My Brother Otto

My Brother Otto by Ingrid Laguna (Text Publishing) RRP: $14.99 ISBN 9781923058729

Reviewed by Rebecca Fung

Warning: This book should be read with a box of tissues handy.

My Brother Otto is the story of Quinn preparing for the arrival of a baby brother. We are introduced to the familiar emotions many families and prospective sisters would go through. Everyone's excited about the new baby to arrive, Otto. Mum and Alex are so interested in Baby Otto and Quinn feels sidelined. Why can't things stay the way they are? She doesn't want to share her room. She liked it better when they had time to care about her life.

 But this isn't a simple "jealous big sister" story. Otto is born prematurely and the family is thrown into turmoil when he struggles to survive. Otto will not come home immediately and must stay in the neonatal intensive care unit until he grows more. Quinn sees Mum and Alex's happy excitement turn to concern, tiredness and fear.

It's a journey that's emotionally tiring in what seems a simple story. Small moments like Baby Otto grasping Quinn's finger are amazingly powerful. Laguna has used her own experience with premature births to communicate a story about family, love, worry and loss that's authentic.

I liked how Quinn goes through many realistic stages of coming to terms with her brother's situation. She develops to become a great sister yet she's understandably upset by the attention Otto may take up and how taking care of him might change the life she's used to.

The story is told in language very accessible to children aged around 8 years and older. However accurate terminology was used that didn't seem patronising and added to the book's authenticity. The explanations for complications in premature birth were simple and well-targeted. The ideas and emotions introduced are deep and sensitively-handled. It's an ideal book for helping children to come to terms with difficult subject matter in families.  

Edie Tells a Lie

Edie Tells a Lie  by Ingrid Laguna (Text Publishing), RRP $16.99 Middle Grade ISBN 9-781922-790729

Reviewed by Susan Hancy

Edie Tells a Lie is a lower middle grade novel that will most appeal to girls aged 7-10. It’s about navigating friendships, family, cultural identity and the horrible consequences of lying. As per the title, fifth-grader Edie tells a lie. It’s not a little lie that can be brushed away. It’s a lie which grows its own story and once it’s out, it’s too hard to retract.

Edie has ended up in this situation through loneliness and envy. Her father passed away a few years earlier, so it’s just Edie and Mum. Her best friend, Bowie, has moved to the country and, despite promises they’d remain besties forever, Bowie isn’t responding to any of her messages. Her teacher has tasked the class with creating family tree posters and Edie’s is looking awfully bare, especially compared with Aleki’s. Aleki is new to the school and she’s one of seven kids and many cousins. Edie is invited to Aleki’s for a playdate and Edie sees how lively their Samoan family life is – ‘like being at a birthday party’. Witnessing the hug that Aleki gets from her dad at school drop-off spikes Edie’s envy.

‘I’m going to Scotland to visit my Uncle Noah,’ blurts out Edie, not even understanding why she’d make up such a thing. But it’s too late. Now everyone is asking her about the trip and the lie spawns more lies, until Edie’s mum gets wind of it and admits to Aleki that Edie’s not been telling the truth. What follows is Edie’s journey in fessing up to her classmates and discovering that her own family tree is a lot fuller than she thought.

Through the characters of Edie and Aleki, the reader is given an insight into elements of Polish and Samoan culture through references to language and food. And as a side plot we learn about a Polish woman who wrote a book about her life living amongst the animals in a forest in Poland. As the author herself has noted in her acknowledgements, the writing has been restrained to not delve too deeply into this side plot so as to not take away from Edie’s story. Even so, it was enough to spike my daughter’s interest to go searching for the book in the State Library which spawned our own mini adventure.