The Dreaming Collection

The Dreaming Collection written and illustrated by Queenie Chan, (TOKYOPOP) 2010, PB  RRP $26.99 ISBN 9781427818713

Reviewed by Pauline Hosking

This omnibus edition comprises Volumes 1-3 of The Dreaming graphic novel, a mystery-horror story inspired by Picnic at Hanging Rock, for readers 13+ years. The illustrations are fabulous. Each page overflows with action and emotion and  the backgrounds are full of realistic, careful, architectural features. Many teenage girls will love the detail on the Victorian costumes and the manga inspired look of characters.

Less successful is the storyline which has occasional lapses in continuity. Twin sisters Jeanie and Amber arrive at a mysterious boarding school deep in the Australian bush. Here they must pretend they are NOT twins, because the scary ancient principal, Mrs Skeener, doesn’t tolerate twins. Slowly, Mrs Skeener’s secrets, and the secrets of the school, are explained.  Ever since the school was founded, girls have wandered into the surrounding bushland and vanished. The third volume reveals that the disappearances are the work of the Quinkan. These are wicked aboriginal night spirits which lure sleeping children into the bush.  After a dramatic climax, evil is thwarted and the school burns to the ground. But the experience has damaged both sisters and they grow apart.

In an interview included in the book Queenie Chan admits she has taken ‘quite a few liberties with the Quinkan’.  These may not concern the US audience or publishers of the books, but they did worry me. 

Overall, though, The Dreaming looks amazing and has enough suspense to keep young readers eagerly turning the pages.

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.