Cooper Bartholomew Is Dead

Cooper Bartholomew Is Dead by Rebecca James (Allen &Unwin)
YA PB RRP$19.99
ISBN 9781743319239
Reviewed by Yvonne Mes

Cooper Bartholomew is dead. His girlfriend is devastated and not convinced it was suicide. Cooper was much loved, popular and an all-round nice guy. His friends adored him. So why is he dead? From the developing romance between Libby and Cooper and the relationships with their respective friends and parents the story builds to an unexpected ending.

The story is told from multiple perspectives and takes you backwards and forwards in time. Rebecca James pulls this off to great effect and flips between first and third person point of views for her main and minor characters respectively. This complex way of story telling works amazingly well and adds to the suspense and enjoyment of the story.

Her characters are wonderful, multi-faceted and feel like real people. Between all the mystery of how and why Cooper died, the characters struggle with finding their way as young adults after finishing high school. They discover how the groups that define them in high school change as they grow and they struggle with the choices to make for their futures.

There were quite a few references to sex without it being overwhelming and there was a lot of casual drugs use which made for an edgy read.

Referred to as the new J.K. Rowling in the Wall Street Journal after a bidding frenzy for her novel Beautiful Malice in 2009, Rebecca followed this up with Sweet Damage, another successful, edgy young adult novel. Both novels are now on top of my to-read list.

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

 

 

 

 

The Perfectionists

The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard (Hot Key Books)
PB RRP $16.95
ISBN 978-1-4714-0434-4
Reviewed by Jacque Duffy

This is one of those non-put-downable books. It is well written, the main characters are likeable, and the pacing is fast, but I have a problem.

Sara Shepard is the author of many popular books including the Pretty Little Liars series, which I confess to not having read but have heard quite a lot about. Pretty Little Liars has sixteen – yes, sixteen -- books in the series. Don’t get me wrong, I like a series, I don’t mind a little breathing space between books. I like to let the characters have a rest too, especially after a fast-paced book like this one.

But here is my problem. The Perfectionists has a lot of characters, starting with five girls plotting revenge against the school’s most popular boy slash bully; each of those girls has her own group of secondary characters, some of which are crucial to the plot. That is a lot of characters to make mental notes about.

I was enjoying this book immensely; not only are these girls managing to get themselves into all kinds of trouble - most of the time not of their own doing - but there has been a murder. Towards the latter half I found it hard to put the book down. I read faster and faster, needing to know who the bad guy/girl is and if the girls were going to be safe.

Then it ended.

Just like that.

I have no idea if these girls whom I had become so fond of were safe.

Looks as though I will have to wait for book number two; I hope it comes out fast.

The book, if read in a classroom situation, would raise healthy discussion. The serious matters of sex, drugs, bullying, suicide and revenge are raised in this story. The characters are fully formed and each has their own story to tell.

The story obviously gives room for sequels and I am sure each would be an enjoyable read.

 Jacque Duffy is the author and illustrator of the series ‘That’s not a …’ learn to read books used in all Queensland State Primary Schools, a picture book The Bear Said Please, and one local history coffee table book.

www.jacquesartandbooks.com