The Sugarcane Kids and the Mystery at Angel Bay

The Sugarcane Kids and the Mystery at Angel Bay by Charlie Archbold (Text) PB RRP $16.99 ISBN 9781923058385

Dad pulls the chewed-up shark egg out of Washington’s mouth. It is drippy with drool. He puts it on the table.
              ‘That’s a Port Jackson shark egg. It shouldn’t be at Angel Bay,’ says Sylvie. ‘We should only be finding local shark eggs on the beaches around here.’

Andy and the Sugarcane Kids love riding their bikes to Angel Bay. And they love seeing their old mate Jerry lurking under the jetty looking for the spiny lobsters he loves to eat. Jerry’s a massive Queensland groper fish – he’s almost as big as a queen-sized bed.

But something very strange is going on at Angel Bay. A pile of dead fish has washed up on the beach. Mysterious shark eggs have appeared, which is very cool, but also weird because Port Jackson sharks don’t usually live in the tropical waters of far north Queensland. And – worst of all – Jerry is missing.

Could it have anything to do with a new tourist resort Raymond Royce has planned for Angel Bay? A resort that would destroy the fragile natural environment of the bay. The Sugarcane Kids, along with Washington, the cheeky sausage dog, are on the case. But will they discover what Royce is up to before it’s too late?

This is a new adventure book in the Sugarcane Kids series suitable for readers aged 8+ years.

Maisy Hayes is Not for Sale

Maisy Hayes is Not for Sale by Allayne L Webster (Text) PB RRP ISBN 9781923058545

Here is a novel for readers aged 11 to 14 years about a Maisy who’s facing so many life challenges including her relationships with poverty-stricken Mum, absent father, siblings -- including Luka who needs a pacemaker -- and friends. She deals with other teenage issues such as her sexuality, school and parental expectations, and her future.

In this well-written, easy to read novel Webster explores teenage angst with authenticity. Happily, the last sentence in the book, written from Maisy’s point of view states, ‘I’m the richest girl alive.’

Webster has a special gift for portraying characters in dialogue that’s authentic, witty, smart and spontaneous.

Maisy Hayes is Not for Sale is a heart-felt coming-of-age story about hardship, coping with anger and frustration, and finding the power to be true to yourself.

The End of the World is Bigger Than Love

The End of the World is Bigger Than Love by Davina Bell, (Text), 2020, RRP $24.00 pb  ISBN: 9781922268822

Reviewed by Pauline Hosking

This intriguing YA novel combines unreliable narrators with magic realism. Davina Bell creates a world in which reality and fantasy join hands and dance together. It’s a challenging, yet satisfying, read.

The world has become a place of terror, public executions and climate disaster. Identical twin sisters, Summer and Winter, live in isolation on a remote island. Years ago their father brought them there. He was a scientist, responsible, among other things, for The Greying, an illnesss that ultimately kills.

Summer is the more hip, talkative sister with a well-developed sense of humour. Winter is quieter and kinder. The girls grow into teenagers, surviving in their own intense reality, eating through a stockpile of tinned food, reading and re-reading their mother’s favourite books. Fictional characters fulfil their need for friends. The words of characters in To Kill a Mocking Bird, The Outsiders and The Power of One are quoted and requoted.

Then a mysterious stranger, Edward, appears, disrupting the girls’ carefully constructed world. Summer only refers to him as ‘the bear’. Winter falls in love.

Alternating chapters written by Summer and Winter draw the reader into a fantastical world where nothing is as it seems. Their mother didn’t die when Winter was born. Edward hasn’t appeared by chance. The sisters are not living on an island.

Most unexpected of all is the hint that perhaps there is only one sister. Has Winter created a second self to help her cope with so many horrific life experiences? After the final page there’s a quote from Albert Camus: ‘In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer…’

The book is full of wonderfully-written dreamlike sequences: the talking whale is especially memorable. YA readers will delight in its complexity and intricate plotting.

It Sounded Better in my Head

It Sounded Better in my Head by Nina Kenwood (Text) PB RRP $19.99 ISBN 9781925773910

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Winner of the 2018 Text Prize, this is the bookseller author’s debut novel which is about awkward, introverted eighteen-year-old Natalie who is in the summer between high school and university and has just discovered to her great consternation that her parents are separating.  Natalie can’t understand why no one is fighting, or at least mildly upset.  As well, after years of suffering from and treating acne, she is still unsure of her physicality and struggling with fitting in with peers. She has two best friends, Zach and Lucy, who have hooked up. Natalie is attracted to Zach’s older brother Alex with whom she finds herself unexpectedly sharing a bed for two nights – and struggling to cope. When Alex kisses her, she is shocked (although she fancies him) but she responds and then questions his motives.

This is a tender, amusing and feel-good coming-of-age novel about a girl who feels that she doesn’t fit in. The scene where she questions her own body, especially her private parts, is funny but accurately captures how a scarcely adult girl might think. 

Overall, It Sounded Better in my Head is a satisfying read which is recommended for YA and new adult readers.