No Place for an Octopus

No Place for an Octopus by Claire Zorn (University of Queensland Press) HB RRP $24.95 ISBN: 9780702262609

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

When a young boy discovers an octopus hiding in a rock pool, its strange body and ‘blobby head’ fascinate him. He decides that it ‘must be lonely there all by itself’. The boy thinks about taking the octopus home and making it ‘comfy and snug’. He believes that they would become great friends and do lots of fun things together, such as playing games. But as he looks into the creature’s eyes, the boy realises that the rock pool is the best place for the octopus to live.

Brimming with wide-eyed wonder, Claire Zorn’s delightful picture book will appeal to children aged three to eight. In a little over 200 words, she delves into a surprising array of themes: the essence of friendship, the value of empathy, the true meaning of happiness and loneliness, and the need to understand and respect the natural world. She leaves room for the child reader to make connections and draw conclusions using their own powers of imagination and reasoning.

From the clever die-cut cover, which invites the reader to dive into the book, to Claire’s fresh and fluid watercolour illustrations, No Place for an Octopus is a visual feast. Kids will spend hours poring over the vivid details flooding the rock-pool spread and giggling at the vignettes of the octopus having a bath, watching a 3D movie and riding a bike. Perhaps most importantly, Claire utilises the large and expressive eyes of the octopus to engender an emotional relationship between the creature and both the protagonist and the reader, awakening compassion and rapport within each child.

In no time at all, this endearing book will find a place in every young heart. As children read the story again and again, an ocean of new ideas and insights will fill the rock pools of their minds.

The Protected

The Protected by Claire Zorn (University of Queensland Press)

PB RRP $19.95

ISBN 978 0 7022 5019 4

Reviewed by Jo Antareau

Not since “Cat’s Eye” by Margaret Attwood have I read a novel that so compellingly and convincingly captures the blood sport that is teenage-girl bullying.

Hannah McCann is out of step with her peers and desperately wants to fit in and not rock the boat, thereby inviting the vultures to swoop and tear her to shreds. The bullying is carried out in an atmosphere of sweetness and innocence. It’s the little things -- the put downs, the sneers at her lack of cool, the accidentally-on-purpose exclusions that effectively undermine the little confidence Hannah has left, and builds up to a humiliating show-down. Hannah is left accused and sentenced by the school ground judge, jury and executioners. And in the current age of twitter and facebook, she has no respite and no protection from the unrelenting pointing fingers.

Although Hannah does not lack guts, a series of tragic events leaves her a quivering shadow of her former self. The story follows her as she rebuilds her life and makes tentative steps towards self acceptance, eventually regaining her dignity and taking ownership of her mistakes. It is only then that she can interact with others as an equal.

This story affected me at a visceral level while I was reading it and I had to put it aside a few times, as the unfolding story of Hannah’s train wreck life was so unrelentingly powerful.  Full marks to Zorn for a well crafted novel that also tackles the impact of grief upon a family.

The Sky So Heavy

The Sky So Heavy by Claire Zorn (University of Queensland Press)
PB RRP $19.95
ISBN  978 0 7022 4976 1
Reviewed by Jo Antareau

Life as we know it has ended. Nuclear war has broken out. Although Australia was not attacked, the survivors face a brutal nuclear winter.

Zorn has convincingly portrayed a dark, claustrophobic world. Fin, a typical 17 year-old, stumbles though a new landscape with no power or communications, looted stores, limited fuel and a crumbling infrastructure. It soon becomes apparent that the survivors have been left to their own devices as the institutions which are meant to help are overwhelmed.  

At first, Fin and his younger brother Max are content to wait for the return of their father and ration their supplies in their quiet street in a Blue Mountains town. But as the days grind on and their needs grow increasingly desperate, the pair are forced to act and fight for anything that helps them survive. The world is now a dog-eat-dog place. Yet within the ruthlessness where otherwise mild-mannered residents turn against each other, Zorn introduces some surprising acts of generosity. Small gestures, handled lightly and without sentimentality, shine a light in an otherwise bleak environment.

Fin is not perfect; he colluded in the bullying of Noll, the outsider, back when life had been ‘normal’. Now, his victim shows himself to be the better person, and shares his meagre supplies with the brothers. Together with Noll and Fin’s crush Lucy, the four teenagers make their way to Sydney in search for Max and Fin’s mother. But the journey was not entirely motivated by filial loyalty; their mother was a big-wig in the government and they hope she might provide the means to their survival – if they are allowed close enough to the seat of power.

I liked that Zorn’s post-apocalyptic world was zombie-free. The acts perpetrated by those motivated by greed and fear outstrip any horrors of the undead. Written as a metaphor for the plight of asylum seekers, this is a page-turner. The police and army have betrayed the general population, and now exist to protect an elite core – the only ones with access to the limited supply of necessities. Our four teenagers, accustomed to a well-fed, safe lifestyle, have become the ones on the wrong side of the line that separates the haves from the have-nots.

As the narrative progresses, the characters grow in their resilience, resourcefulness and sense of responsibility, so the counter-intuitive choices made at the end of the novel were completely consistent with the inner journey.

Comparisons to Marsden are inevitable, and I would love to read the sequel.