Eleanor Jones Can’t Keep a Secret

Eleanor Jones Can’t Keep a Secret by Amy Doak (Penguin Books) PB RRP $19.99 ISBN 9781761342424

Here is the highly anticipated sequel to the fast-paced YA murder mystery, Eleanor Jones is Not a Murderer (a CBCA Notable 2024) which was a slush pile success story, discovered during an open submission when a Senior Editor at PRH read the first line of the manuscript and was immediately hooked. 

The first line of this sequel reads, ‘Murder!’ Nancy Williams shudders. ‘I was there, you know. I saw it all.’

Eleanor Jones thought life in the town of Cooinda had finally settled into a comfortable rhythm. But just as things start to feel calm, Eleanor’s world is shaken by the return of a familiar face and a chilling confession of murder. Eleanor is thrust back into the heart of a mystery, and she is determined to unravel the truth.

With the help of Jem, a savvy new ally with a knack for genealogy, Eleanor’s investigation pulls her into a web of the past’s hidden dangers. As she digs deeper, Eleanor learns that some secrets cast long shadows and that uncovering them can have deadly consequences.

The final book in the trilogy, Eleanor Jones is on Fire, will be published in 2025.

In times of bushfires and billy buttons

In times of bushfires and billy buttons by Steven Herrick (Ford Street Publishing) PB RRP $19.95 ISBN 9781922696366

Reviewed by Nikki M Heath

The final years of school mean a lot of decisions about what comes next. The challenge of working out what to do, where and with whom is daunting for everyone. But add in drug-dealing parents due for release from prison, the first blossoming of young love, and a sky glowing orange from the bushfires surrounding your home.

A coming-of-age character study of Year 11 student Ethan, this novel contains layers to occupy the reader’s mind well after the last page. We follow Ethan wrangling with his future and coming to terms with his past, while trying to find a way to reach through to a new kid at school who clearly has trouble at home. Then there’s the girl he likes and his best mate whose dad is away volunteering as a firefighter.

The cover art belies the complexity of themes and the delicacy of Herrick’s touch in dealing with such gritty, confronting subject matter. Aside from a few overwrought descriptions and overt political messaging, readers should also be conscious that domestic violence is a key narrative theme rendered in explicit detail.

Although ostensibly about fractured families, climate change and growing up, more than anything the book follows the maturing of Ethan’s sense of perspective and how he manages to balance the competing forces acting on his life in a way that feels right to him.

This is a thought-provoking, grounding read for mid-teens, which, with the oncoming El Niño, could not be more timely.

The Cult of Romance

The Cult of Romance by Sarah Ayoub (Harper Collins) ISBN 9781460758946 RRP $19.99 PB

Reviewed by Nean McKenzie

This young-adult story is about Natalie, who is blindsided when her best friend Janet returns from a trip to Lebanon, engaged to a guy she met there. Natalie has long been sceptical about marriage and love (views she thought her friend shared). She is thrown into the job of bridesmaid, travelling to Lebanon to help organise a wedding she disapproves of. Will she be able to keep her friendship if she tells Janet how she really feels about the wedding? The good-looking best man George, who has a tendency to mansplain, and Natalie’s grandmother, who constantly tells her to behave like a ‘good Lebanese girl’, only make things more complicated.

As we read on, we discover Natalie’s reasons for being so against the idea of love. Her mother left when she was young for uncertain reasons. A university student, Natalie is determined to make her own way in life, and she wants that for her friend as well. Natalie finds it confronting to go to Lebanon, when she has never been there before, but so much of the culture is part of her. She doesn’t really know where she belongs. Natalie’s friends Mark, with an Iraqi background and Thi, with a Vietnamese background, also have their own issues with identity and sexuality, which are explored in the story

The dialogue between the friends is quite believable and the slow-developing romance between Natalie and George works well. The descriptions of locations in Lebanon, in Beirut and the surrounding countryside are great, along with the cultural traditions for weddings and delicious-sounding food. The backstory about Natalie’s mother and what happens when she finally meets her, also adds another dimension to the book.

The Cult of Romance is a romantic comedy with diverse characters and plenty of wedding drama. It’s suitable for older YA readers.

Restoring Destiny

Restoring Destiny by Elaine Ousten is a fantasy/coming-of-age story of teen romance, magic, evil and a fight to save a life and right the wrongs of yesteryear.

Torn from their cloistered world, pursued by troops, Rais and Kanda battle the elements of an unknown world and struggle to develop their emerging magic powers. Their mother is to be executed at the next full moon by the evil ruler who invaded their world. Only they can save her, take back the land, and free the imprisoned King and their father.

With a guide and 2 teens, they travel through a tunnel in the Mountain of Dread, battling the life-threatening elements, to find the only man who can help them.

But unexpected danger comes from one they trusted.

From the review by award winning author, Aleesah Darlison: ‘Impeccable from the first page, Restoring Destiny is a deftly written high fantasy adventure novel. The characters are strong, fierce, and relatable and the story is packed with action and surprises. Get set for a remarkable ride!’

Another review and the first chapter are on the book’s page on Elaine’s website: Restoring Destiny - Elaine J Ouston Author

Elaine Ouston is a published author of many books. They include picture books for young readers, chapter books, and popular novels for middle grade readers. She has recently added a young adult fantasy novel to that list.

Many of her books have an educational theme. Her MG series, The Mystery of Nida Valley is a fantasy series that features the unique animals from the Australian Megafauna era. Two of the picture books also feature these animals. Barben’s Magic Quest focuses on saving the forests to save the environment.

Elaine has a Master of Letters in Creative Writing and teaches writing to adults and children. She also edits for other writers. You can obtain more information on her website: www.elainejouston.com.

The Midnight Girls

The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska (Penguin Random House) PB RRP $19.99 ISBN 9781760894733

Reviewed by Kathleen Grace

In a snow-covered kingdom, two wicked rivals secretly compete for the heart of a prince, only to discover they might be falling for one another. Zosia and Marynka are drawn to each other the moment they meet – until they discover they both have their sights set on the same thing – to literally take the prince’s heart from his chest as part of a deed. If one consumes a pure heart, she’ll gain immeasurable power. Marynka plans to take the prince’s heart back to her patron to prove herself, while Zosia is determined to take his heart and its power for itself.

Their ambition turns into a magical contest, even as their attraction to one another grows. But their attempts on the prince’s life draws the attention of the city that would die for him, and their escalating rivalry might cost them not only their love for each other, but both their lives.

The Midnight Girls is a stunningly, clearly written YA page-turner with unique Polish folktale elements draw from the author’s heritage, woven into a richly imagined story with strong female protagonists and friendships and a developing lesbian romance undercurrent to it all.

Queen of Coin and Whispers

Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran (The O’Brien Press Ltd) PB RRP $21.95 ISBN: 9781788491181

Reviewed by Nikki M Heath

How would a 19-year-old newly crowned queen and her 18-year-old female spymaster navigate political nemeses, foreign interference, class disparity and mutual romantic attraction? This is the question driving Queen of Coin and Whispers, as Helen Corcoran plunges us into a medieval fantasy universe and the internal lives of conflicted Queen Aurelia (Lia) and fiesty spy Xania as they work to seize control over their unstable country.

Being a fantasy tragic, this book hooked me from the first line (‘The sheep were undeniably dead.’) and barely let me put it down until the final words. From the intriguing premise to the layered plot points, there is an element of suspense that keeps the pages turning. Gradually accelerating tension is punctuated by moments of introspection from the two protagonists, who take turns in the point-of-view spotlight.

The book offers a lot to think about for the modern-minded young adult reader. The plot plays out in a society which actively accepts the full range of sexual preference, gender, and race, yet binds its citizens in a rigid class system. Being a non-magical universe, the story should appeal to those who like the idea of a fantasy novel but are turned off by the supernatural. A warning, though, for anyone who may be distressed by descriptions of violence or torture.

The story trots out a lot of tropes that will be familiar to fantasy afficionados, but the entertainment value is undeniable. The book does suffer from unexplained and hard-to-follow time-jumps and a substantial amount of off-screen action that at times leaves the reader perplexed. With its rushed climax, it almost feels like a trilogy condensed - to its detriment - into a standalone. A strong ability to suspend disbelief is also required when it comes to Lia and Xania’s well-beyond-their-years skills and experience.

While superficially this book has relevance for the female and LGBTQI+ demographics, it is at heart a binge able fantasy spy thriller for anyone over the age of 15 and in the market for escapism.

Eloise and the Bucket of Stars

Eloise and the Bucket of Stars by Janeen Brian (Walker Books) ISBN 978-1-760651-87-9 PB $16.99 RRP

Reviewed by Nean McKenzie

This story is set in the early 1800s in a village called Whittering, which is surrounded by a wall.  Thirteen-year-old Eloise Pail lives at the Children of Paradise orphanage, where she works hard looking after the younger children and carrying buckets of water from the village. Eloise wants to know how she came to be left at the orphanage as a baby in a bucket and why she was never adopted out as a younger child, but every attempt to find out is foiled by the awful head nun Sister Hortense. Constantly in trouble, Eloise’s life is bleak, but she finds solace in the stars and a story about unicorns told to her by the kind nun Sister Genevieve.

Eloise makes friends with the village blacksmith Mr Jackson and his horse Dancy which has a mysterious bump in the centre of its forehead. Mr Jackson tells Eloise about a pond outside the town walls, which many years ago was poisoned by a mysterious beast and Eloise’s interest is piqued. Sister Hortense’s treatment of Eloise’s grows worse: she stops her lessons and locks her in a cupboard. The arrival of Janie, another orphan her age, threatens the small pleasures Eloise has managed to find. But Janie helps Eloise to solve the mystery of the unicorn and Whittering Pond so they can save the village. As Eloise tries to escape the orphanage and find a family, the difficulties mount up, but with a bit of magic and a lot of determination, she finds her way. 

Eloise’s character is incredibly resilient and imaginative. She clings onto magical stories she is told, having the strength of mind to believe they are real even when Sister Hortense says they are of the devil. The reader can feel Eloise’s plight, with her frustrations and her too-small boots which increasingly hurt her feet. The food she is given to eat is delightfully disgusting and includes gruel, tripe, turnips, sheep gizzards and bone soup. Most readers will also find it very satisfying that the despicable Sister Hortense gets what she deserves in the end.

Eloise and the Bucket of Stars with its star-studded blue cover by Tracie Grimwood, is ideal for upper primary readers of middle-grade fantasy fiction.

19 Love Songs

19 Love Songs by David Levithan (Text Publishing) RRP PB $19.99
ISBN 9781922268921

Reviewed by Kylie Buckley

19 Love Songs is a collection of engaging short stories, depicting love in all its various shapes and sizes: crushes, first dates, first kisses, unrequited love, parent-offspring love and romantic relationships. The diverse tales include fiction and non-fiction, poetry and prose and even a comic strip style narrative. The central characters range from child to adolescent to adult.

‘By learning the ways other people have told stories, we learn to tell our own. By telling our own, we become free.’ Gay, straight, transgender - love is love and Levithan depicts it all beautifully: the elation, the pain, the romance, the confusion, the hope, the humour, the everlasting. The writing is enviable and many quotes will stay with you long after the last page is turned. Not only is 19 Love Songs about romantic love, it is also a subtle tribute to a love of literacy, libraries, storytelling, authors, books and words.

19 Love Songs is a novel length book and would appeal to readers aged 15+, especially those who need reminding that while everyone ultimately seeks love and understanding, they shouldn’t change for anybody, and should love who they are first.

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.

White Bird

White Bird by R.J. Palacio, (Penguin Random House), 2019. Hard cover. 220pp. RRP $39.99

Reviewed by Pauline Hosking

Here is another venture into the world of R.J. Palacio’s Wonder. This time it’s a young adult graphic novel for which she’s created both text and illustrations. The sparse, unfussy drawings are an excellent medium to tell a powerful tale.  

White Bird continues the story of Julian, the classroom bully from Wonder, whose backstory was fleshed out in Auggie and Me. It begins when Julien makes a FaceTime call to his grandmother Sara and asks her to tell him more about her experience as a Jewish child in France during the Second World War.

Through her eyes we see how the Nazis gradually changed life for the French, many of whom chose to look the other way and ignore what was happening. Young Sara herself is guilty of this to some extent because she stands by while the crippled boy in her class – the original Julien – is bullied. When the Jews in the village are rounded up, Julien’s family bravely hide Sara in their barn. Sara and Julien fall in love but sadly Julien becomes a casualty of the war.  

‘Evil will only be stopped when good people decide to put an end to it,’ says Vivienne, Julien’s mother. Sara realises she can and should act differently in future. And so does present-day Julien. By the end of her story, Sara has transformed her grandson from a bully into an ally. The final pages are a call to readers to resist contemporary prejudice and xenophobia.

White Bird is highly recommended as an easily accessible, deeply moving, retelling of a shocking historical time. There is an afterword, author's note, in-depth glossary with photos, a suggested reading list and a list of organizations and resources – all of which will be valuable resources for students and readers of any age. 

The white bird itself, which appears as a motif throughout the book, variously signifies hope, kindness and freedom. 

My Name is NOT Peaseblossom

My Name is NOT Peaseblossom by Jackie French, (Angus & Robertson), 2019, Pb RRP  $14.50 ISBN: 9781460754788 Ebook 9781460709177

Reviewed by Pauline Hosking

This is the last in Jackie French’s Shakespeare series which comprises I am Juliet, Ophelia: Queen of Denmark and Third Witch.

Peaseblossom is an enterprising male fairy attendant of Titania, Queen of the Fairies. His wedding has been arranged to one of the tooth fairies, Floss. On midsummer’s eve Peaseblossom and Floss will drink the magic love potion and live happily ever after. 

That’s what’s supposed to happen. Peaseblossom (‘I prefer to be called Pete’) is a bit of a rebel. He’s adept at using TAP (time and place manipulation) and frequently jumps thousands of years into the future. He’s developed a taste for pizzas rather than dandelion salad and candied violets, especially the pizzas from the Leaning Tower of Pizza made by the mysteriously attractive Gaela.

The introduction of vampires adds a dramatic twist to Pete’s dilemma.

Pete is a likeable, subversive, hero who has the courage to deny the love potion and choose instead real love with all its ups and downs and uncertainties.

The theme of the book is free will, or the lack of it. Scattered among Pete’s adventures is a retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the play, the only characters who can do what they want are the royals: Theseus, the Amazon Queen, Oberon and Titania. 

Everyone else has to do what they are told and love who is chosen for them. Poor Hermia must marry the man her father prefers rather than the one she loves.

Students from Grade 6 upwards will enjoy such a light, rollicking tale. There are lots of giggle moments. The ageing fairy Puck is the source of much amusement.

It isn’t necessary to know the play well, although this will add to a reader’s enjoyment. Direct quotes are cunningly placed throughout in the text.

Recommended.

The Trytth Chronicles? in Shakespeare now!

The Trytth Chronicles? in Shakespeare now! by Goldie Alexander (A Five Senses Publication Anthology Edition) RRP $34.95  ISBN 9781760322601

Reviewed by Claire Stuckey

Miranda and her father Prospero live on a space station for many years with two non human creatures having been wrongly exiled from Naples2. We discover each character's role developing as a damaged spaceship approaches after a meteor storm. With the arrival of other humans including his corrupted bother Alfonso, Prospero tries to manipulate the meeting of Miranda with the young man Ferdinand. He underestimates the creature Caliban who he has harshly controlled in the past. His focus on the young distracts him further from observing the conniving but stupid lust for power by Stepheno and Pincolo.

Shakespeare's story The Tempest is followed more directly in this dystopian tale.  Although set on a spaceship, then on the planet of Trytth, we follow the main characters facing the trials and tribulations created by  the greed and anger of the Xrobb creatures. Guided and empowered by the friendship of the Trytth creatures the young couple survive and triumph while displaying love, courage and intelligence; positive traits that give authority to their survival and ultimate power in realising the return to leadership roles on Naples 2.

The Trytth, however friendly eventually ask them to leave with a strong message that their human characteristics have had major negative consequences on their own planets, a future that don't wish to share. Miranda's long-term intense education revealed in the opening scene causes her to question each episode in their adventures and concludes with her measured response to returning to human civilization. 

This story has many of the same characters as the original from which it is adapted. It provides a cautionary message as to the positive and negative traits of human beings. The setting makes an interesting read with in depth descriptions of the planet it's terrain, flora and fauna. A narrative to establish not only the setting, the dangers and advantages for the characters but also to provide back ground for the environmental message. A long but interesting adaptation of a play I have not seen, so this adaptation provided me with insight to this Shakespearean story.  

Lenny’s Book of Everything

Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee (A&U) PB RRP $19.99 ISBN 9781760528706

Reviewed by Kathleen Condon

It is rare to find a book, especially one for children, which employs a writing style which is distinctively different from others. Karen Foxlee is one of the very few YA authors I’ve come across in decades of reviewing books who writes ‘differently’, her language quirky and poetic. For instance, here is how she starts the book: ‘Our mother had a dark heart feeling. It was as big as the sky kept inside a thimble. That’s how dark heart feelings are. They have great volume but can hide in small places. You can swallow them with a blink and carry them inside you so no one will know.’ It takes a special reader to come on board a book with language like this but anyone doing so will surely benefit and come to love the characters in Foxlee’s books.

Lenny’s Book of Everything is a book with a stellar cast. There is Cynthia Spink, the proud, hard-working, single mother of two; Mrs Gaspar, the eccentric Hungarian crone who lives in their apartment block and cares for Cynthia’s two children while she works; Lenny Spink who narrates the story, and Davey, her good-natured younger brother who happens to have gigantism.

From the day Davey is born, his mother has ‘a feeling’ which she’s unable to articulate but which she repeats often. The Spinks live an ordinary life punctuated by the excitement of the arrival of the latest issue of an encyclopaedia set that Cynthia’s sharp letter-writing skills won. Each book as it arrives, allows the children to see the world outside of their small town. They experience the wonders of the world - beetles, birds, quasars, quartz - and dream about a life of freedom and adventure, visiting places like Saskatchewan and Yellowknife, and the gleaming lakes of the Northwest Territories.

However, as her brother's health deteriorates, Lenny comes to accept the inevitable truth; Davey will never make it to Great Bear Lake. 

This outstanding novel about heartbreak and healing by an award-winning author is a wonderful read for discriminating kids over the age of ten, but which will also be read and enjoyed by many adults.

Promise Me Happy

Promise Me Happy by Robert Newton (Penguin Books) PB RRP $17.99 ISBN 9780143796442

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

At the start of this YA novel, 17-year-old Nate is being released from eighteen months’ detention in Croxley for assault during a robbery gone wrong with nothing much to take with him except a copy of The Old Man and the Sea, the only thing he has of his mum who is deceased. Waiting to take him into home custody is his Uncle Mick who lives by himself and who says, ‘looking after you (Nate) wasn’t something I factored into my life plan.’ Nate is just as reluctant to stay with Mick but there’s nowhere else to go.

On the way to his shack near the Glamorgan River at Oyster Bay, the two shop for provisions at a store where Nate sees an interesting girl with black hair buzzed short with a wisp of purple hanging down her face who’s wearing a green tartan skirt, black leather jacket and red Doc Marten boots. He’s not to know it but this girl – Gemma – is to become his first great love. When he and Gemma get together, the two start a business delivering groceries to people who live alongside the river.

The first half of this book is quite slow-moving, but matters take a sudden – and very surprising twist – near the middle of the book and it’s from here that Newton’s writing becomes more captivating and his story characters show their true colours. Emotions are heightened and the reader becomes more engrossed in the story. Nate confronts his father whom he feels twisted and bitter about, and he’s able to recover his mother’s prized possession, a guitar. His and Gemma’s relationship shifts into a much higher gear with the reader swept along by its intensity.

Certainly, by the end of the book Nate has matured much more and though he’s grieving, the reader knows he is stronger and will face the future with greater resilience. This book would suit readers aged 14+ years.

Tilly Maguire and the Royal Wedding Mess

Tilly Maguire and the Royal Wedding Mess by Emma Grey (Harper Collins) RRP $19.99 (PB)ISBN 9781460755051

Reviewed by Nean McKenzie

Tilly Maguire and the Royal Wedding Mess (An Accidental Fairy Tale) is a romantic comedy for teenagers set amongst the world of British celebrity. Tilly, a blogger from Australia, arrives jetlagged in London for her new job as an intern for a PR company. She goes straight to a charity ball, where she meets her childhood crush, boy-band member Reuben Vaughan. One misunderstanding plunges Tilly into the limelight of the tabloid press and the world of the rich and famous. 

Just finished high school, Tilly’s big international opportunity goes pear-shaped when she snaps a photo of Princess Isabelle (supposedly in the middle of a marriage proposal from Reuben) and accidently shares it to the worldwide media. Reuben goes into damage control and whisks Tilly off into hiding after announcing she is his ‘muse’, meaning Tilly is thrown together with the boy she obsessed over as a teenager. Now Tilly has other ambitions than marrying a pop star, like writing a novel, but to save her career she must go along with a subterfuge. This leads to a series of confusing events, not just for Tilly, but for Reuben and Isabelle, and finally to a royal wedding.

Tilly is an impulsive, funny character who is given more depth by the fact she suffers from anxiety, and Reuben’s character becomes more appealing by the way he responds to this. Princess Isabelle is not your standard princess as she has been hiding her sexuality from her conservative parents and the girl she loves. Told from multiple perspectives, the fast-paced plot, with a twist, leads the characters to a better understanding of themselves. And a ‘happily ever after’ at the end!

Tilly Maguire and the Royal Wedding Mess should appeal to readers in their mid-teens. The pink cover with a tiara and high heels seems to direct the story mostly towards girls. Written with age-appropriate terminology and humour, this book should be a page turner for these readers.

Jilda’s Ark

Jilda’s Ark by Verity Croker (Harmony Ink Press) PB RRP $14.99
ISBN 9781640806016

Reviewed by Kylie Buckley

Jilda is a fifteen-year-old girl who is on a South Pacific cruise with her mother and twin sister, Rosa. The much-anticipated tropical island holiday is a gift, to Jilda and Rosa, from their separated parents to celebrate their upcoming sixteenth birthday. What should be the trip of a lifetime turns to chaos when Jilda, recovering from a stomach bug, stays onboard the ship while her mother and sister are out exploring one of the Fijian islands. Waking up from a nap, Jilda soon learns that the ship has been hijacked.

This first-person narrative tells of Jilda’s life-changing experiences on the hijacked ship and follows the friendships she forms with some of her fellow captives. It is also a tale of self-discovery as Jilda explores her sexuality and awakens her compassion for others and the environment.

Jilda’s Ark is a young adult novel suitable for mature readers over 15 years old. It includes themes of family, friendships, teenage relationships, same-sex relationships, death, compassion, refugees, global warming and environmental issues. For more information about Verity Croker and her books, visit www.veritycroker.wordpress.com  

What I Like About Me

What I Like About Me by Jenna Guillaume (Pan Macmillan Australia), PB RRP $16.95 ISBN: 9781760559120

Reviewed by Pauline Hosking

Here’s a positive tale about teenage body image and body-love. Jenna Guillaume spent more than half a decade in the features department of Girlfriend magazine and knows what will appeal to girl readers in their teens, and what may help some of them.

Maisie Martin is a plus-size sixteen-year-old who spends most of her time hiding her body from the world. Her summer seems to be going from bad to worse. Her father stays home rather than going on holiday to Cobbers Bay as usual, leading Maisie to fear her parents are breaking up. Then her best friend Anna hooks up with the boy Maisie’s been crushing on for years.

The novel is a series of diary entries written for a school assignment. What begins as a homework chore ends up as an account of how Maisie doesn’t let anything, or anyone, hold her back from something she really wants to do.

She wants to enter the Miss Teen Summer Queen Pageant which her totally gorgeous, slim, older sister Eva won years before. Since Maisie won’t even go swimming because it would show off her body, how will she summon the courage to enter the pageant?

Luckily her crush’s best friend, Beamer, is also holidaying at Cobbers Bay. He reveals he’s been attracted to Maisie for ages and overcomes her initial lack of interest. She meets a heap of new people who boost her confidence, replacing the rather one-sided relationship she had with Anna. Then she takes a long, hard look in the mirror and makes a list of all the things she likes about herself. The list begins with seven entries and ends, some pages later, with thirteen. The last few are:  No. 10. My midriff. No.11. My guts. No.12 My dancing feet. No.13. My heart.

The story is not a total fairy tale. There is a good reason why her father is stressed. Eva turns out to be human and not completely perfect. Maisie doesn’t win the beauty pageant but ultimately, she wins much more. 

This should be a very popular read. It’s both funny and moving, with a sprinkling of romance. Girls will find Maisie’s world easy to relate to.

Tucked into the book is a card with space for readers to list ten things they like about themselves. The author suggests that, when making their list, readers should treat themselves the way they treat their best friend - never putting them down and always noticing their good qualities. It’s a constructive, helpful idea.

Recommended. 

Misrule

Misrule by Jodi McAlister (Penguin Books, 2019) PB RRP $19.99 ISBN9780143793465

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

This is the third book in McAlister’s Valentine series, the other two being Valentine and Ironheart. With the words ‘This is not a fairytale’ on the front cover, the book is nevertheless filled with magic and could best be described as paranormal.

Pearl Langford’s boyfriend Finn, who is a magical fairy prince, is kidnapped by his older brother and whisked away to fulfil his destiny in their fairy kingdom. Of course, Pearl is not impressed and decides on a boyfriend rescue mission, as would any girl in love. She has told Finn she would come to get him, and she will not allow anyone to stand in her way. This involves tearing a hole in the universe and possible deaths of others, and, the question is, does Finn want to be saved?

The opening sentence is memorable: ‘One thing I never knew about grief is that it was exhausting.’ This is narrated by Pearl who has undergone the deaths of her mother, her grandmother and her friend Marie ‘killed and eaten by carnivorous water monsters’, the after-effects she has witnessed. 

Here are words from the book: ‘...she’s lying on the kitchen floor, covered in horrible rivers of blood, splatters and streams of red all over the cabinets like the most horrifying children’s painting ever, and a gash in her neck so deep I’m amazed her head is even still attached to her body.’ 

Yes, McAliser writes extremely well, but be prepared for vivid descriptions such as this one!

Described as ‘unputdownable’, Misrule is an adventure story, a mix of action, romance and wit, and is highly suitable for a YA readership.

The Centre of my Everything

The Centre of my Everything by Allayne Webster (Penguin Random House)

PB RRP $19.99   ISBN 9780143783336

Reviewed by Liz Ledden

The Centre of my Everything is a distinctly Australian, gritty YA novel set in the regional town of Mildura. Told in the alternating points of view of four main characters, Justin, Tara, Corey and Margo, it’s about the intertwining lives of the teens, plus their families, too.

Justin has just returned to town post-rehab and is trying to move on from his drug-addicted past. Corey is a school drop-out struggling with employment, Tara feels unloved by her mother and has a bad girl reputation, while Indigenous character Margo is intelligent and headstrong, with a plan to escape the stifling confines of her small town environment for uni in the city.

The novel opens with Corey extremely hungover, and piecing together the events of the night before – a destructive, drunken high school party, culminating in digging up bones at the local cemetery. This event drives the plot forward and links the characters in a way you never see coming, providing a gripping read.

Often confronting, the story deals with themes including binge drinking, violence and sexual assault, so it’s one for older teens and up. The writing is truly compelling, the plot tightly woven, and the voices of each character feel authentic, raw and real. 

Webster has captured the essence of teen drinking culture in a lower social economic, regional Australian environment, yet manages to infuse heart and hope.

Liberty

Liberty by Nikki McWatters (University of Queensland Press) PB RRP $19.99 ISBN: 9780702260292

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera

Born in different eras, three young women share a common bond – the ‘bloodline of the sisterhood’. Jeanne Laisné discovers her ‘blood of iron’ in 1472, when she overcomes her poverty-stricken background to emerge as the heroine of Beauvais during a fierce battle. In 1797, Betsy Gray becomes embroiled in a rebel alliance that is desperate to free Ireland from English rule, and she is determined to fight with every last breath in her body.

Fiona McKechnie’s rustic naivety is destroyed when she heads to university in Brisbane in 1968 and is faced with the realities of the Vietnam War and conscription. When she discovers the Systir Saga, a book containing the names of Jeanne and Betsy, as well as all the other ‘women who were the threads that were sewn together with stitches of time and blood to make up the garment’ that is her, Fiona draws strength from her sisterhood to stand up for what she believes in.

Liberty is aimed at the YA market, and its underlying girl-power message will appeal particularly to teen girls aged 14 and above. Inspired by historical people and events, award-winning author Nikki McWatters takes three discrete story strands and skilfully braids them into a single compelling tale. While some of the dialogue is a little laboured, Nikki’s use of evocative similes and metaphors adds stunning dimension and colour to the narrative.

Passion, action and courage course through the book like the flood of feisty women whom Jeanne leads into battle. As the three protagonists proactively seek liberty in life and love, female readers especially will identify both with their empowerment and with their mantle as girls ‘who might just change the world’.