Too Flash is an engrossing chapter book for older readers. Penned by Melissa Lucashenko, an Australian writer of mixed European and Murri heritage she articulates the trials and tribulations of Zo, a fifteen year old who is forced to move across country when her career focused mum is relocated by her employer. Too Flash is a…
Combine the classic Wuthering Heights – full of lust, betrayal, longing and tragedy – with the talented mind of fantasy writer Alison Croggon, and what emerges is a rich and complex novel taking familiar themes to a whole new level. Black Spring is mesmerising. Hammel has been advised by his physician to ‘take a rest cure.’…
“There’s nothing quite as good as folding up into a book and shutting the world outside. If I pick up the right one I can be beautiful, or fall in love, or live happily ever after. Maybe even all three.” One of the best opening lines It literally pulls you in to the folds of…
“Reading is partly the weight of the book in your hand, the feel of a page as you turn it. It is not an experience you can approximate.” When I start by telling you that Being Here begins with a teenage girl interviewing an elderly lady as part of school project – do not judge. A…
The Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett is a multi layered intriguing novel which captures the horror, isolation and frightening aspects of WWII from a child’s perspective. Intermingled with the power, destruction and ruthlessness of England’s regal history, more specifically the path to the crown taken by Richard III, this is a fascinating novel. Two children, Cecily…
This stunning début novel from Australian author Emma Cameron is perfect for the YA audience. Cinnamon Rain didn’t take me long to read as I couldn’t put it down! Intriguing, heartfelt and eloquently written, I loved it. Beautifully told in verse which achieves the effect of minimalism, of making each line, each word, count. This sits so well…
Flip by Martyn Bedford is a compelling, page-turner of a novel. Reading this one resulted in me – or rather the book’s cover – gaining many strange and second takes! The cover, chapter numbers and the inside cover are written back to front, flipped around to cleverly reflect the turmoil of the main character Alex…
Deep, mournful, A Monster Calls is gut wrenching, sad and yet beautiful as it captures, explores and lays open Conor’s inner turmoil. “Conor screamed until he was hoarse, smashed until his arms were sore, roared until he was nearly falling down with exhaustion.” Conor is the protagonist of A Monster Calls. The monster is the subject of…
Dreaming the Bear is a beautifully lyrical novel from Mimi Thebo. Thebo’s atmospheric chapter book, for readers aged 9+, is told from the point of view of Darcy. From the opening pages we know that she has been ill recently. ‘my lungs are used to being at sea level and I’m living at 7,000 feet…
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