Fiction Age 10 up

UK Writers and Illustrator

Lucy and Stephen Hawking, illustrated by Garry Parsons George and the Unbreakable Code Doubleday  2014  $29.99pb 314pp

ISBN 978 0 8575 3326 5

Themes:  Computers/ Out of this world stories/ Outer space/ Series/ Staying safe on line/ The Universe

Something very unusual is happening to the world’s computers. Check-outs don’t work so supermarkets can’t charge for their food, aircraft are unable to take off and banks are actually handing out free money. George and his friend Annie (heroes of the three earlier books by the same writers) realise that some serious hacking has been going on and decide they must travel far into deep space to rectify the problems. This is far from a simple adventure story and is packed with amazing facts and theories about the beginnings of life on earth/ time in space/ mathematical laws and all written as an easy to follow and exciting story. This is not surprising when you realise the writers are Lucy Hawking and her father, Stephen Hawking who is Director of Research at the Institute of Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. He is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists since Einstein.  

Year 6 up/ Age 10 up

Young Adult Fiction

USA Writer

Jillian Cantor  Searching for Sky  Bloomsbury  2014  $19.99pb 278pp  ISBN 978 1 4088 4664 3

Themes:  California, USA/ Grandmothers/ Islands/ Love stories/ Survival

Sky who is sixteen, has lived alone on the island with River ever since her mother and stepfather died and she cannot imagine any other life. They forage for food together, curl up at night to sleep together and spend every waking hour in each other’s company. Then, one day a boat arrives and they are taken back to California where they were born and are separated. Broken hearted, Sky doesn’t even try to fit into her grandmother’s life style and spends her time searching for River. This is an absorbing and succinctly written book that keeps the reader guessing until the final (and really sad) chapter.

Year 8 up/ Age 12 up

Young Adult Fiction

Australian Writer

Jackie French  I Am Juliet  Angus & Robertson 2014  $19.99pb 207pp  ISBN 978 0 7322 9798 5

Themes:  Elizabethan theatre/ Love stories/ Romeo and Juliet  

Based on the famous and tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet, the book examines Juliet’s frustration as she comes to understand her whole life is going to be determined by other people who will force her into an arranged marriage from which there will be no escape. It also looks at a young actor, 13- year- old Rob, who was the first boy to play the part of Juliet on the Globe Theatre stage and his wonder at the power and beauty of Shakespeare’s words. Like most of Jackie French’s work this is a thoughtful book that many readers will enjoy simply for the compelling love story. Those who read through the notes at the back of the book may find themselves revisiting the play and being surprised at just how bawdy some of it is, written in an age when talking about and making jokes about sex was the norm. ‘Shakespeare’ says Jackie French ‘had far more freedom to write about his lovers than I do.’

In the same vein watch for Ophelia, Queen of Denmark (coming 2015) and Third Witch (2016)

Year 8 up/ Age 12 up

Board Books

NZ Illustrator

Dave Gunson

1 NZ Plants

2 NZ Seashore
New Holland Publishers  (NZ) Ltd 2014  $12.99hb   20pp

1 ISBN 978 1 8696 6419 0

2 ISBN978 1 8696 6420 6

Themes: Board books  

 
Forget the old board books with their pictures of teddy bears and fluffy kittens for a while. Here is something for the modern New Zealand baby (and his/her older brothers and sisters) showing realistic and to scale drawings of New Zealand plants and sea life. The books can be chewed, wiped clean and dropped from a great height to accommodate the very young and be used as an amazing field guide by older children with their immaculate and appealing images and their text (just the naming words) in English and Maori. The other two books in the series are NZ Bugs and Critters and NZ Birds  - Google for details.

Babies up

Fiction 9 years and up

NZ Writer  & Illustrator

Donovan Bixley

Monkey Boy

Scholastic NZ    2014  $17.99pb 288pp

ISBN 978 1 7754 3186 2

Themes: Comic books (part) Ghosts and ghouls/ Napoleonic Wars/ Storms at sea/ Warships 

 

Donovan - Source unknown

It is the year 1803 and Jimmy Grimholt is the youngest sailor aboard the warship HMS Fury that is bound for a bloodthirsty and blood curdling battle. This is a no holes barred account of Jimmy’s adventures (including being able to see the dead) and is not for a fainthearted child or conservative librarian or teacher***. Some of the incidents may remind the (older) reader of the early Peter Jackson splatter movies!  Told partly in comic book form and partly in text, it is a book that is fortunately well bound, as it will be well thumbed and poured over. My own copy was just stopped in time today from being smuggled out the door by a holidaying child.

*** Examine before buying.

Year 5 up/ Age 9 up

Picture Books

PUBLISHED JULY 4th 2014

USA Writer  & Illustrator

Lynne Cox, illustrated by Brian Floca 

Elizabeth Queen of the Seas

Schwartz & Wade Books, New York    2014  $29.99hb  40pp

ISBN 978 0 3758 5888 8

Themes: Animal–human relationships/ Animals in the city/ Avon River Christchurch/ Elephant Seals  

Based on real events, this is the story of Elizabeth, a large and persistent elephant seal who, in spite of being towed out to sea several times for her own safety, preferred to live in the Avon River, Christchurch and to even venture onto the road where the warm bitumen was to her liking. Soft watercolour illustrations give a nostalgic memory of Christchurch as it once was. It is doubtful that the American writer and illustrator would recognise much of the place they portray so gently and which makes this an important book to share with children.

Year 1 up/ Age 5 up

Young Adult Fiction

UK & USA dual citizenship Writer 

Patrick Ness  More Than This  Walker Books   2014  $29.99pb 478pp  ISBN 978 1 4063 5048 7

Themes: Afterlife/ Death/ Hope/ Isolation/ Reality

Seth is dead at seventeen, drowned at sea and his head smashed into a thousand pieces by being pounded on a rock but how can this be because suddenly he knows he is alive and breathing. He finds himself in an abandoned village that he realises is the place he lived in as a small child. This is a book that poses many questions, doesn’t try to answer too many of them and left me feeling somewhat disturbed but that I absolutely needed a sequel. While I understand the reasoning behind the rather blah book jacket it wouldn’t do much to lure in anyone with no knowledge of the writer. However to be fair, I wonder what else could have been shown that wouldn’t act as a spoiler?

Born USA October 17, 1971 Image: Guardian Newspaper

 It is written with such confidence (like all Patrick Ness’s works) that you are cushioned along for nearly 500 pages without wanting to stop.

Year 10 up/ Age 14 up (and adults)