The Epically Awesome Odyssey

The Epically Awesome Odyssey, as told by Nanny Piggins. R.A. Spratt, Penguin Random House 2026. MG Paperback RRP $16.99. ISBN: 9781761622472

Reviewed by Debra Williams

This is the latest in the Nanny Piggins series, the glamorous pig who ran away from the circus. Nanny commandeers an ancient Greek myth--The Odyssey!--and relates it to her charges, the Green children, as a continuing storyline each day. But, according to Nanny, Homer totally left out the fact that Odysseus was a staggeringly beautiful woman and a pig, and she sets the record straight. Nanny reveals what really happened 3,000 years ago on the most epically awesome journey of all time, if she can be believed.

This is a fun and humorous take on the old Greek  mythology, but told with much chocolate, hot chocolate and cake - a bit too much, in fact! The chocolate permeates almost every part of the story, with chocolate cake even ending up being used to build a boat for Odysseus, who has now been away from her home for over 20 years. She and her crew face man-munching monsters, Greek gods with rage issues, sirens brandishing cake batter to tempt sailors to their doom and a forbidden sausage sizzle on the Island of Helios.

However, there are a couple of points to watch out for. There is a contradiction between pages 75-76, where Nanny is described on page 75 as being four-feet tall and with legs only one-foot long (Imperial measurement). However, on page 76 the children walk 17 kilometres to school (metric). When Odysseus ends up in Hades, there are scenes with the dead, which some young readers may find disturbing. In another chapter, on page 166, there is a description of Greek princesses fighting with each other and indulging in nipple crippling, which others may feel is not appropriate for the readership age group.

The Epically Awesome Odyssey is described as suitable for readers 10+ years of age.

Friday Barnes: The Plot Thickens

Friday Barnes: The Plot Thickens by RA Spratt (Random House Australia) PB RRP $15.99         ISBN 9780857988832

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Australian author RA Spratt made her name for her bestselling Nanny Piggins series: she has since gone on to present a new series about a girl detective Friday Barnes, who, having solved a bank robbery, uses the reward money to send herself to the most exclusive boarding school in the country, Highcrest Academy.

To read this latest book, it is presumed you have read the previous one for The Plot Thickens is a continuation. The story begins with four pages of ‘Previously in Friday Barnes.’ It introduces Ian whose life Friday has saved, and his father Mr Wainscott who Friday has proven was guilty of bank robbery and insurance fraud. Wainscott was sentenced to gaol but his conviction was over-turned on appeal due to a legal issue. Now he’s at Highcrest to take custody of Ian. There’s a lot to take in before this latest book gets underway.

Before long the reader learns that Friday Barnes is a precocious mini-version of Sherlock Holmes, erudite in the extreme, able to make deductions quickly and accurately based on evidence. Soon she becomes embroiled in the mystery of a missing canvas by the new art teacher, Lysander Brecht, a world famous and very wealthy artist.

There are many incidents such as this which involve Friday, all of which serve to imbue the story with a sense of melodrama. A boy is locked in a storeroom where he eats cheese and looks at nudes in art books. Friday is almost drowned and later assaulted by a whirring ceiling fan. A boy uses a crow to steal golf balls. There are more -- and more --  incidents such as this.

All through the book one finds argumentative and precocious students, and argumentative teachers. Students question their teachers and none of the teachers come across at all favourably. Friday and her best friend, the lazy Melinda, are not endearing characters. They are constantly disrespectful to and challenging of their elders. Friday, for instance, refuses to take instructions from her PE teacher, though she does suffer a punishment as a consequence. She stands up to police officers, too, though they turn out to be imposters.

The Plot Thickens is an incident-packed novel that doesn’t appear to have an over-riding plot. That this is the fifth in the Friday Barnes series indicates that it must have some fans. Suitable for readers 8 to 11 years.