Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (c) 2000

 

On a whim, I picked up a copy of the current Year 8 text by the same author. 'The Giver' is the first of four in this fantasy series and totally new to me. Delightful! As was the film. Although a simple story, it is one which stays with you as the layers reveal themselves, as do the interpretations of said. Consequently, it was a no-brainer to grab the second book, which I will write about now.

I guess I should start by saying that the story does stand alone. As far as I can see, there are no overt links to 'The Giver'. Good thinking, LL, as I will certainly dive into the third, now.

'Gathering Blue' is also a gentle read - simple narrative, likeable characters, humming (but not distressing) conflict. Sure, there is an untimely death at the start but thankfully the remaining crippled orphan is 'rescued', and so the story goes. The protagonist (orphan) Kira has weaving magic, that is to say, she supernaturally spins stories in coloured thread. Her gift is acknowledged by The Guardians who elect to care for her in a castle of sorts, so she can weave and repair the so-called the robe containing the world's history. While there, Kira meets two other 'gifted' orphans - a wood carver and a singing toddler. They, too, will take their places to ensure that history is not lost.

So, what is the reader to think? I suppose the biggest shadow is cast when we begin suspecting that the orphans' parents were likely murdered to secure said magical gifts. As this gnawing uncertainty grows, we start looking at everyone suspiciously.

I suggest you start with 'The Giver'. And I am going to launch myself into the final two books - just in time for the school holidays.

She saw Vandara lean down and pick up a rock the size of a tyke's fist. "We don't want you here," the woman said. "You don't belong in the village anymore. You're worthless with that leg. Your mother always protected you but she's gone now. You should go too. Why didn't you just stay in the Field?"

Kira saw that she was surrounded by hostile women who has come from their cotts and were watching Vandara for instructions and leadership. Several, she noticed, had rocks in their hands. If one rock were thrown, others would follow, she knew. They were all waiting for the first.

What would my mother have done? she thought frantically, and tried to call wisdom from the bit of her mother's spirit that lived on in her now. (pp.18-19)

The Great Gatsby - graphic novel adaptation

 

So, you can do justice to a timeless classic in graphic novel form. Who knew? Nicki Greenberg's six-year labour of love is palpable in the richness of the illustrations and the selection of text. Wow, I say.

It has been many years since I discovered Gatsby. A romantic at heart, I loved it. I am sharing this post in the hope that some of you less literature-lovin' folk will dip a toe in and see what the fuss has been about.

To my mind, by cartoonifying the characters (is that even a word?), the reader can absorb enough of the original text without feeling giddy.

Check out the arrogance and disdain captured in the expression and body language of Miss Baker. Brilliant! Greenberg has managed to do this for all the characters, every time. What a gift!

Do yourself a fat favour and read the book.

Miss ^__^

In the Secret Place

 by Gary Crew (c) 2023

It has been a long time since I have read an engaging story which I would class as ‘gentle’ in its tone. ‘In the Secret Place’ has all the hallmarks of a good story without any of the angst and desperation of the hard-hitting issues of today which are so prevalent in YA Fiction In that regard, I think students from Year 5 – Year 8 (10 – 13 year olds) would appreciate this novel.

The story is about Ben Gardner, likeable and smart (he’s good at chess) yet carrying a painful secret which is somehow tied to his mildly crippled foot. Of course the bullies (called The Six, or, The Stupid Six!)) smell his fear and often torment him about his disability. Ben finds solace in his new friendship with Sonya (she doesn’t judge him) and the fact he has found a secret place down by the beach – a cave, which was only discovered by him because of a ‘disappearing’ fox.

              Yes, the fox had gone but, as he groped, pressing his fingertips against the chilly rock, all of a sudden, he fell forward.

              No cliff.

No rock.

He pulled back ono the track, lowering his backside onto the cushioning mac, crumpled there. His hand went to his mouth. The thought dawned: ‘There’s a hole behind there. A hole no one can see. The fox’s den, I bet…

In the deeper dark behind the bush, and with his torch battery useless, it wasn’t easy to access this secret place. (pp.73-4)

Crew has ensured that there are many plotlines that are all deliciously tied together by the final pages. The protagonist is ‘everyboy’ (as opposed to everyman) whose ‘coming of age’ embraces concerns ranging from the need to find your people, to self-worth, to the maybe flourishes of a first crush, to navigating a broken family, to the classic avoidance of the ‘mean boys’, to making your own adventure, to finding your inner strength, all of which are gender neutral, making the story ideal for all readers.

If I have one criticism, it would be that the protagonist’s dad drinks. Beer. Every time he is mentioned (it seems) and his lady companion is also usually chugging down wine when she isn't riding her Harley. The couple cannot 'do life' without downing a cold one. Crew does not comment on this, and it is certainly not key to any part of the plot – I am just on a bit of a bandwagon personally in a bid to stop the cultural acceptance of drinking. That aside, a do give this book a hearty recommendation. It is no wonder that Crew is heralded as ‘award-winning’.

The Happiest Man on Earth

 

By Eddie Jaku ©2020

 

The cover reads: A Holocaust survivor shares how he found gratitude, kindness and hope in the darkest of places. This memoir can be read in one sitting. Jaku shares his memories of the hell that was the Holocaust in small snapshots. A good idea, really, as one long discourse of the inhumanity and terror would be too hard to bear.

Do I hate that man? No, I do not hate anyone. He was just weak and probably as scared as I was. He let his fear overtake his morals. And I know that for every cruel person in the world, there is a kind one… (p.105)

Suffice to say, this man is riddled with positivity. He survived on hope, living one day at a time, using intuition and taking calculated risks. He talks about broken bones and bullet wounds in the same way as I would tell you what I put on my toast this morning. Jaku has supreme faith in humanity – he doesn’t dwell on aberrations such as Hitler and the Nazis. At over 100 years old, we can learn much wisdom from this man. Check out his Ted Talk, much of which is in the book.

Funky Town

 

By Paul (PK) Kennedy ©2021

 

Given I don’t have a sporting bone in my body, I applaud PK for his beautiful memoir which allows people like me to finally understand what the ruckus is all about. ‘Funky Town’ gets to the core of Aussie Rules by imbibing an intensely personal and, at times, vulnerable insight into how it feels to live and breathe footy. Kennedy dreamt of playing for the big league from childhood. His story reveals the highs and very lows without a sniff of the usual clichés. Sure, I skimmed over the cast of famous names and clubs, but the attention to detail in the writing had me mesmerized despite my ignorance. The fight for sporting fitness, the pre-match butterflies, the need to adhere to ‘superstitious’ rituals, the worship of brilliant players, the pithy and inspirational words measured out by the coach, the injuries, the timely reprimands… Most engaging, the rich descriptions of what it feels like to play at one’s peak:

The ball was finally mine. I ran my hands over it, turning it around and around. I looked down at its taut laces and little rubber valve. The familiarity of touch felt like an antidote to my self-doubt… The next twenty minutes surpassed all my previous feats in football, modest as they were to that point. Under a grey sky, with a breeze at my back, I forgot about my opponent and chased the ball, like a dog after a frisbee. Luck ran my way and I started to take marks, receive handballs, and even shout directions to other Saints. Most importantly, I stopped overthinking. The flow of the game, which had seemed hectic and foreign to me before, was now as familiar as kicking drop punts at the lightpost outside our house at Emmanuel Drive. I felt fresh and new and dynamic… With every possession my confidence surged. Words of encouragement from teammates were extra fuel. At one point I snatched up a loose ball in the back pocket and took off. My opponent came close to catching me. I heard him straining with effort. The boundary line was close, but I wasn’t about to surrender to it. I veered away, back into space. There were teammates on the wing, but they seemed miles away. Now I heard voices from the crowd. Carlton supporters. ‘Get him.’ ‘How far!?’ I hoped the Blues player chasing me wasn’t quick enough. I sidestepped one last time, swerving back toward the boundary. Without time to straighten up again, I guided the ball with my left hand onto my left foot. It wasn’t my natural side, but it felt natural now. I lowered it on an angle, the way you do when you want to kick a torpedo. This was almost arrogant. It’s hard enough to kick a torpedo on the run with your preferred foot. Luck winked at me. The ball landed in the perfect spot – to the side of my laces – and the ball covered the distance to my target at head height. I soaked up the clapping from Saints supporters. (excerpt from Chapter 28 ‘Another Chance’)

Believe it or not, the memoir is only in part about PK’s love of football. There is another important thread woven through his memories which spotlights the chilling truth of living in the same community as a serial killer. If you’re like me, you have the iPad handy to investigate further. (I had left Victoria by the time these murders occurred, so this was news to me.) No spoilers here. You’ll have to read the book to find out what ensued.

Another important inclusion outlines PK’s shyness and perceived awkward behavior around girls, and the culture of binge drinking to overcome this. His honesty here will be a huge encouragement and support to many teenagers.

I guess my final word on this would be how moving PK’s ‘functional’ family was/is. In this fatherless generation (such as were both his parents) it is rewarding to read about a stable, loving and imperfect family. This aspect of the text is very uplifting.

I recommend this text for older youth. Or PG recommended if being read by younger teens. A brilliant ‘coming of age’ read.

Where We Begin – The Past Is Waiting

 

©2020 Christie Nieman

This is a tidy and well-written story. It has been a while since I have read a YA novel that doesn’t have a driving narrative – until now. Put it this way, I had ten pages to go and I opted for crochet and Le Tour. If you are just looking to read a story and not be challenged, changed or enthralled, then this is the book for you.

The protagonist is 17-year-old Anna. She is a smart and driven student who aspires to become a doctor when she finishes school. Easy, right? Sure, if we overlook a few tiny factors including the fact that her mum is a high functioning alcoholic, her dad works overseas, and she has just discovered sex. Oh, and she becomes pregnant despite using contraception. I suggest this novel will be ‘triggering’ for anyone who can relate to some of the issues raised:

Why hadn’t I been able to take the pill? Why hadn’t I swallowed it? I would have been done. I could have been done with this. I could have been in control of my life again.

It wasn’t that I felt it was wrong in any way. I felt fine that this little clump of DNA was no more or less than the bacteria that covered every living thing, just as amazing and astounding and improbable, but also just as oblivious and expendable.

So it wasn’t a moral problem. It was just… something unexpected. (p.183)

Anna’s decision to leave home to sort herself out is made for her when her mother, Cathy, has a frightening drunken outburst which culminates in Cathy smashing a glass that inadvertently cuts Anna’s boyfriend. Anna boards the next bus bound for the country and the grandparents she has never met. It is here where most of the story unfolds as Anna discovers her mother’s past. The chapters which are set in Cathy’s time were, to my mind, the most intriguing. Have you ever wondered why your parents think and behave as they do? All the dots are joined as we meet Cathy’s bff, observe her controlling father, and wonder why the hell Anna was never told she had an uncle.

There are moments of drama when Anna decides to study in the creepy old abandoned farmhouse – Bromley Cairn – but these are not sustained. It also becomes increasingly frustrating when there’s no network coverage for Anna to reply to her oh so loyal and understanding boyfriend Nassim (who is none the wiser about the pregnancy):

I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t want to crowd you, I know I’ve promised not to do that, but it’s super hard when you just totally disappear like this. You know that I can leave you alone as much as you want, so long as I know where I stand – I’ve said that right from the start. But right now I just don’t know where I am with you, and quite frankly it feels like shit… So feel free to take this as our break-up if you like. I don’t want to break up. I guess you know that. I still want to be with you… (pp. 201-3)

Whatever. I think I prefer more definition in a plotline.

That said, the writer provides some engagement via Basil, the son of her mum’s bff. He is more than happy to fill the gaps in Anna’s understanding with what he either knows or has heard. This takes a predictable turn when he enlightens her about the sordid past in terms of the bloody ousting of the land’s first inhabitants. We can never hear too much about this – just sayin’.

So I did eventually finish the novel. What happened to the baby, you ask? You tell me!

Miss ^__^

When Rain Turns To Snow

 

© 2020 Jane Godwin

Hmmm. I was trying to work out why I did not particularly warm to this novel. In a nutshell, I’d say it’s because one of the driving conflicts centers around a neglected 5-month-old baby who is sporting both a temperature and a mystery cough. I think I was so fixated on the welfare of the baby that much of the ‘beautiful and timely coming of age’ story went out the window with the bath water! The good news is, the writer is not pitching the story to my 50-something age group. Huzzah!

Still, I can’t muster up enthusiasm for this book. It was too ‘soap opera’ for me. Not that I watch them, but if you enjoy ‘Home and Away’ or ‘Neighbours’, you’ll love this book. No loose ends. A tidy and overly dramatic story for 13-year-old girls. 

‘Hi. Did you get some sleep?’

‘I’m scared I’ll squash her if I fall asleep,’ he says, holding Mercy gently in his arms.

‘Let’s not wake her up,’  I whisper. The night is so still, so quiet, the sound would really travel.

But too late, she’s going to start crying again.

I give Reed the bottle. ‘It’s too hot for her,’ he says.

‘I didn’t know she’d be drinking it right away.’ He could have said thank you for getting it! No one appreciates what I’m doing for them. I go to the tap in the garden. Dark, icy water runs over my hands as I top up the bottle. I’m sure a bit of tap water won’t hurt her.

‘Feel her forehead,’ whispers Reed when I come back in.

My hand covers her whole forehead because she’s so tiny. ‘It’s hot.’                    (pp.132-3) 

See what I mean. And don’t get me started on the fact that the baby’s nappy hasn’t been changed in 24 hours! I realise I’ve said nothing about the characters or plot. You can join the dots. Knock yourself out. I’ll end on this from page 233 where the protagonist’s brother has been accused of cyber-bullying: 

In the picture, Harry’s hand is on Amber’s thigh. She’s wearing denim shorts. I remember that she’d been to Queensland and still had a tan.

‘I mean it’s just my personal opinion-‘ begins Sadie.

‘I am sick of your personal opinion!’ I shout without thinking. ‘She sat on his knee. So what! My brother’s got nothing to do with Rate Year Eight, so find out who it is and get them to take it down…Stop spreading rumours about my brother!’ I yell at them all.

‘Omigod,’ Poppy whispers, ‘what is wrong with you?’

Miss ^__^