by Tara June Winch
Tara June Winch is a talented young indigenous writer who won the David Unaipon Award with this story of a young girl on a journey of self discovery. May gradually works out where she really needs to go, only to discover different, harder truths than she had imagined. The triumph of this story is that May does make the journey and eventually comes home.
Not a children’s story, nor suited to the fainthearted reader for its sometimes confronting content, this book is a poetic piece which demands something of the reader and displays the talent of this promising author.
Find out more about Swallow the Air and Tara June Winch.
by Michael Parker
This is an exciting time slip thriller, set in Sydney. Partly it is in our Sydney and partly in a quite different Sydney which is a scary place and one which is strange and nightmarish yet proves to be dangerously real. Andrew thought he had a few problems, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Never quite sure that supporting his bullying mate Josh is the right right thing to do, but too weak to do anything else, he suddenly finds himself lost in a world out of his control and faced with a seemingly twin Josh. But this version is even more worrying. Can Andrew take control and survive as well? Find out in this gripping read. There is also a website which gives lots of background to the ideas in the book, suggests a soundtrack and lists other books which inspired the author to write Doppelganger, like Heart of Darkness and Lord of the Flies.
by J. C. Burke
2006 Winner CBCA Award - Older readers
Tom Brennan is 17 and was the hero of the rugby team at his school before the accident. Now he is repeating Year 11 in a new town, having to face his old team on the field, and coping badly with visiting his brother in gaol and his cousin in hospital.
In a small community the waves that reverberate from a fatal crash caused by one of their own seem to go on forever. What of the family of the drunken driver? In this story they find that leaving town is the only way out. Even then each must come to terms in their own way.
This is a powerfully told story with all the more impact because any one of us might one day be in the situation that faces the Brennans. You can’t go back and as Tom finds, you can’t just forget. The only way is forward.
The relationship between Tom and his brother Daniel is very important in Burke’s book. Their cousin, Fin, was also like a brother to them, and their mother’s brother was close to Daniel and helped Tom come to terms with circumstances.
Other excellent books about brothers include:
Flash Jack by Maureen McCarthy
Fighting Ruben Wolf, The Underdog and When Dogs Cry, all by Markus Zusak
Lost Property by James Moloney
…and don’t forget sisters:
The Red Shoe by Ursula Dubosarsky
Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters by Gail Giles
Missing You, Love Sara by Jackie French
Have you read any of these books? Well why not? We would love to publish your review of any of these titles, or one of your own choice. Send to the address above or just add to “comments” below.
by Ursula DubosarskyAustralian Readers’ Challenge listed title.This is a sequel to The First Book of Samuel but it is not necessary to read both books to enjoy either one. Both feature a loving but chaotic family focusing on Samuel aged 13 and Theodora, 14, who live with their father and his second wife Hannah (Samuel’s mother). At the heart of this family is their German Jewish heritage and their grandfather Elias, a holocaust survivor who is approaching death.Theodora and Samuel are both disturbed when their father sees frightening visions and suddenly moves to the country with Pearl - his first wife and Theodora’s mother. Both children take action in their own way to bring their father home. The story is set in September 2001 - it seems for a while that it is not just this unusual family which has become somewhat more chaotic than usual.
A gentle and absorbing story with a cast of unusual characters.
by Ursula Dubosarsky
The Red Shoe is a story with the child’s point of view at its centre. Set around Easter 1954 and looking back to a significant event of the previous Boxing Day, we see a family in a time of crisis. There are three daughters aged 6, 11 and 15, a mother, a father who is often absent on his ship, and Uncle Paul.
Around them are contemporary events involving Russian spies, children dying of polio, and various Sydney murders and misadventures, captured in newspaper clippings placed between many of the chapters. But there is also the possibility of going to the Royal Easter Show, family picnics, trips to the beach and school parades.
In spite of the child’s point of view, this story deals with some serious issues. The father is suffering from the after-effects of trauma so his depression and the shocking possibility of suicide create a fearful backdrop to the story.
Looking back on The Red Shoe is like viewing a tapestry that reveals greater depths as you move from capturing the big picture to looking into each detailed corner. There is much to discover here.
Read how the author came to write The Red Shoe here. For links to background information about a variety of things mentioned in the book, like the Petrov Affair, polio epedemics of the 50s, the Argonauts Club and the Palm Beach Ferry look here.
by James Moloney
Australian Readers’ Challenge listed title.
Josh is enjoying his job in the lost property office at Central Station in the Christmas holidays, when he finds a photo that has his missing brother Michael in the background. Although Josh has good friends, a pretty girlfriend, is lead singer of a band and has lots of money saved from his job, his missing brother causes a pain he can’t express and is threatening to destroy his family. It is time he did something about finding Michael, and the photo is his first clue. But things are not quite as they seem. A satisfying book about a young man who finds himself while looking for his brother.
by Susan Geason
Set in Sydney in 1900 this story tells an exciting adventure located in the seedier parts of the city. When the son of a young serving girl disappears it is feared that his father, a wanted criminal has taken him. Fourteen-year-old Christabel, from a well off home but bored and lonely, decides to rescue him, with the help of stable boy Billy. This is a fast moving story, which gives a very realistic idea of what Sydney must have been like in those days.
by Odo Hirsch
This author has written some wonderful children?s stories, but this book (and the memorable Yoss written a few years ago) demonstrate what a great writer he is when dealing with more serious topics. The boy of the title is barely saved from starvation when not much more than a toddler. He gets through the next few years by his wits and the friendship of other boys in similar circumstances, surviving the dangers of a medieval city without the protection of family. The book takes us on his journey of survival, for better or worse. In many ways the author shows us how lucky we are to live in a modern, civilised nation, but then again the ups and downs of Conrad’s life read as true for many people today. Excellent.
by Jared Thomas
Australian Readers’ Challenge listed title.
Aimed at older teenagers and adults, this book tells the story of Michael Sweet, a young man who has had his fair share of bad luck. But now he is finished with school, into university and able to move out of his father’s house - something he his very pleased about. Through Michael’s own account we learn about his past and how he is coping with his new life, and dealing with the inevitable issues from his past. His voice is a very realistic and sometimes confused one. We travel with him as he deals with the confusing world of girls, alcohol, and reluctantly finding out his father may have some redeeming features.
David McRobbie introduces us to two young people on different sides of the planet - Brisbane and London - and with very little in common. As we hear bits of each story we gradually realise that these two, Teresa and Brian, are going to cross paths. The results are devastating for both in very different ways. As a reader I was really sucked into this story to see how things sorted themselves out over the years for these two characters. Recommended for mature readers.
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