Inbetween Days

by Vikki Wakefield

Since I loved 'Friday Brown', I couldn't resist reading another by the same author. Without being unkind, I am 200pages in and struggling to smash through the last 100 or so pages. It is an easy read but I am finding the conflict is underwhelming.
So there's Jack (a girl, short for Jacklin) who is grubby, promiscuous, confused, unemployed... even her dog is deaf and nearly blind. What's not to like? The sister that she moved in with to escape her domineering mother (and her stupid father) has suddenly turned all sensible and is echoing her mother's words and behaviour. Jack has taken to being in a relationship with a lovely neighbourhood friend (Jeremiah) as she was rejected by her friend-with-benefits Luke. You can't help but feel she is using him - he is a bit asperger's, and clearly has genuine feelings of affection for Jack:

   Jeremiah monitored my expression. 'You don't have to lie,' he said. 'I called. You got the message. You didn't call back. You've filled the gap in my logic.' He got up and pushed his chair under the counter. 'Look, I'm no good at trying to read body language and subtext or between lines - all that guff. Just tell me up front, okay? Now, do you want a drink? Would you like something to eat?'
   'I'm sorry... I would have...'
   'I changed the subject. It's terribly rude to change it back.' He flashed a smile that let me off the hook, 'Shall I put the kettle on or do you want something else?'  (p.208) 

I will chuck another post up once I finish the book. It will simply read, 'Thumbs up,' or 'Thumbs down.'

Miss ^__^

So here's the final entry. Thumbs up, but bleak. Not a very uplifting book but well written. And I've gotta hand it to Wakefield. There's closure on every front.

 

Intruder

by Christine Bongers


I'm still working my way through the short list of titles from the Children's Book Council Awards for 2015 - Young Adult category. That said, here's a title for the very young adult, say, 13 year olds. A tidy story with an engaging plot.

Kat's mum died recently. An only child, her dad is doing it tough, struggling to push through his grief and working a few jobs on night shift. Consequently, Kat is often left alone and sadly, she is taken advantage of by an intruder. The story is really about solving this crime. She meets a soul-mate, Al, at the park, and he is more than happy to step in and support her:

Al surveyed the front fence line. 'So the prowler must have simply walked in through your front gate the other night. And if he returns, that's still his only entry point. But Herc, noble beast that he is, has now plugged that gap for us with his operatic barking. So, what else have we missed?' (p.164)

Well, I'm only half way through the novel, so we'll both have to keep reading if we want to know how the story ends!

Miss ^__^

The Secret Chord

written by Geraldine Brooks

This work of fiction turns the Old Testament of The Bible on its head in regard to the famous King David. Brooks takes several liberties with her new novel. The classic tales are faithfully included, such as 'David and Goliath' but the contexts each have a cheeky yet plausible adaptation. I almost had to skip the parts where David and soul mate Jonathan (son of King Saul) are bonafide bed buddies. No matter. This is the 21st century, and I can hack it!
And who but Brooks would have the guts to state outright that Bathsheba was not so much a willing adulterous lover but rather a victim of rape. Hmmmmmm.
Yes, David writes poetry, fights wars, takes lovers and worships The Name. I was entertained, no doubt, but it was a work of fiction. If you are not familiar with the original text you may not be as entertained as I was. Worth a look - definitely older readers.

'Nona & Me' by Clare Atkins

If you have ever wondered what it is like to be an indigenous Australian living in rural Northern Territory, then look no further than 'Nona & Me'. Atkins has cleverly depicted the hardships  of this demographic through the eyes of 'white man' living in community with Aboriginal people in a mining town. As a resident of Palmerston, teaching in Humpty Doo for the past 6 years, I couldn't fault the text's honesty and sensitivity. There are no easy answers to the Settlement versus Invasion debate. But that's no excuse to not tackle the issues.

I am not sure that your average teenager (or Older Reader - Youth, as categorised by the CBC) would be as absorbed by the text as I was, given my age and experience. More likely, this novel would be an excellent teacher resource for SOSE when dealing with the consequences of white 'settlement'. Excerpts could also prove invaluable for Legal Studies; issues such as The Intervention Policy and Land Rights are candidly tackled (minus the bleeding hearts).

I found it hard to select an excerpt. There is such a vastness to the scope of the text that I'd hate anyone to think the following is all that the novel offers. The context is that a Yolnu mum and her three children have just been denied access to a motel swimming pool. Rosie is with her boyfriend Nick and her Father, having a meal at said hotel. They have witnesses the conflict and Rosie's dad is not impressed:

     Nick knows how much I admire my dad, but I've never heard him lie about his opinions, and he doesn't start now. He says, "Well, they're different, for a start."
     "How are they different?"
     I hate dad at this moment. It seems like a carefully laid trap. I try to interject. "Can we talk about something else?"
     "In a sec, Rosie."
     Nick meets dad's gaze, head on. "I know what you're thinking, and it's not 'cause they're black. I'm not racist." He struggles to find the words. "It's just their culture... it's totally different to ours."
     "Everyone's different - the Tongans, Africans, Iraqis... "
     "Yeah, but they still live like us, in normal houses in town. Their kids all go to school. They want to learn English and get jobs.
     Like the true teacher he is, Dad says, "Well, let's deconstruct that-"
     I'm mortified. "Dad!"
     But he ignores me. "The housing thing for a start. I admit, most of the houses in Yirrkala..." He shrugs. "They're awful. They are. But there's twenty people living in some of them. And they're old. They were built when I was a kid... people aren't used to handling money-"
     "Yeah, and they waste it on booze."
     My inhalation is so short and sharp it's audible. I expect dad to explode, but he keeps his voice low and quiet. "And why do they do that? I mean, it's a massive generalisation but let's run with it. People who drink that much are trying to escape reality, or create a new one in their heads...They've had their whole way of living dismantled in three generations..." (pp. 211-2)

Nick argues the point. No doubt many of your/our views are expressed by him. But you'll have to read the book to see how it all pans out.
 

'The Protected' by Claire Zorn

From the start, The Protected delivered everything it promised: year 10 student Hannah, is trying to piece her life together after the tragic loss of her slightly older sister Katie in a freak car accident in the vicinity of her school. This is the beauty of good writing; that one can experience the unimaginable, and hopefully be a better, more empathic person as a result.
Aside from the damage wrought by the accident, the strongest theme of the novel, to my mind, is bullying and its effects. I have read, viewed, and heard countless 'bully' texts. In some ways I think I might have been feeling a bit de-sensitized, as in, build a bridge ffs (!!!) but The Protected was a powerful exposition of how devastating it is to be on the receiving end. I also applaud the way Zorn depicted the bullies. The are the lowest of the low, piranhas preying on the vulnerable:

'Shit, you're ugly.'
Canteen line. Recess. Tara curled her glossed lips.
'Maybe she's actually a guy,' Amy said. 'Are you a guy, Hannah? Do you have a dick?' (pp.80-1)

Or later, at a local party...

'Oh my God. Did you guys see that?'
'Yes.' Tara's mouth hung open. 'I can't believe you fully groped Amy.'
'You can't do that, Hannah! You little lezzo perve. Oh my God.' Amy held her hands up, shaking them like she'd touched something gross. Then she rushed out of the kitchen.
'Okay,' Tara said, giving me her best dead animal stare. 'You totally have to leave. Like, right now.'
(p.95)

The Protected is an easy read with realistic characters and cutting edge themes. The setting is mid Blue Mountains in Sydney's outer west. From my experience, it could be any school anywhere in Australia. No wonder the novel was shortlisted by the CBCA. I'm not sure my little blog has done the book justice as I haven't mentioned several other engaging elements of the narrative including the fact that the recently deceased sister was a bit of a bitch towards her little sister. I don't want to give too much away. Just to add, I highly recommend it! Nuff said :)

Miss ^--^

'The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl' by Melissa Keil

If you like art, especially of the cartoon/animation style, combined with the implausibility of a doomsday hoax from an unreliable media source, this book is for you. The protagonist – Sarah alias ‘Alba’ – uses her cartoon artwork in much the same way as a therapist would recommend keeping a journal.

My latest menu is a new style I’ve been experimenting with, sort of the wicked inventive layouts of the last X-23 meets the linework of Faith Erin Hicks, but with a palette of old-school Marvel colours, all reds and blues and limey greens. I’m trying out a new character in this one as well. Her hair is styled a bit like mine, with a thick eye-sweeping fringe, but instead of my longish brown boringness I’ve given her masses of red curls streaked with blue… She’s not supposed to be me, even though she dresses like me and has my height and, okay, maybe my solid thighs. I think she looks pretty kick-arse. (p.13) 

Sarah is a normal, if not introspective, girl who has just finished high school but is uncertain about leaving the comforts of her small town to pursue a dream of going to a city art school. The novel is mostly the unfolding of her wrestling with her fears, real or imagined.

The language used throughout the novel is simple, extremely colloquial teen speak. I found it a bit overdone, but that’s probably just my age showing… I found the pace too slow and the number of characters too confusing. There’s a romance curve ball that helped bring the story home, but other than that, I found Cinnamon Girls’ so-called adventures to be completely underwhelming.

Miss ^__^

the minnow - Diana Sweeny

Here is a copy of the book review I gave at the CBC (Children's Book Council) Brunch yesterday...

Good morning!

I’d like to begin my review with a question: Hands up if you would avoid reading a book which stated on the cover ‘…this is a book about abuse and loss and starting over.’?

Well I (too) would steer clear – by choice – from novels where the theme is abuse. Maybe it’s an age thing, given that I am a nanna as well as a teacher.

Diana Sweeney’s novel ‘The Minnow’ does not actually have the word ‘abuse’ on the cover. It uses the word ‘love’! Hmm, sneaky. A few more readers will probably give the book a chance as the cover declares that the book is about love, loss and starting over.

You can probably detect my bias by now – I didn’t warm to the story.

The protagonist, a 15 year old girl whose nick name is ‘Tom’, short for tomboy, has had a shocker of a start in life, losing her mum, dad and sister in a catastrophic flood. Her nan would have become her guardian if it weren’t for the fact that she’s living in an aged care facility. It is unclear why Tom ends up living with a man old enough to be her dad, just long enough for him to abuse her, both psychologically and sexually. But as luck would have it, Tom is soon able to leave him and move in with her best mate because all his family died in the same flood. He is in senior school and he’s been given the run of the family home. How convenient.

I recommend reading the book in one or two sittings tops, reason being, Tom spends most of her time talking to the ghosts of the dearly departed. And if that’s not confusing enough, she’s also quite savvy at talking to animals as well, particularly of the aquatic kind. Here’s an excerpt from when Tom visits her favourite pet shop:

All four carp are side by side, almost motionless, looking at me…

‘Oscar,’ I say, pausing for a moment so this comes out right, ‘why haven’t you told the others?’

‘There are carp and there are carp,’ he replies. ‘These three are sweet but uncommunicative. They’ll find me floating on my side in a couple of weeks and the only one who’ll grieve will be Mrs Blanket. This lot will just take it in their stride.’

‘And me,’ I say, ‘I’ll miss you heaps.’

‘And you,’ he says back.

I turn to walk out the door.

‘Tom,’ Oscar calls after me. ‘The police were here asking questions.’

‘Like what?’

‘Just stuff about your family.’

‘Thanks, Oscar.’

And then I think of something else. ‘Did they mention Dad?’

‘I don’t remember.’ (p.36)

So, in summary: Floods, abuse, dementia, restless dead and talking carp. ‘The Minnow’ wasn’t my cup of tea but at the end of the day, it’s all a matter of taste, isn’t it?