Fearless Finn

Fearless Finn by Kristin Martin (Midnight Sun), RRP $29.99 Picture Book ISBN 9-781922-858733

Reviewed by Susan Hancy

With its large 300m x 300m format and vibrant colours, Fearless Finn begins with a blast. Literally. A dragon has just swept through the farm where Finn is milking Maude the cow and destroyed all the hay bales with her fiery breath. Finn is rightly terrified, but immediately makes a decision:

“I’ll help to set things right.

I’ll find that dreadful dragon…

and I’ll challenge her to fight.”

And so begins Finn’s quest. The path to take is not hard to find: the dragon has left a trail of destruction in her wake. First through a bee farm where all the trees have been reduced to smoking stumps, and then up into the mountains and past a glacier where a burnt goat has come off second best. This only strengthens Finn’s resolve to find and challenge the dragon. The beekeeper and goat herder that he’s met on route encourage his efforts and pledge their future support if Finn should ever need it.

As to be expected, Finn does find the dragon and, also somewhat expected, she has no desire to fight him. Instead, she begs for his help. She has a nasty case of hay fever and, of course, when she sneezes, what comes out?

You know it! Fire. Finn scratches his head but then comes up with an ingenious idea, drawing upon the earlier pledges for help. But this is where an adult will likely need to point out clues in the illustrations to help a young reader make the connection. (The target reader’s age is 3+).

The illustrations are fun, Finn’s homemade armour is impressive, and the recipe at the end is a sweet bonus. Even though the rhyme falters in a number of places, these other qualities are enough to set this book up as an enjoyable read for a young audience.

The Grown-Up’s Guide to Picture Books

The Grown-Up’s Guide to Picture Books by Lara Cain Gray, illustrated by Timothy Ide and Lorena Carrington (Midnight Sun) HB RRP $34.99 ISBN  9781922858504

A picture book is a book with pictures, but it’s so much more than that. This is an A-to-Z guide to help explain what a picture book is. For example, in the book A is for Animals, B is for Baddies, C is for Covers and so on. There are headings such as P for Parents, W for White Space, R for Repetition.

It seems all aspects of a picture book are covered in this comprehensive, well-written book which would be a godsend to anyone struggling to write (or illustrate) a picture book. It also helps you level up your picture book reading experiences, empowering yourself and the young readers in your world to dive deeper into what makes a great picture book great.

It’s a stunning guide with a double-page spread – that includes an illustration – for each letter of the alphabet. It’s a book to be treasured and is highly recommended.

The Grown-Up’s Guide to Picture Books was developed as part of a Creative Time Residential Fellowship provided by the May Gibb’s Literature Trust.

Wild Bush Days

Wild Bush Days by Penny Harrison, illustrated by Virginia Gray (Midnight Sun) HB RRP $29.99 ISBN 9780987380906

Reviewed by Nikki M Heath 

The early-20th century life of Jessie Hickman was fascinating: circus performer-turned-cattle rustler, she hid in a mountain cave to hide from police, earning her the tagline ‘Lady Bushranger’. This book seeks to bring that story to life, using two modern children echoing Jessie’s movements in search of her cave. 

This is a beautifully designed and illustrated book, a joy to the eye on each generous spread. The reader is left with a deep appreciation of the landscapes along with the sense of freedom and loneliness Jessie must have felt.

Point of view interchanges between the modern children and Jessie throughout. While it is understandable why this device has been used, together with the lyrical text, it is a challenging read. The language is heavy with literary devices, making it both rich and beautiful, but light on narrative. It would be difficult to understand the story without the benefit of the blurb.

With some guidance, this would be a useful companion to a mid-to-upper primary level Australian (or feminist) history inquiry.

Xenoflight

Xenoflight by Nean McKenzie (Midnight Sun) PB RRP $17.99 ISBN 9780987226518

Reviewed by Nikki M Heath

What would you do if you found yourself abandoned in mysterious circumstances, your beloved pet threatened by poachers and uncertain who - if anyone - you can trust? 13-year-old Nessa Santiago finds herself in exactly that situation, lost for next steps as her enemy closes in on her home near the Great Ocean Road.

A contemporary fantasy, Xenoflight tracks Nessa’s journey, physical and emotional, trying to find her aunt while hiding from an organisation secretly creating a hunting park for erstwhile-mythical ‘cryptids’.  While trying to protect her pet flying ferret, Fernando, she joins classmate Kep in trying to find help.  On the way, Nessa is forced to confront the hidden truth about her father and the flying dinosaur-esque creature that seems to be stalking her.

This is the second stand-alone book in a collection based in the same alternate universe where cryptids roam the Earth, following 2019’s Cryptosight.  While the characters and plot are theoretically separate, readers would probably benefit from having the world-building background from the first instalment.

The story is intriguing but quite complex, with various plot layers interwoven with several political themes including animal rights, immigration, and media manipulation.  Familiarity with the world would help parse these strands from the outset.  In the end, though, the story’s main thrust focuses on the importance of questioning assumptions and looking behind first impressions.

It takes a little while for the dialogue, plot, and characters to feel settled, but before long this becomes a page-turner that will appeal to thoughtful 9-to-13-year-olds who wonder if there just might be something else out there.

The Colour of Music

The Colour of Music by Lisa Tiffen, illustrated by Matt Ottley (Midnight Sun) HB RRP $29.99 ISBN 9781925227871

Reviewed by Nikki M Heath

Molly lies on the floor and surrenders to a cacophony of colour and pattern, as her music pulls her through an intense landscape of emotions. The reader travels with her as she experiences colour, shape, and emotion while listening to a mystery piece.

Written and illustrated by creators who have synaesthesia, this book resonates emotionally with the reader. The book transports those of us with a more straightforward relationship with music into Molly’s multidimensional experience. Abstract in imagery and language, there is space for exploration and interpretation, as well as an opportunity to introduce readers who may be exclusively familiar with commercial pop to other musical genres.

 

This is a sophisticated book in both vocabulary and artwork. While some of the words will be a stretch for younger readers, the text is poetic and evocative. The painterly illustrations range from splashes of colour and shape to a garden of instruments, with wordless double spreads beautifully conveying emotions like peace, loneliness, and anger.

The only jarring note in this symphonic picture book is the rendering of Molly wearing headphones to listen to her music, which conflicts with the suggestion in the opening spread that she can feel the vibrations through the floorboards. That said, the headphones work to convey the act of listening without relying on cliches such as floating music notes, which would have diluted the visual impact.

An immersive experience with particular appeal for musicians in the making, and an eye- (ear-?) opener for those less musically inclined. Recommended for anyone aged 4 years and above.

The Breaking

The Breaking by Irma Gold (Midnight Sun) ISBN 9781925227819 RRP $29.99

Reviewed by Claire Stuckey

Hannah meets Deven in a hotel in Thailand: both young women are running away from family for quite different reasons. Deven is extremely focused and worldly, while Hannah is still finding her feet in life, and in Thailand. Focused on the dreadful treatment of elephants Deven encourages Hannah to take up an opportunity to volunteer at an elephant rescue centre. Here they work hard to assist locals rehabilitate sick and tortured elephants. After the death of a rescued elephant, Deven wants to escape, moving to a rescue location that is focused on training owners and handlers in a remote location. This work becomes even more intense.

 The girls have a short break in the capital overwhelmed with the crowds of tourists and the tawdry businesses set up to cater for their perceived needs. Hannah has come to meet an ex-boyfriend, but her feelings are mixed as she finds herself torn between her past and her present strong attachment to Deven.

Once their passion has been expressed, Deven once again seeks escape to a remote resort. While they enjoy certain relaxation with a work and pleasure routine, once again Deven finds elephant torture in the local area too difficult to ignore. 

This is an immensely powerful book exposing the cruel treatment of elephants, a profitable industry that is feed by the tourism industry. Throughout the book the developing relationship of the young women as they work together is carefully described. Although Deven appears to be strong and educated in Thai customs and language, she is also highly emotional. Hannah transforms from her naïve self to a decision-maker. Their strong emotional and physical relationship provides her with a new maturity. Vivid but disturbing the story combines a powerful expose with one women’s journey to maturity and a character driven by passionate activism. This book is recommended for readers 16 years plus as it contains scenes of animal torture and sexual references. 

Mountain Arrow – Book Two of The Burning Days

Mountain Arrow – Book Two of The Burning Days by Rachel Hennessy (Midnight Sun) YA Science Fiction RRP $19.99 ISBN: 9781925227741

Reviewed by Jeffery E Doherty

Mountain Arrow is the second instalment of the post-apocalyptic Burning Days series by Rachel Hennessy, following on from River Stone. Pandora is reluctantly settling back into life in her village, still torn between her chosen partner Matthew, and Bayat, the young hunter from the Mountain People. She also harbours guilt over her friend Fatima who went missing during their mission in the first book. Pandora is determined to leave the village to find her missing friend. Her plans are complicated when Bayat and his people arrive in her village.  

This volume of the series delves deeper into village life, which, although interesting, tended to slow the action of the story. Pandora’s indecision about following her heart or her parent’s expectations was angsty and at times grated like fingernails on a chalkboard.

The interludes in the first book, shown through the letters to Pandora from her mother are mirrored in Mountain Arrow through tape recordings by Fatima. These sections were a highlight for me, coming closer to the action of the first book. It is apparent that Mountain Arrow is the setup for the conclusion of the series in the next book. I have higher hopes for the next book.

Hennessy has created an interesting cast of characters in an exciting post-apocalyptic world. There are questions still to be answered about the city and the creation of the strange once human feral creatures inhabiting it.

Although Mountain Arrow is a lot slower than River Stone, I would recommend it to readers 12 years+ and fans of character-driven dystopian fiction.