Girls in Boys’ Cars

 

Girls in Boys’ Cars by Felicity Castagna (Pan Macmillan Australia) PB RRP $18.999 ISBN 9781760982980

Reviewed by Kathleen Grace

The debut YA novel of this author, The Incredible Here and Now, won the Prime Minister’s Award for Literature, was named the IBBY Honour Book for Australia and was a finalist for the CBCA Book of the Year for older readers. With such accolades behind her and the fact her books have been published internationally, any reader would expect a great read. Unfortunately, Girls in Boys’ Cars didn’t do it for me. 

The first ten chapters of this YA novel introduce Rosa, a not-so-confident, cynical teenager, and her Fijian Indian best friend, Asheeka, in a meandering story as the two friends hang around together, dress up and watch boys. The book’s narrative only revs up in the eleventh chapter named for the book’s title where the two friends travel and have adventures together.

Here, with the setting western Sydney, Rosa and her Asheeka, tired of hiding who they are from their parents and of trying to get boys to see them as more than props in their lives, take off in Asheeka’s boyfriend’s over-modified Ford Falcon with the vague idea of embarking on a road trip. It is only when she is in Arnold’s stolen car that Rosa begins to come to life and becomes a more active and interesting character. The girls’ journey of self-discovery sees them literally go through (bush) fire and ends with a police charge that puts Rosa in a juvenile correction centre while Asheeka goes missing.

Interspersed with chapters about the road trip, are chapters set in juvie where Rosa meets with her therapist, Maree. Rosa says, ‘My life was a series of excerpts cut and pasted from all the books I read in some random order.’ This is a good description of the style of this novel which uses a conversational tone, flipping from topic to topic, relationship to relationship. Rose says, ‘Most stories don’t really go ahead in straight line.’ This self-conscious narrator frequently refers to writing the book with lines such as ‘so all right, I didn’t get to put too much sex in the last chapter, but I’m still trying to work out how to structure this novel.’

Overall, this novel feels uneven. It makes me want to read other books by Castagna, especially the award-winning ones, to see how they compare with this one.

The Selwood Boys Hit the Road

The Selwood Boys Hit the Road by Tony Wilson, (Harper Collins)  SB RRP $14.99   ISBN 9780733335471

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

The famous Selwood Boys are back in book three of The Selwood Boys series. The Selwood family is going on a holiday to Queensland.  The road trip adventure begins with the Falcon six-seater leaving Bendigo for sunny shores.

‘They were away.

Three suitcases, four boogie boards, two footies, a frisbee, six beach towels, a beach umbrella, two Game Boys and six Selwoods.

At the one-minute-and-twenty-second mark, the boys had their first fight.’

The text is an easy engaging read, with splashes of humour. The antics of the four footy mad boys on the road create many memorable moments.  Troy and Adam are the mischief-making twins who are determined to discover Joel’s kryptonite.  Joel cannot possibly be an all-rounder at everything.  There must be something he’s not good at.  Scooter (Little Scott) joins in the mission in helping his older brothers.

Joel with his cheeky, sneaky antics knows his brothers are doing their best to catch him out.  He manages to keep one step ahead of them until… You see you can’t be good at everything and eventually there is something Joel desperately tries to hide.  You’ll just have to read the book to find out what it is.

This fun-filled story can be enjoyed from seven years old onwards.  It would also make a fantastic read for a teacher to share with a class.  The book is based upon the real Selwood brothers and all the funny things that happened to them.  The Selwood brothers are sports stars that were kids once and it’s interesting to see where their footy journey began in their childhood shenanigans.

Tony Wilson has used a mix of sentences from short to long and this really makes the reader feel like the text is speaking directly to them. Often it’s difficult to find books for sporty readers and this book fills the gap.

Book 1 is Battle Royale, Book 2 The Miracle Goal and Book 3 Hit the Road will be followed by Maintain the Mischief.  The books make a great set to collect. 

Beaky Malone: World’s Greatest Liar

Beaky Malone: World’s Greatest Liar written by Barry Hutchison, illustrated by Katie Abey (Little Tiger Press) PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 9781847156730

Reviewed by Liz Ledden

Beaky Malone is a self-confessed Olympic-level liar. He tells so many crazy lies he drives his family completely mad, particularly his sister, Jodie.

On a road trip with extended family and ever-present dog Destructo, Beaky’s lies are bigger and more elaborate than ever. Just when Jodie reaches breaking point, she and Beaky are sent out in search of fish and chips. Instead, they come across the mysterious Madame Shirley’s Marvellous Emporium of Peculiarities, home to the world’s only truth-telling machine. After Beaky’s shoved inside, it and *gasp* it actually works, Beaky can tell nothing but the truth. At this point, the story really ramps up the fun factor, with Beaky revealing everything from gross personal habits to his canteen lady crush.

This is a super fun read for mid to older primary school aged readers who appreciate a bit of sarcasm, and will understand references to Instagram and the like. The outrageous truth-telling capers don’t stop at the end of the book though – a second title in the middle grade series is due out in January.

Sandy Feet

Sandy Feet by Nikki Buick. (University of Queensland Press)
PB RRP $19.95
ISBN 978 0 7022 5315 7
Reviewed by Jo Antareau

For most teenagers, the thought of an extended Australian road trip with family and no access to electronic media would be sheer torture. Hunter is no exception. But as the story unfolds, we find that he is not just a self-absorbed adolescent and this story is so much more than the ‘live a simpler life to reconnect with family’ theme that is so overused it is now a cliché.

Hunter has had a lot to cope with. Grief, his mother’s mental health issues, a sister with special needs and a new step-father and baby half-brother suddenly entering his life, on top of having survived an accident in which others were killed.  The journey is presented to him as a chance for his new blended family to bond and recover from past wounds, but Hunter gradually suspects there is more to it than that.

As the story unfolds Hunter learns that the adults in his life have lied to him. He still resents his father for abandoning them when he was younger but also misses him deeply following the tragic accident. Buick has skilfully adopted the voice of a young adult male; the resentment tempered with humour, whilst keeping the self-pitying to a realistic minimum.

This is ultimately a story about parents learning to have faith that their children can make healthy decisions for themselves, and that running away never solves anything. Along the way, Hunter learns to deal with his longing and grief in tandem with his own growing self-awareness and eventual forgiveness for the adults in his life, who are as flawed as he is.

 

 

Sandy Feet

Sandy Feet by Nikki Buick. (University of Queensland Press)
PB RRP $19.95
ISBN 978 0 7022 5315 7
Reviewed by Jo Antareau

For most teenagers, the thought of an extended Australian road trip with family and no access to electronic media would be sheer torture. Hunter is no exception. But as the story unfolds, we find that he is not just a self-absorbed adolescent and this story is so much more than the ‘live a simpler life to reconnect with family’ theme that is so overused it is now a cliché.

Hunter has had a lot to cope with. Grief, his mother’s mental health issues, a sister with special needs and a new step-father and baby half-brother suddenly entering his life, on top of having survived an accident in which others were killed.  The journey is presented to him as a chance for his new blended family to bond and recover from past wounds, but Hunter gradually suspects there is more to it than that.

As the story unfolds Hunter learns that the adults in his life have lied to him. He still resents his father for abandoning them when he was younger but also misses him deeply following the tragic accident. Buick has skilfully adopted the voice of a young adult male; the resentment tempered with humour, whilst keeping the self-pitying to a realistic minimum.

This is ultimately a story about parents learning to have faith that their children can make healthy decisions for themselves, and that running away never solves anything. Along the way, Hunter learns to deal with his longing and grief in tandem with his own growing self-awareness and eventual forgiveness for the adults in his life, who are as flawed as he is.