story time books

This is a new novel by Australian writer Barry Jonsberg, author of The Whole Business of Kiffo and the Pitbull and two other books for young adults. A 16-year-old boy has caused $30,000 worth of damage in a fast-food place when his temper takes over. His father, a hot-shot business man, pays for lawyers, psychiatrists, etc., who name his condition as IED or Intermittent Explosive Disorder and he is dropped in the bush in Tasmania to live with his mother’s father. Gramps is more than a match for the smart city boy and slowly teaches him, by example, a whole other way of dealing with the world. There are surprises along the way which I won’t spoil, but it’s very funny and very serious at the same time, as many good reads are. Many ideas are thrown around in the interplay between the old man and the boy and a couple of other characters. I liked this one very much.

An interesting read from Jordan Sonnenblick. Alex Gregory is slightly confused by his parents getting divorced, his father living with his third-grade teacher; he’s afraid he might be in love with a girl he’s always thought of as a friend, so he gets drunk on vodka his father left behind and tries to drive to his father’s place to sort him out.  After he crashes, killing a garden gnome, he is sentenced to some sort of community service and ends up “babysitting” an elderly man in a rest home. Then he starts learning. While some of it is a bit over-the-top for my taste, it’s a roller-coaster of a read in the best possible way, veering from almost farce to almost tragedy and back again. One review on the back cover says “readers [will be] nodding with recognition, sighing in sympathy, and gasping with laughter – often on the same page,” and that summarises it pretty well. A teenage/young adult read.

A Mallinson Rendel paperback original by Sandy McKay, this is another early chapter book.  Science Fair projects are something many children and parents know about, and look forward to with either anticipation or dread. Todd and Joey aren’t very good at getting organised, and usually come last. They complain about the unfair advantage one of the girls has, having a scientist mother. Todd finally decides to investigate ways to save his solo mother time so that she has time to help him with his homework. Mr Godfrey, who lives over the back fence gives him a few tips as to how he might be able to help, including a jar of elbow grease, and he learns a fair bit and gets a third prize for his project. There’s a good story, quite a bit of humour, and it’s another New Zealand book in that tricky area of first chapter books for 7-9-year-olds.

Romeo and Juliet of the canine world. This picture book by Gillian Shields, with illustrations by Elizabeth Harbour tells the story in verse of the meeting and falling in love of Esme Lamour, a pampered poodle from a penthouse, and Samuel Bloom, a dog from a crowded tenement room. Delightful illustrations that evoke the different worlds the two come from, and a happy ending with Esme’s owner Mrs B. Goldstein accepting Sam and five little puppies who appropriately have some characteristics from each of their parents. I’ve had a few requests lately for picture books with dogs, and this is a good one which will appeal to any child with a love of dogs.

Last year on 7 September I posted a rave review here of Questors, by Joan Lennon. It’s been a steady seller since, often on my recommendation. Now the author has another fantasy novel which will be enjoyed by the same audience, those over about 10-years-old (and some younger good readers) who enjoy fantasy. The Seventh Tide is another very good novel. Joan Lennon writes well, is incredible inventive, and has a fine understanding of the quirks and humorous aspects of human nature. Again Joan Lennon chooses three different protagonists. In Questors they were three different genders (that’s right, three) in the same universe; this time they’re separated by time and universes. Eo is a teenage shape-shifter, Adom is a boy from the 6th century, and Jay is a girl from the 24th and at times they have the assistance of Professor Hurple, a well-read talking ferret. None of the three has been very good at paying attention, which is what leads to their situation. Eo absentmindedly does something which allows demons into his world, and the challenge he is forced to accept involves being hurled back and forth through time, which is how he meets up with the others. It sounds very complicated, but that is because I’m not as good a writer as Joan Lennon. I followed the story without problem in spite of very interrupted reading. Like the Harry Potter books Joan Lennon’s novels convey the eternal struggle between good and evil with flawed heroes and heroines, and lots of humour. Another great read. Enjoy!

A wonderful evening yesterday of celebration of the best in New Zealand books for young people. It was great to meet many authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians, reviewers, and others involved in the process of getting books from the sparks in creative people’s minds to the children so that they learn, in the worlds of Joy Cowley’s husband, accepting the supreme award on her behalf, “not only to read, but to love reading.” The winners have been announced, and will no doubt be posted today on the Booksellers NZ site at www.booksellers.co.nz. Snake and Lizard by Joy Cowley and Gavin Bishop was the overall winner, with its beautiful standards of design and publication repeatedly praised, with much acclamation for Julia Marshall of Gecko Press as well as the author and illustrator. Congratulations to all winners, finalists, nominees and the organisers of the ceremony.

This is by L. S. Lawrence, author of Eagle of the East. Again set in ancient times, this is the story of Sara, daughter of a Carthaginian merchant trader. the story begins with news that her brother has been killed and that the Romans are on their way to take Carthage. Her father is grief-stricken and unable to act, so Sara gets them away on one of her father’s ships. What with Roman pursuit, pirate attacks and her father’s death in one of the fights, Sara has to grow up rather quickly. Great characters, exciting story, and lots of comment on the relative merits of commerce, seafaring, soldiering and other lifestyles make this another good read, especially for those who like historical backgrounds for their fiction. Intermediate age and upwards.

Last year (on 13 July) I wrote a glowing review here of Here Lies Arthur, Philip Reeve’s take on the Arthur legend. The Stone Crown, by Australian Malcolm Walker is another extremely good book with the Arthur story as its basis, but this story is set mainly in the 21st century, in the Scottish borders. Emlyn and his friend Maxine are drawn to an ancient site known locally as Sleeper’s Spinney. They find a group of wooden horsemen hidden in a chamber beneath the earth and open a connection to the time of Arthur. As in Reeve’s reinterpretation, Arthur is not the noble king of legend, but a warlord hungry for power. A long line of keepers have kept the wooden horsemen hidden away since Arthur’s time, to keep powerful forces in check, and the latest are prepared to go to extreme lengths to get the horseman back. Exciting, real, poetic writing and wonderful characterisation make this a powerful read for good readers aged about 11 and up.

By Gail Giles, this was published in the US last year, and here recently. It’s an amazing story, written with sensitivity and compassion, of the rehabilitation of a boy who (unintentionally) killed a seven year old neighbour when he was nine-years-old himself. It’s also a story within a story, so it has quite a sophisticated structure which (along with the content) makes this a young adult book. But those who can cope with the structure and subject matter should find this a compelling read. Kip, the “murderer”, tells his story almost dispassionately, but the reader feels every step up and every slide back as he tries, and is helped by various professionals, to come to terms with what he has done in a way that allows him to continue to live. There are not many reads around as grippingly real as this is. A magnificent piece of story telling.

A first chapter book by Hilary McKay, in that area where good books are so hard to find, the transition point between picture books and chapter books that are more than just readers. It’s a lovely story which has hints of The Velveteen Rabbit, but from a different starting point. “It was Christmas time when the bear arrived. He was not invited; he just appeared.” He’s the wrong shape, too big, not cuddly, so he gets squashed under a bed and neglected for several years, then thrown out into a skip. A seagull feasting on the fish and chips also thrown in the skip tells him, “You want to get a life, mate,” and the bear agrees. Then a girl called Ellie, smaller than the other children, but braver, tries to get him out of the skip, and her touch wakens the bear. But the skip goes to the tip and the bear is exposed to worse sights and smells than he had imagined. He saves the seagull from a bulldozer, escapes to a wood and a cave, but then finds he needs to save others left at the tip. A lovely story with some unexpected twists and turns, for independent readers of 6-8, and good for reading aloud to younger children who are ready for something with a bit more text and story than a picture book. Hilary McKay is a wonderful writer, one of those people with a direct line to childhood, who is equally at home with picture books, at this level, where she’s also written the Charlie books, or writing for much older children as in the Casson family stories. Beautiful illustrations by Serena Riglietti.