Review: Lazy Daisy

Jasper Horatio Wiggleby Clarke longs for a dog he can walk in the park.

This adorable man is rather short-sighted and extremely stuck on his dream.

So the loud noises he hears in the night can mean only one thing—a hilarious case of mistaken identity.

A dog that doesn't want to walk is unheard of, so Jasper does everything he can to inspire Daisy to get up and get moving.

The result is a heartwarming romp that includes a touch of the ridiculous.


Lazy Daisy absolutely nails both rhythm and rhyme. As a result, it's one of those rare read-aloud treats the whole family can enjoy.

But you'll have to read to the end to find out if Jasper Horatio Wiggleby Clarke ever achieves his dream of having a pet he can walk around the park.

Title: Lazy Daisy
Author: Caz Goodwin
Illustrator: Ashley King
Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont, $19.99
Publication Date: 1 March 2019
Format: Hard Cover
ISBN: 9781760500931
For ages: 3 years+
Type: Picture Book

Review: Wakestone Hall

Stella Montgomery's aunts decide she needs rules, retribution and discipline so they send her to what can only be described as the worst imaginable boarding school of all time.

Stella promises to be grateful and obedient, but she can't help it when mysterious goings-on compel her to investigate. Especially when the safety of her friends are at stake.

From a helpful alley cat and penniless children who search for scraps in dangerous underground tunnels to survive, and thuggish standover men at the local fair,  there's plenty of action.

Not only are there kidnappings and ancient fables that have more truth to them than anyone ever expected, Stella discovers there is danger within the school walls.

And there's a chance, a very tiny chance, that all her questions about her mother might be answered.

Review: The Stig

If you're looking for a Middle Grade thriller-mystery-comedy genre mash with a duffer of a dastardly villain, then The Stig is for you.

The story starts with Buster Mustang's unexplained kidnap and gets more intriguing by the page as the entire town disintegrates into computer game addicted almost-zombies.

With Sam Wheeler, a champion rider who refuses to get back on his bicycle, a bully who can only speak in spoonerisms and a height-challenged genius who uses spare parts from the junkyard, there's plenty of action.

Then there's the mysterious Stig, who appears when members of the Wheeler family are in dire need or when there's a big race to be won. He smells strange and never speaks. Is he even real?

Review: The Rift

Rachel Craw has created another absolutely gripping fantasy, but it's nothing like her Spark Trilogy, because The Rift could easily be set today on an island not too far away.

Although the Rangers of Black Water Island have mystical skills, this story is set solidly in the present when a large pharmaceutical company has a contract with the Rangers to harvest the island herd's antlers. The powder from these antlers, which has magical healing powers, is the company's only concern.

While the company pushes for more product, the rangers do their best to prevent the herd from being irretrievably diminished. They also have to protect their stock from supernatural predators that wait to breach the Rift.

Amidst an escalating crisis in which the Rift is being breached when it shouldn't, seventeen-year-old Meg returns to the island. Her only dream had been to become a ranger like her dad, but she was forced to leave after barely surviving a Rift creature attack when she was eight years old, an attack in which best friend Cal saved her life.

Review: Otherworld

Imagine playing a computer game where you physically experience everything through your own senses.

Ice cold winds? Your shivering is real. Delicious feasts? You taste every delicate flavour. This is the upside of Otherworld.

But the Company is trialling something new and it is breaking multiple laws in the process.

An unexpected number of serious accidents result in unprecedented numbers of 'brain dead' people who require long term care in a secure medical facility — a facility which happens to be owned by the Company.

These patients are clandestine guinea pigs. They might get to play out their fantasies in Otherworld where no laws exist, but one mistake could prove fatal. Literally.

Enter Simon, computer geek, madly in love with Kat, but unable to tell her.

Now watch as Kat is in a horrific accident and she is pronounced brain incapacitated.

Review: Undying

At the end of Unearthed, the first book in this duology, we left Mia and Jules on a rocket headed back to earth. But what should have been a live-saving return home was turning into every human's worst nightmare, multiplied exponentially.

Although the hundreds of individuals arriving via the rocket's portals have only one head and two proportionate arms and legs, they are taller and stronger than the average human and, it seems, bleed blue blood.

Jules and Mia take refuge in the rocket's air ducts, but their chances of survival are slim, especially when they realise almost every millimetre in these tight spaces is monitored by  movement sensors.

And it's clear heir hosts are not planning to give them a welcome party.

Will Jules and Mia make it back to earth in time to warn the authorities of the pending alien invasion?

Review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Nine-year old Oskar is still coming to terms with the devastation of 9/11 two years after it stole his father from him.

When he finds a key in a vase that must have belonged to his dad, Oskar decides that finding the lock it opens will give him the answers he needs.

But there are millions of doors and lockers in New York. Each tiny gain Oskar makes in his quest leads to more questions but Oskar isn't the kind of kid who gives up.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is heartrending, uplifting, funny and desperately sad.

Although this was officially published as adult fiction, Oskar's nine-year-old voice brings gentleness and humour to a gut-wrenching time of large scale grief and loss.

Review: The First Voyage

Thirty thousand years ago, on the island of Timor (known then as Bird island), a small group of people struggled to survive under the Crocodile clan's fierce attacks.

These members of the Yam clan had done nothing to aggravate the Crocodiles but that didn't help. Despite moving away, the Crocodiles were intent on hunting them down.

There was no option left but the sea. Without knowing they would find land for sure, the Yam clan put all their faith in a few small birds whose path they followed.

So began the first ever boat journey by people seeking refuge from murderous neighbours. Even after 30,000 years, the essence of the refugee story is unchanged.

Allan Baillie has a gritty way with words. He let me feel sand in my eyes, mud squelch between my toes and the pure dread that comes with facing towering waves in darkness on a raft of loosely tied bamboo poles.

Review: Mason Jar Science

Are you looking for last-minute gifts for energetic middle-schoolers? Look no further than this fun-packed DIY guide to science experiments.

Mason Jar Science provides easy-to-follow instructions for hours of home-based holiday fun. All you will need is a mason jar, or two or three and your pantry is likely to provide the rest.

Imagine making unicorn poop, stalactite strings and bug vacuums without having to venture into a science lab.

Would you like to know how to turn an egg into a rubbery blob that shrinks and expands?

The super adventurous can have a crack at the "Take it Further" tips for even more extraordinary results.

Review: Unearthed

The earth is dying. Despite the single child per family policy, there are no longer enough resources to support humanity.

The International Alliance's attempt to find another planet for mankind failed dismally more than sixty years ago so it looks like the world as we know it is doomed.

Until Earth intercepts an interplanetary communication from a now extinct race who call themselves the Undying. People not only dare to hope, they race to find this species' advanced technology.

But the archeologist who translated the original interplanetary message discovers a disturbing message within the message. He tries to warn the world but is discredited and taken into custody for his efforts.

Now scholars and scavengers scramble to be the first to reach  planet Gaia's 50,000-year-old temples. The scholars want to study this long-extinct ancient civilisation while the scavengers plan to strip whatever treasures they can get their hands on.

Enter Jules, the teenage son of the discredited archeologist, and Mia, a teenage scavenger desperate to raise enough cash to free her sister from bondage. The two should hate each other on sight but they both need to reach their goal and survive long enough to return home without letting the other know too much in the process.

Review: The Bogan Mondrian

Steven Herrick is one of my favourite YA authors. His gentle humour and vibrant characters bring both light and heart to difficult topics. If you enjoyed Love, Ghosts and Nose Hairs or The Simple Gift, then you won't want to miss The Bogan Mondrian. 

Luke wanders the bush and swims in the reservoir on the occasional school day. It's not that he hates school. His best mate, his only anchor, is there. It's just that he just hasn't recovered from losing his dad.

Rumours about why Charlotte moved to town are rife, but nothing is as it seems.

While Luke tries to come to terms with losing his dad, Charlotte dreams of one thing: getting rid of hers.

Review: The Fates Divide

If you thought Book one of Carve the Mark was a rollercoaster, you're in for a treat. The Fates Divide ups the ante then turns everything upside down.

A barbaric war about to consume every planet when Cyra's murderous father, the Shotet leader who was thought to be long dead, escapes from exile to wreak even greater havoc.

All that seemed sure in Carve the Mark crumbles, piece by piece.

Is it possible to escape your fate? What would be the consequences for the universe if you did? Can anyone overcome Lazmet's unconquerable current gift or is the universe doomed?

Where does all of this leave Akos and Cyra?

Review: Amal Unbound

Despite being a girl in a small Pakistani village, Amal dreams of becoming a teacher.

But she finds out the hard way that the smallest of incidents can derail dreams. And that life isn't fair. Especially when the local landlord uses his money and power to suffocate hope.

Amal understands there are rules in her world, but she doesn't always realise the cost she might face if she breaks them. Her belief in her rights leads to misfortune after misfortune.

Even when she recognises the dangers, her wish for freedom and justice push her to act, regardless of the consequences.

Aisha Saeed has created an authentic story about what could still be happening in remote Pakistani villages today.

By doing so, she let me feel the chill of absolute dread when Amal's landlord unleashed.

Review: Catching Teller Crow

Beth Teller has hovered near her dad ever since her car accident. She can't bring herself to leave until she knows he is okay.

Her dad is on a new case, one his boss hopes will bring him back from his overwhelming grief, but he needs Beth to help him put the pieces together.

A home for challenging children has burnt down. The kids are all safe but a body is found inside. Isobel Catching might know more than she is letting on but she answers questions by telling made-up stories. Or does she?

This enthralling tale swirls between life and death and the real and what is beyond as it explores innocence betrayed and those who are stuck.

It's creepy at times and borders on terrifying if you can read between the lines.

Review: Carve the Mark

I wanted to inhale in a single setting every detail of Veronica Roth's latest epic fantasy, where characters receive one or more gifts from the current that threads through their universe.

Roth creates new worlds so vividly that I felt I was in the Thuvhe temple and the palace-like Noavek manor.

Thirteen-year-old Akos lives in frozen Thuvhe where his father cultivates hushflowers, the lifeblood of the universe, and his mother, one of Thuvhe's three oracles, holds a position of power.

When Shotet soldiers invade their house, Akos promises his father he will bring his brother home just before his father is slaughtered. From that moment Akos lives for one thing alone – to fulfil his promise.

Review: Silver People A Tale From the Panama Canal

The world celebrated a monumental achievement at the opening of the Panama Canal in 1913 when part of the Amazon forest was flooded to make way for human commercial endeavours.

At that time and since, there's been no mention of the apartheid conditions workers were forced to accept.

There was no mention of the Cuban, Jamaican and many Latin American groups who worked as virtual slaves during construction, and there was certainly no acknowledgement of the many displaced species affected.

Margarita Engle gives the forgotten and the repressed their voices in the Silver People by inserting poetic snippets that encapsulate the characteristics of those who sometimes speak without words.

Margarita covers everyone and everything from trees, snakes and Howler monkeys to the local forest dwellers and the Jamaican, Cuban and 'almost white' groups who worked for silver while their white counterparts reaped gold.

Review: A Song Only I can Hear

Barry Jonsberg's Middle Grade Fiction is always full of heart. His novel, My Life as an Alphabet, had me brimming over with joy even as I wanted to cry for Candice, who was ridiculed for just being herself.

Now Rob in A Song Only I Can Hear is so adorable, I just want to hug all his fears and insecurities away.

It wasn't until I was more than two thirds of the way through the book that I realised Rob's fears were more than well-founded. His life had been sheer hell before I met him.

Even though quality LGBTQ stories have been emerging over the past few years, there has been nothing for the middle grader, but Barry Jonsberg has changed that forever.

With meticulous research and friends from the Northern Territory LGBTQ community to advise him, Barry has created Rob, a multi-dimensional protagonist who feels more like a really close friend than a character in a book.

Review: The Book of Answers An Ateban Cipher Novel

Gabe and his teenage friends remind me of Robin Hood and his merry men.

This band of junior renegades live in a similar era and they rob from the rich to help the poor.

They even face similar life and death situations, which include slipping through unopenable doors to save an innocent man from the gallows and trying to reinstate the rightful heir to the throne.

Gabe's mission of keeping the mysterious cipher book safe is an added complication.

Together, the friends race to a remote mountain citadel in the hope of finding a protector they can rely on. Instead, Gabe receives answers to questions he never dared ask.

Review: Juno of Taris

When you know nothing of the past and your future holds no promise, what is there to live for?

For Juno, the thought of growing her hair is enough.

Juno lives on the island of Taris, a last-resort experiment created when the Outside was on the cusp of destroying itself two hundred years ago.

To conform in Taris is to be a model citizen. To vary even the smallest detail of life, even a dance step, is to risk having those you love withdraw from you. Perhaps worse.

But eleven-year-old Juno can't help question the wisdom behind weekly head shaving. And what about the history of Taris? Why are there no stories of the community's origins?

As Juno grows, so does her unease with the Governance Companions who control every aspect of Taris life. For a start, why does Hilto, one of these illustrious leaders hate her so much?

Review: Jane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds

Jane is reasonably content despite the entire village calling her the Bringer of Bad Juju.

She's comfortable with the miserable life she and her dad eke out. Most of the time.

She's even reconciled to the fact she'll never meet her mother, never know what happened on the day her dad staggered down the mountain with Jane as an infant in his arms.

But then she is carted away to be sacrificed during the annual Manor Lament and her father disappears through the door at the top of that same mountain and Jane's distress triggers an earthquake.

Move over Indiana Jones. You're escapades seem trivial in comparison to Jane's.