Mal Peet's last book

UK Writers

Mal Peet (deceased) with Meg Rosoff

Beck

Walker Books 2016  $24.99hb 267pp

ISBN 978 1 4063 3112 7                                                   Themes: Black teenagers/ Canada 1900s/ Catholic church/ Depression USA 1900s/ Sexual abuse of children 

Beck was born as the result of a brief encounter between an African American soldier and a young woman from Liverpool in the early 1900s and spends his life trying to find his real place in the world. This takes him to Canada and to conditions even tougher than those he has left behind – including a spell in a Catholic boys’ boarding school and a trip across the whole Canadian continent. This is a painful (and graphic) story to read but the conclusion is something not to be missed. Meg Rosoff, a close friend of Mal’s, worked on his unfinished novel after his death at his request and the seamless result is a tribute to both of these amazing writers for young adults. In my opinion it would be very wise to be really sure of the maturity of the reader to whom I was recommending the book.

Mature readers only

Watch for Susan Price's first children's book - coming next week:

 

Mature Readers Only

Australian Writer

Michael Adams

The Last Girl

Number One in a Planned Trilogy

Allen & Unwin   2013       $24.99pb   384pp

ISBN 978 1 7433 1636 8

Themes:         Dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction/ Survival/ Telepathy/ Thought processes

Danby, sixteen, needs to get her small brother to the safety of her mother’s mountain retreat 100 kilometres from her present home in Sydney and she has to battle death and chaos to get there. The reason? Suddenly, everyone in the world can hear everyone else’s thought processes - everyone’s that is except Danby’s although she can hear theirs. It is total chaos and people unable to cope with the sea of voices buzzing in their heads begin to kill each other and themselves. This is not an easy read and is certainly not for the faint hearted or over imaginative. Parts of it I have to confess I found hard to understand but followers and enthusiasts for dystopian fiction will not have that problem. If I were putting it in a secondary school collection I would be wary of recommending it to readers I didn’t really know.

Year 10 up/ Age 14 up