Vietnam: My Australian Story

Vietnam: My Australian Story by Deborah Challinor (Scholastic Press)

PB RRP $16.99

ISBN 978-1-76015-042-6

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

It is the late 1960’s and young Davey Walker can see change happening everywhere. He is starting high school, his brother Tom has been drafted to fight in Vietnam and his mother is acting a little strange. But the surf is still great, and so with his new surfboard, his two best mates, and plenty of new pop songs to sing on the way, Davey spends as much time as possible biking to and from the surf beach.

Vietnam is the fictional diary kept by thirteen year old Davey between September 1968 and January 1970. It is not a story about the Vietnam War, although letters home from Tom with brief descriptions of the war are included in the pages, but rather a picture of Australian culture during this time. And this was a time of social change, anti-war protests, surf-culture, space exploration and music.

I particularly loved the record Davey kept of the songs which were at the top of, or climbing the charts. Davey’s comments about whether it was a song his father liked/hated, his sister loved or his mates were into, really helped form the characters in the story. As music was a very important part of this era, these inclusions gave the story a strong 60’s atmosphere as well as clearly showing the changing face of popular culture.

Diary form is an intimate way to tell someone’s story, but you do have to connect with the diarist for it to work well. It wasn’t hard to connect with Davey. He is involved with family, a loyal friend and a bit of a ‘lad’ - but he is also a complex character, very compassionate and a thinker, trying to make sense of what life has thrown up. After his brother Tom comes home from Vietnam – minus a leg courtesy of a land mine – Davey has to tell his mother Tom is not coming back to live at home.

She said, ‘He’s not our Tom any more, is he?’

I didn’t really know how to answer that. My Tom was probably always different from her Tom. So I said, ‘I think he still loves us.’

The writing is very good. The people, their motivations and their relationships, feel solid and realistic. There is a good balance between social issues, Davey’s inner life and action in the pages of his diary. There is also a good balance between the ups and the downs. While some parts of life turn out great for Davey, other parts are very sad. It did touch a chord with me and there were tears.

My Australian Story is a really solid series and a great way for teenagers and preteens to learn about different periods in Australian history.

Thunderbirds —The Comic Collection

Thunderbirds —The Comic Collection by Gerry Anderson (Egmont)

ISBN 978 1 4052 6836 3

HB $39.95 RRP

Reviewed by Nean McKenzie

This collection of classic comics is presented in a beautiful hardback edition, containing 288 pages of quality original artworks. A brief introduction explains the history of this popular futuristic British series from the 60s and 70s. The TV Century 21 (TV21) series cartoons are in chronological order, beginning with The Earthquake Maker and finishing with the Lady Penelope comics. All are set in the 2060s, one hundred years in the future from when they were written.

Thunderbirds were created in Britain by Gerry Anderson in 1964. They were a popular TV series with spin-off toys from the show. The first edition of Thunderbirds comics came out in January 1965 and quickly became quite influential and a best seller for boys. The final issue of TV21 came out in 1969, but in the 1990s more Thunderbird comics were published when there was renewed interest in the TV series.

This book provides hours of entertainment for comic lovers. The detail in the pictures is faithfully reproduced in imaginative colours, tones and textures. Several comic strip artists' work is reproduced, most notably Frank Bellamy in the earlier comics. Other artists include Graham Bleathman and in the later editions, John Cooper, Eric Eden and Frank Hampson. Also included in this edition are labeled cross-sections of the Thunderbird rocket ships 1,2,3 and 4 and 5, Tracy Island and Lady Penelope's Car — Fab 1.

 

It will be interesting to see how these comics appeal to the kids of 2013. In the 1960s there was great excitement about space travel and the future. Do we feel the same way forty years later? Or can this book help re-create inspiration for reaching out to the stars? Maybe this would be a good thing.

This is a book that many parents will enjoy looking back on. It also provides an opportunity for older children and teenagers (particularly boys) who are into comics, to discover something a bit different. There is so much to see in this collection, and the adventures can be read over and over again. 5,4,3,2,1 ... Thunderbirds are go!