All this Could End

All this Could End by Steph Bowe (Text Publishing)
PB RRP $19.99
ISBN 97819211758447
Reviewed by Wendy Fitzgerald    

How would you feel if you mother was a bank robber?  What if you had moved through seven schools all the while pretending you were in a normal family? Finally you meet a boy you really like. But what would he think if he knew the truth?

Welcome to the life of Nina Pretty.  Her mother, Sophia Pretty thinks that it’s fun to rob banks and she expects the whole family to join in.

Sophia loves the thrill of stealing. She quotes from self help books and finds plenty of ways to justify her criminal behaviour. Anyway, the money’s insured! she says. The big banks won’t miss it... or will they?

Nina’s dad, Paul is a teacher. His job gives the family the illusion of a trustworthy cover. Nina worries about her little brother Tom. Why can’t her dad stand up to her mum?

It is at her seventh school that Nina finally finds a friend in a boy named Spencer.  They share a love of weird words, quirky facts and the same sense of humour. They find they can talk about everything... well almost everything.

But Spencer’s life is complicated too. His father is a bank manager. When his mother runs off with a man who looks like a body-building vampire Spencer is left to pick up the pieces. He has to deal with one depressed dad and a very confused little sister called Monica. Monica refuses to talk and only communicates using lollies called conversation hearts.

If you are over 13 years old I suggest you read this story to see how the author, 19 year old Steph Bowe cleverly weaves her plot with sparkling insight, witty humour, gentle honesty and kind compassion mixed together with a delightful sprinkle of romance.

This is Steph Bowe’s second book. Her first book, Girls Saves Boy came out in 2010. She is definitely a young writer with a very promising future. I highly recommend Steph Bowe's blog as well.

Alice-Miranda in Paris

Alice-Miranda in Paris by Jacqueline Harvey (Random House Australia)
PB RRP $15.95
ISBN 9781742752884
Also available as an ebook
ISBN 9781742752891
Reviewed by Marian McGuinness

Bonjour to all the fans of Alice-Miranda. Oui oui, the seventh book in Jacqueline Harvey’s series is set in Paris.

Alice-Miranda and a clutch of her school friends, along with a group of boys from Fayle School for Boys have travelled to Paris as a combined choir to sing at various fab locations during Fashion Week.

As always, things do not go smoothly. There are several plots at work in this epicentre of fashion and City of Love.

The children have fun touring the Louvre, sailing the Seine and performing at the Palace of Versailles, Notre Dame Cathedral and The Ritz. They have their own room keys (like adults), eat breakfasts of croissants and pastries, and walk the hotel owner’s dog Lulu, who ‘strutted like a model on a catwalk.’

But, all is not oh là là! There has been a theft of expensive llama fabric just before the fashion show and Alice-Miranda and crew set out to unravel the mystery.

As usual, there are many deliciously named characters. There’s Mr Trout, Mr Lipp (whose suit was a ‘particularly nasty shade of electric blue’), Mr Plumpton and Professor Winterbottom.

There are several questions that will keep young readers hooked. Who is the famous person strangely named Dux LaBelle who hides beneath a mask and cape? Who is the fabric thief, and who will ask their English teacher, Miss Reedy, out to dinner, after all it is the City of Love!

Beautifully paced and airily written, young readers 8 and up will believe themselves to be walking the streets of Paris with Alice-Miranda aided by the handy glossary of French phrases at the beginning of the book.

Award-winning author Jacqueline Harvey is currently writing more Alice-Miranda books. Sacré bleu! What will her next adventure be?

Event: Reading Matters Conference

From 30 May to 1 June the State Library of Victoria will host the Reading Matters Conference. 

Presented by the Centre for Youth Literature, the Conference helps teachers and librarians stay in touch with crucial and emerging issues and trends in youth literature. The 2013 program features a range of events with YA authors (Raina Telgemeier, John Flanagan, Morris Gleitzman and Garth Nix) and youth literature specialists. There are student days, a conference and evening events.

You can check it all out at the State Library of Victoria website. 

Twin Magic: Lost Tooth Rescue!

Twin Magic: Lost Tooth Rescue! by Kate Ledger, illustrated by Kyla May (Scholastic Inc)
PB RRP $6.99
ISBN 978-0-545-48025-3
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Lottie and Mia have just started at a new school. They are twins but are not the same in every way. Lottie is messy while Mia is tidy, Lottie is shy while Mia is forward, and they like to dress differently. But they are identical when it comes to magical powers. When the twins link their pinkie finger and say the magic spell:
         
             ‘When Twins get together
              We’re stronger than ever! 
              Twin magic azam,
              Let’s do what we can!’

they become magical Super Twins. In Lost Tooth Rescue! Super Twins power is needed, and together with unicorn Rosie and new friend Toby, they find Anna’s lost tooth.

The illustrations are colourful and fill the whole page with the focus split evenly between pictures and text. This clearly places the book between a picture book and an early reader chapter book. The drawings are not detailed, but rather emphasise the important aspects of the story and the expressions of the children. They reflect the thoughts and actions of the twins, highlighting their similarities and differences.

Interestingly, Lottie and Mia are much clearer individuals as girls than when their Super Twin persona is activated. Lost Tooth Rescue! is the first in a new series for girls between six and eight. It is good for stretching readers a little, while sticking to a simple storyline which includes relatable concepts such as starting school, losing a tooth or helping a new friend. This, combined with the appeal of twins, magic and unicorns, will ensure the Twin Magic series will be a hit with young girls.

Daisy and the Puppy

Daisy and the Puppy by Lisa Shanahan, illustrated by Sarah Acton (Scholastic Press)
HB RRP $24.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-051-3
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Daisy is the oldest child in a large family and the thing she wants the most in the world is a puppy. But how can she convince her parents that a dog would be a good thing for the family? She washes the neighbourhood dogs, sleeps in a basket and howls at passing fire engines. But after gazing at the animals in the pet shop, she still leaves empty handed.

Daisy and the Puppy is a beautiful story about family. Although not written in rhyme it is rhythmically poetic. ‘Lark loves the sucking catfish, with their fins like floating veils.’ The dialogue is natural and reading this story aloud the words roll off the tongue with ease. ‘You don’t need one,’ says Dad. ‘Not when you can rumble and tumble with Ruby, Lark and Jube!’

The illustrations are wonderfully messy, sometimes running off the page, creating movement and life. It is through these pictures that you get a true sense of the warmth, love and togetherness of the family.

Bear and Chook by the same author is a picture book I have always loved. There is something delightful about the way these two characters embrace the world. Daisy and her family are enchanting in a similar way with their earthiness and uncomplicated happiness.

Daisy and the Puppy is a heart-warming story for three year olds and up, especially for any young child longing for a puppy of their own.

Ella and Olivia: The Big Sleepover

Ella and Olivia: The Big Sleepover by Yvette Poshoglian, illustrated by Danielle McDonald (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $7.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-658-4
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Ella has invited her best friend Zoe for a sleepover. They plan to stay up late, telling stories and having a midnight feast. Olivia is feeling left out.

Olivia is only five-and-a-half years old, almost two years younger than her sister and not old enough yet for a sleepover. But she helps Ella with all the jobs which need to be done in preparation for the night. When Zoe arrives, Ella hopes that the bigger girls will share the fun with her.

The Ella and Olivia books are a great series for beginning readers. The text is large and broken up with sweet black and white illustrations. The chapters are short and the words and sentences straight forward and not too complex.

The story is one grounded in reality. Girls will easily identify with the sisters and recognise the excitement of the first sleepover with a friend. The relationships in the story are lovely but real, especially the one between the two sisters. They sometimes get frustrated with, or envious of, each other but they work it through, often with a little help from Mum.

There are eight so far to collect, and these books, suitable for 5-8 year-olds, will keep young readers engaged in the lives of Ella and Olivia.

Seadog

Seadog by Claire Saxby, illustrated by Tom Jellett (Random House Australia)
HB RRP $19.95
ISBN 9781742756509
Also available as an ebook
ISBN 9781742756523
Reviewed by Marian McGuinness

Fabulous and fun! I loved this picture book from the moment I saw Tom Jellett’s cheeky cover. There are many rascally dogs in children’s literature such as Harry the Dirty Dog and Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy, and Seadog has just as much charisma.

Just like we are all different, so too are dogs. Who wouldn’t love a sea dog? Who couldn’t love a sea dog? Seadog is not a work dog or a fetch dog or a trick dog or a clean dog, he’s a ‘find-and-roll-in-the-fish dog’. He’s a rapscallion and his day at the beach is described in lots of hyphenated phrases, until he is a ‘Pee-ee-euw, Seadog’. After the day is done when he’s all stinky with fish he becomes a ‘sit-still-till-it’s-done dog’ and succumbs to a bath.

With Saxby’s clever use of alliteration and assonance, children and adults will have fun twisting their tongues around the rhythm and rhyme as they go on Seadog’s adventures at the beach.

Tom Jellett has captured the enthusiasm and joy of such a scruffy, lovable dog. The endpapers give the book even more sea-appeal with a patchwork of international maritime signal flags. There are lots of close-up pictures of Seadog that make you feel as if you could give him a pat and hold your nose as you smell his fishy fur.

Claire Saxby is prolific in her writing and admits to being inspired by her own children, memories of childhood and by the children around her. It helps that she has a dog that often pretends to be a cat.

Tom Jellett is not only a bestselling illustrator of books for children; he also has been an editorial illustrator for umpteen print publications.

This is one picture book for 3 and up that will become dog-eared from love.