he is not the last of the family to born.
Griffin has a secret in his heart, that no-one else knows, and that no-one else can be told, until Layla comes into Griffin’s life.
Glenda Millard is one of Australia’s finest writers for young people. She has a particular style, a finesse, and a way of helping you to see right to the heart of the matter.
Recommended for Younger Readers and beyond.
MF
Layla needs a Senior Citizen to take to school for Senior Citizens Day. Griffin offers to share his grandma, Nell, but both Layla and Nell know that it’s not the same is having your own special person. So Layla, Nell and Griffin start a search for someone to become Layla’s special friend.
In typical fashion, Glenda Millard writes with passion and love of the problems that face children AND adults.
Recommended for Younger Readers and above.
MF
Gabby has embarrasing parents (like we all do). She has a best friend and someone she likes. But the person she likes (Si) happens to be her best friend’s boyfriend!! When Si throws himself at her, Gabby goes along with it. Her mum annouces she’s having a baby but Gabby wants nothing to do with the baby. She throws herself into her school life but it comes crashing down on her when her best friend finds out what happened with Si. Gabby feels very alone. Her mum has the baby and doesn’t want it. Gabby has to do it all.
Recommended for teens.
BM
A Perfect 10 was very hard to put down. I just kept reading and finished it in a couple of hours.
Eva loves gymnastics. She does it to make her mum happy and to keep gymnastics alive in the family. Eva’s older sister died in a car crash and Eva believes it’s her fault. Eva hasn’t had much competition in gymnastics until Patty comes along. Suddenly Eva’s world is falling apart. Her mum’s gone away and she thinks she’s losing her best friend. With her mum away no one watches what she’s eating and Eva starts to lose weight. Will Eva find her way back to her ‘real’ self?
Recommended for teens.
BM
This is a good first novel with authentic male teen voices. Jack, or Sticks, is on the cusp of manhood. He is tall and thin, hence the nickname Sticks, and has the usual amount of problems with the way he looks. But Sticks has a little extra problem – PE – pectus excavatum – a condition where the sternum and ribs cave into the chest cavity. He is so mortified by this ‘deformity’ that he hides his PE from everyone, even his Dad. Sticks’ dad has great expectiations for his son. A Vietnam vet, with multiple health issues, Brian has high hopes that Jack will follow him into the army. But Sticks has other ideas about the direction his life is going to take.
Covering friendship, relationships, family, illnesses, school life, rugby, partying and bullying, this is a far ranging novel, which works on most levels.
Recommended for older readers. Drug use and mild swearing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectus_excavatum
Recommended for Older Readers
MF
Edsel Grizzler is great sci-fi fantasy for the thinking teen. With a sneaky twist in the conclusion, and a plausible plot, Voyage to Verdada is a very satisfying read. I love speculative fiction that works around an interesting and original idea, and EG does that for me.
Edsel, an only child, lives with his clingy, paranoid, over-protective parents in boring suburbia. Edsel has no friends – he barely has a life – except for Pete at the junk yard. Pete and his mum supply Edsel with junk that Edsel repairs and resells. When Pete gives Edsel a small, white, egg-shaped wheelbarrow with three legs, Edsel’s life changes forever.
To tell you what happens to Edsel after the ‘egg’ comes into his life would be to ruin the story. Suffice to say, you will never figure out what’s coming, and the ending will leave you wanting more.
Recommended for teen readers, and above!
MF
Upside Down Inside out is one of my fav books. It’s a great tale of Eva and of who she dreams to be. After her best friend tells people that she is called Niamh and that she’s sung on cds it runs out of control. When she meets the love of her life and he thinks she’s someone she’s not. But he hasn’t told her everything either. You will not be able to put this book down until you finish and when you do it will leave you wishing for more.
This is the first masterpiece that he has created. The Da Vinci Code is an exciting adventure for both thriller-lovers and book lovers. It started with a violent murder of the curator, then the grand lengendary myth, The Holy Grail, is slowly unveiled by the clever cryptologist, Sophie, and the renowned symbologist, Robert.
Readers will unwarily get sucked into their adventure to unveil all sort of secrets: The Prior of Sion, the truth of The Holy Grail and even the hidden message in the Disney cartoon, The Little Mermaid. I totally indulged in this intriguing thriller, and I strongly recommend you to have a good read of it. It’s ‘Unputdownable”.
Recommended for older readers.
FL
