'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?