Winell Road: Beneath the Surface

Winell Road: Beneath the Surface by Kate Foster (Jet Black Publishing)  PB RRP $32  ISBN:  9780994318725 

Reviewed by Elaine Harris

Although it is not the norm to introduce the reviewer before the book, in this instance I hope you will permit an exception.

I accepted the challenge to review Kate Foster’s debut novel simply because it was a challenge. Excepting Terry Pratchett and some early Jackie French, I have read little or no sci-fi – and they might be better described as fantasy and cross-over respectively, although labels can be misleading. In other words, apart from the UFO mentioned in the blurb, I had absolutely no idea what to expect.

Winell Road: Beneath the Surface is great fun, well-paced – you need those few thinking spaces provided – and full of the unexpected. There is a complex mystery to solve as well as a quest to fulfill. Not only that, but the action begins in the opening paragraph.

My first reaction was: is the language in this book clichéd? No. It might be considered so if it were a straightforward narrative; However, in spite of being written largely in the third person, what the author is doing here is telling the story through the thoughts, words and actions of the protagonist, Jack Mills. You hear his voice, think his thoughts and share his doubts and concerns. Many authors aspire to this technique, not all succeed.

Despite the “Encounter” on page one, Jack is bored, bored, bored! His parents are boring; ditto the neighbours, as is his little dead-end street. All of this changes when Roxy moves in next door and the Freogans (pronounced free-o-gans) come to call.
As the story unfolds, you discover that Mum is a fanatical gardener as well as a cook rivalled only by Letitia Cropley in “The Vicar of Dibley”, while Dad is a mad inventor whose weird contraptions never sell. Or are they? You also learn to trust no-one and that nothing is what it seems.

This book will work wonderfully read aloud in class. There are enough cliff-hanger chapter endings to keep them begging for more. It will also promote discussion about making snap judgments while providing plenty of scope for related art projects.
Then there is the wordplay. The vocabulary is rich and varied without being off-putting. Winell Road is an anagram and there are other word puzzles scattered throughout the book. The author’s love of philology and etymology shines through without being intrusive; you can follow up as much or as little of it as you choose.

Kate Foster plans two or three sequels to the novel. I wish her the very best of luck.

A Rose for the ANZAC Boys

 A Rose for the ANZAC Boys by Jackie French (HarperCollins, 2010)                              

PB RRP $15.99

ISBN: 9780733331787           

Reviewed by Elaine Harris                                                                                                                                             This month we commemorate the centenary of the fateful landing at ANZAC Cove: a campaign made up of political and military blunders, bureaucratic bungling and months of wasted lives and needless tragedy. No-one doubts the horrors of those unimaginable months with little water and less organization. Yet however odious comparisons may be, historians past and present (including many who were there) insist that although Gallipoli was horrendous, the Western Front was so very much worse. 

Millions of lives lost, millions more ruined, damaged or altered beyond all comprehension.  It is impossible for any of us to know how we would react in those circumstances, only hoping such tragedy would bring out the best in us.

Five years ago, in preparation for a radio interview, I dipped into the award-winning YA novel, A Rose for the ANZAC Boys by Australian Children’s Laureate Jackie French, covering as much as I could in the time allowed, (conducing several interviews each day sometimes leaves little time for a full read) and devoured all the notes at the back of the book.

The author and I both shed tears during the interview and the book has been on my Must Read list since that date. We also corresponded during Jackie’s writing of the book and on one memorable occasion she mentioned almost casually in an email, “I’ve just blown up a hospital tent.” When she submitted the manuscript to the publisher, the initial reaction was, “Don’t let Jackie change a word.”

Last month I did it -- read the entire book in less than 24 hours, sobbing unashamedly throughout. Don’t be fooled, though. This is no sentimentalised, girlie weepy. A teacher colleague of my husband’s read it to her year 5-6 class in 2010 and for the first time held her  reluctant reader boys spellbound.

This book tells it all without jingoism or bitterness against any enemy; without an examining of rights and wrongs - except the smugness of the hierarchy who gave the orders while living the high life behind the lines. (It happened.) We meet soldiers, nurses, ambulance drivers, orderlies, a chaplain, Turks and Germans, and many, many people who just wanted to do their bit, including our three female protagonists: Midge, Anne and Ethel. It takes you to railway station canteens dispensing sandwiches and cocoa, casualty clearing stations, ambulance runs and the fear, mud, Blood and gas of the trenches.

Through the story and without any sense of being taught anything, we also learn something of the class system and attitudes of the day, roles and perceptions of women and the determination of those kicking against the traces, often against all odds.

Yet, like the best books worth remembering, while plumbing the depths of tragedy, the book ends on hope: leaves you not only with a sense of the future but also a view of it decades later from the perspective of the descendants of those involved. It sheds a light on the annual ANZAC Day parades and services and why these ceremonies still hold meaning which ought never to be de-valued, sensationalised or forgotten. 

As for historical accuracy, Jackie French wept her way through many letters and diaries of the day, living as closely as anyone ever can the experiences of those who were there.

This is not a new book but a timeless one worth reading or re-reading this year.    

Dexter the Courageous Koala

Dexter the Courageous Koala by Jesse Blackadder (ABC Books)   

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN:  9780733331787   

Reviewed by Elaine Harris

There has been many a discussion in Buzz Words and elsewhere about POV or point of view: i.e. should a story be told from the point of view of one protagonist only or can other perspectives be introduced without confusing the reader?

At the risk of introducing a note of heterodoxy, I confess to an inclination to the latter. Different voices, or different perspectives if a story is told in the third person, have always fascinated this reader and from a very young age at that.

Not surprisingly, then, the split chapters in Jesse Blackadder’s powerful new book captured me from the outset. I almost found myself holding my breath, waiting to see how or even if the two main characters would come together.

Ashley is a headstrong, impulsive though not unsympathetic young teenager, Dexter a yearling koala still learning about the world around him. Together they rehabilitate one another, learning and growing along the way as they help to solve each other’s problems as well as their own.

Inadvertently, I found myself approaching this book as the child reader I once was and perhaps still am - revelling in having to look up new words, learn new concepts and gain general knowledge, all neatly camouflaged by a compelling, fast-paced story.

There is enough introspection or what the late John Wyndham called “Behind thinks” for the thoughtful reader. The story is moved along by the skilful use of animated, realistic dialogue while scenes are set as well as the plot advanced with the aid of one of my favourite ploys, plenty of colourful description painting vivid word pictures.

Despite the deliberately misleading opening to chapter one, this book is essentially concerned with wildlife care and rescue, leaving us with no illusions. Any wildlife carer will tell you that the job is messy, time-consuming, exhausting and often heartbreaking, especially when working with nocturnal joeys. Although you learn specifically about the rescue and rehabilitation of koalas, many of the principles apply to other species. There are strict rules to follow about feeding, sterilization of equipment, too much handling, leaf collection, observation and why dogs and wildlife don’t mix. 

There is still plenty to interest dog lovers though and a surprise satisfying ending. Jesse Blackadder presents the story from a koala’s perspective with warmth and conviction while successfully avoiding sentimentality. We learn about fears, predators, territory, feeding, climbing, illness, the vagaries of extreme weather and even aggression among members of the colony. There is a school of thought objecting to this type of anthropomorphism but it has worked as a storytelling tool for generations of both children and adults and probably always will.      

Finally, the pivotal character in Dexter the Courageous Koala is Micky, Ashley’s aunt. She is one of fiction’s true eccentrics, a major asset to the novel and deserves a book in her own right.

It is a joy to be able to recommend this book which should work equally well read aloud to a class or family or devoured alone by any child or adult who loves animals in general and wildlife in particular.

(If you’re not familiar with the mythical drop bears or Thylarctos plummetus you’re in for a treat.)  For readers aged 8-12.