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Children's and YA book reviews and interviews

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Feature review

Because of You
Pip Harry, UQP, August 2017, reviewed by Meg Whelan

Interview

Little book of horrors: Jack Henseleit on ‘The Vampire Knife’

Quiet Magic: Emily Rodda on ‘The Shop at Hoopers Bend’

Picture books

Feathers
Phil Cummings, illus by Phil Lesnie, Scholastic, August 2017, reviewed by Margaret Hamilton

If we could all fly around the world like the sandpiper in Phil Cummings and Phil Lesnie’s latest picture book, we would see how many people are experiencing extreme hardships... Read more

Fluke
Lesley Gibbes, illus by Michelle Dawson, Working Title Press, August 2017, reviewed by Margaret Hamilton

This new picture book by Lesley Gibbes, author of CBCA Honour Book Scary Night, is based on the true story of a southern right whale who gave birth to her... Read more

Hark It's Me, Ruby Lee!
Lisa Shanahan, illus by Binny Talib, Lothian, August 2017, reviewed by Christina Copeland

This light-hearted, lesson-filled picture book from Lisa Shanahan (author of Bear and Chook and Big Pet Day) perfectly matches Binny Talib’s simple-yet-vivid illustrations. Talib uses specific shades of blue, yellow,... Read more

I Just Ate My Friend
Heidi McKinnon, A&U, August 2017, reviewed by Michael Earp

Making friends can be hard but keeping them can be even harder. Especially if you’ve just eaten your friend, like the nameless monster in Heidi McKinnon’s debut picture book. The... Read more

Sarah and the Steep Slope
Danny Parker, illus by Matt Ottley, Little Hare, August 2017, reviewed by Maria Alessandrino

Sarah and the Steep Slope is a new picture book from the creative duo behind Tree and Parachute. Sarah wakes up one day to find a slope trapping her in... Read more

Stitches and Stuffing
Carrie Gallasch, illus by Sara Acton, Little Hare, August 2017, reviewed by Margaret Hamilton

Loving relationships are so important in children’s lives. It doesn’t seem to matter if the relationships are with humans, animals or toys—they are all a vital part of growing up.... Read more

Stubborn Stanley
Nathaniel Eckstrom, Scholastic, August 2017, reviewed by Thuy On

Stanley is a messy-haired, freckly boy in red overalls. Depicted on the cover, he has his arms crossed in a determined stance and his name cleverly spelt out with various... Read more

Younger readers

Gaolbird
Simon Barnard, Text, August 2017, reviewed by Anica Boulanger Mashberg

Simon Barnard’s latest convict story for children presents a boisterous slice of Australian colonial history using lairy illustrations and a persistent and multi-stranded narrative. Unlike his meticulous, information-loaded CBCA Award-winning... Read more

Lintang and the Pirate Queen
Tamara Moss, Random House, August 2017, reviewed by Tehani Croft

Lintang lives in a world where creatures known as ‘mythies’ cause mayhem. Her home, the island of Desa, is protected by a sea monster, and Lintang yearns to travel out... Read more

Musical Markus: Super Moopers Book One
Fiona Harris, illus by Scott Edgar, Five Mile, August 2017, reviewed by Dani Solomon

Markus is a Mooper who loves to sing loudly and constantly! Unfortunately, most of the Moopers in Moopertown find this, well, annoying. Poor Markus. Who wouldn’t feel sorry for him... Read more

Patty Hits the Court: Game Day Book One
Patty Mills with Jared Thomas, illus by Nahum Ziersch, A&U, August 2017, reviewed by Holly Harper

Patty Hits the Court, the first instalment in the ‘Game Day’ series, is the latest in a tradition of sports stars writing for the junior crowd—this time it’s San Antonio... Read more

The Shop at Hoopers Bend
Emily Rodda, HarperCollins, August 2017, reviewed by Fay Helfenbaum

Emily Rodda is a household name in children’s literature. While her younger fans will be familiar with her fantasy realms, her new book has more in common with her earlier... Read more

The Vampire Knife: The Witching Hours Book One
Jack Henseleit, Hardie Grant Egmont, August 2017, reviewed by Holly Harper

As a bookseller, recommending horror for the middle-grade fiction crowd is a difficult balancing act: not scary enough and the kids will switch off; too scary and the adults will protest. Thankfully the publication of The Vampire... Read more

Young adult

The Build-up Season
Megan Jacobson, Penguin, August 2017, reviewed by Tamsien West

Megan Jacobson’s The Build-up Season is a confronting but compelling exploration of domestic violence and the legacies of abuse, set against the gathering storm clouds in the ‘build-up’ to Darwin’s... Read more

The Dream Walker
Victoria Carless, Hachette, July 2017, reviewed by Bec Kavanagh

In her debut novel, Victoria Carless explores isolation, hope and grief through the surreal and distortive lens of dreams. Sixteen-year-old Lucy Hart feels lost in the isolated fishing village of... Read more

Exchange of Heart
Darren Groth, Random House, August 2017, reviewed by Jordi Kerr

Canadian Munro Maddox is on an exchange program to Brisbane for one reason only—to leave behind the demons he’s been carrying around since the sudden death of his younger sister... Read more

Gap Year in Ghost Town
Michael Pryor, A&U, August 2017, reviewed by Meg Whelan

Anton is just a regular 18-year-old guy taking a gap year. He’s working at his dad’s second-hand bookshop, spending time with his best friend Bec, and getting some experience in... Read more

In the Dark Spaces
Cally Black, Hardie Grant Egmont, August 2017, reviewed by Meg Whelan

All Tamara wants is a safe space to live with her aunt and baby cousin, a place where she doesn’t have to hide and where they can talk louder than... Read more

Sparrow
Scot Gardner, A&U, August 2017, reviewed by Heath Graham

Scot Gardner’s latest YA novel is a story of survival in both the wilderness and the city. Leaping from an exploding boat into crocodile-infested waters, the boy who never speaks... Read more

The Traitor and the Thief
Gareth Ward, Walker Books, August 2017, reviewed by Jarrah Moore

In a steampunk alternate England, the life of 14-year-old petty thief Sin changes when he is recruited to join a secret school for young spies tasked with preventing an alternate... Read more

The Undercurrent
Paula Weston, Text, August 2017, reviewed by Meg Whelan

Jules De Marchi just wants to live a normal life—but it’s a bit hard when there is an electrical current running beneath her skin that she can’t entirely control. She... Read more