Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean

Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean edited by Kirsty Murray, Payal Dhar and Anita Roy (Allen & Unwin)

YA Speculative Feminist Anthology RRP$16.99

ISBN 9781743319789

In late 2012, Australia and India were rocked by violent crimes against young women. In Delhi, thousands protested against rape. In Melbourne, thousands stood vigil in memory of a young woman raped and murdered while walking home. The fate of all young women, what they should fear and what they can hope for, were hot topics in the media around the world. Out of that storm rose the idea for this anthology. (From the introduction)

To see a collection such as this, written specifically for young people with its feminist message by contemporary authors who crossed cultural boundaries  and set in exciting alternate and dystopian worlds and different realties hit all the right notes for me.

The anthology includes seventeen works of fiction, including a play and six graphic stories written by twenty-two authors and illustrators and set in dystopian or fantasy worlds and sometimes in distant galaxies.

Contributors were given the added challenge of working in collaboration with a partner from the other country on which they give an insight in brief notes at the back of the book.

My favourite stories include ‘Cast Out’ by Samhita Arni, ‘Cat Calls’ by Margo Lanagan and ‘Memory Lace’ by Payal Dhar; I also was immersed in the graphic story by Isobelle Carmody through the illustrative style of Prabha Mallya. In 'Cast Out', girls showing signs of magic, even in self-defence, are cast off in the ocean to die a gruesome death. The main character also finds herself in this position, and what she finds will change her life as much as it has been saved. 

Reading the inspiration behind the story which was based on conversations between Samhita Arni and her Australian counterpart, Alyssa Brugman, on feminism and consumerism gave an insight into how this story came to be. Brugman’s story ‘Weft’ is a very different, thought-provoking story showing the main character’s reflections while she is in the process of buying a full head of hair.

This is a strong contender for my favourite anthology of the year!

Yvonne Mes is a children's author. Her first picture book, Meet Sidney Nolan (Random House) is scheduled for release in October 2015. www.yvonnemes.com

The Sky So Heavy

The Sky So Heavy by Claire Zorn (University of Queensland Press)
PB RRP $19.95
ISBN  978 0 7022 4976 1
Reviewed by Jo Antareau

Life as we know it has ended. Nuclear war has broken out. Although Australia was not attacked, the survivors face a brutal nuclear winter.

Zorn has convincingly portrayed a dark, claustrophobic world. Fin, a typical 17 year-old, stumbles though a new landscape with no power or communications, looted stores, limited fuel and a crumbling infrastructure. It soon becomes apparent that the survivors have been left to their own devices as the institutions which are meant to help are overwhelmed.  

At first, Fin and his younger brother Max are content to wait for the return of their father and ration their supplies in their quiet street in a Blue Mountains town. But as the days grind on and their needs grow increasingly desperate, the pair are forced to act and fight for anything that helps them survive. The world is now a dog-eat-dog place. Yet within the ruthlessness where otherwise mild-mannered residents turn against each other, Zorn introduces some surprising acts of generosity. Small gestures, handled lightly and without sentimentality, shine a light in an otherwise bleak environment.

Fin is not perfect; he colluded in the bullying of Noll, the outsider, back when life had been ‘normal’. Now, his victim shows himself to be the better person, and shares his meagre supplies with the brothers. Together with Noll and Fin’s crush Lucy, the four teenagers make their way to Sydney in search for Max and Fin’s mother. But the journey was not entirely motivated by filial loyalty; their mother was a big-wig in the government and they hope she might provide the means to their survival – if they are allowed close enough to the seat of power.

I liked that Zorn’s post-apocalyptic world was zombie-free. The acts perpetrated by those motivated by greed and fear outstrip any horrors of the undead. Written as a metaphor for the plight of asylum seekers, this is a page-turner. The police and army have betrayed the general population, and now exist to protect an elite core – the only ones with access to the limited supply of necessities. Our four teenagers, accustomed to a well-fed, safe lifestyle, have become the ones on the wrong side of the line that separates the haves from the have-nots.

As the narrative progresses, the characters grow in their resilience, resourcefulness and sense of responsibility, so the counter-intuitive choices made at the end of the novel were completely consistent with the inner journey.

Comparisons to Marsden are inevitable, and I would love to read the sequel.