Our latest reviews
Ophelia And The Marvellous Boy by Karen Foxlee
Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy has it all: a magical realm embroiled in a battle between good and evil; a council of wizards pitted against an evil Snow Queen; a 300-year-old boy and a pragmatic, rational girl caught in a…
Find Me by Romily Bernard
Wick Tate and her sister haven’t had an easy life. With a mother who committed suicide and a drug-dealing father on the run, the Tate sisters have finally been put in a loving foster home and feel like they can…
The Children of Green Knowe Collection by Lucy M. Boston
It was such a delight to re-read this past favourite for this review and find it still as spellbinding and full of enchantment as I remember.
Tolly, the young hero, is such a quiet, introspective boy, and his holiday with…
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
This unusual coming-of-age novel has been likened to the voices of Vonnegut and Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, with good reason. The narrator, a self-proclaimed historian, Austin Szerba, is a 15-year-old Polish kid living in the middle of a…
Waffle Hearts: Lena and me in Mathildewich Cove by Maria Parr
They say opposites attract and the two main characters of this charming Norwegian novel couldn’t be more different. Lena and Trille live next door to each other and where Trille is sensitive and steadfast, Lena is a resilient daredevil who…
A Very Good Idea by Meredith Badger
Fresh material for those growing in confidence with their reading is always welcome, and I think this new series will be popular with parents as well as children.
The Tinkler children (one boy, two girls) fend for themselves while their…
Fire by Jackie French & illustrated by Bruce Whatley
Fire, everyone’s nightmare if not contained in a fireplace, is something Australians are all too familiar with, and this moving picture book hauntingly conveys the sheer immensity of bushfire. The succinct urgency of the verse captures the spark that ignites…
Nine Open Arms by Benny Lindelauf
We see many successful adult novels translated to English from the Dutch (a notable release of late being Herman Koch’s The Dinner). Nine Open Arms is welcome proof that young adult publishers recognise the value of translated fiction, too…
A Book is a Book Jenny Bornholdt & illustrated by Sarah Wilkins
I gasped with delight on my first encounter with this whimsical marriage of words and pictures, and I reverently turned the cream-coloured pages with their delightful illustrations. Obviously talented creators had fun celebrating everything to do with the wonder that’s…
Plague and Cholera by Patrick Deville
I like my novels to drop me straight into events and Patrick Deville’s Plague and Cholera does just that. The reader joins Dr Alexandre Yersin in Paris, May 1940, as he is fleeing France during World War II. Moments later…
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