When elephants fight : the lives of children in conflict in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda

Written by Eric Walters and Adrian Bradbury. Published Victoria, B.C. : Orca Book Publishers, c2008.

The title of this book is taken from an old proverb: “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers”: when the large fight with each other, the small bear the brunt. The stories of the five children presented here are witness to the truth of this proverb, and allow the reader to make a personal connection to the impact of war on children that is not possible through the news stories that bombard our television screens and newspapers. Each story finishes with a brief follow up that relates what has since happened to that child, and then provides an overview of the background to the conflict in their country. A powerful book which does not pull punches, but does demonstrate just how resilient the young and vulnerable can be in the face of these overwhelming experiences. Recommended for intermediate and secondary level.

Reviewed by Pamela

Friday Classic: See Ya, Simon by David Hill

See Ya, Simon by David Hill

Told from the point of view of his best friend, Nathan, this much loved novel looks at a year in the life of teenager Simon, who suffers from terminal Muscular Dystrophy. Simon is brave, but not at all saint-like. He experiences teenage anxieties and desires, like any other adolescent. This award-winning story is told with real humour (e.g. an hilarious wheelchair incident) but David Hill also imparts a very real sense of tenderness, as in Simon’s poignant question, “What’s it feel like to ride a bike?” I heartily recommend this book to any class from Year 7 upwards.

Reviewed by Carolyn Mooney

Who am I? The family tree explorer

Written by Anthony Adolph. Published London : Quercus, 2009.

Anthony Adolph is a British genealogist with a real passion for his chosen profession. He first became interested in his family history when he was 10 years old, and has made a career for himself in genealogy. His enthusiasm for the subject is truly infectious, and he seems to have just the right knack for engaging children in exploring their own links with the past. There has been very little published on this subject for children, and this book does a terrific job of filling the gap: attractively presented, liberally illustrated and generously sprinkled with activities. Recommended for primary and intermediate level. By the way, I even found out what “second cousin twice removed” actually means!

Reviewed by Pamela

Friday Classic: Underrunners by Margaret Mahy

Tris lives with his father, Randall in a partly finished pole house ...life is good; they cope as best they can on their own. Years before, Tris's mother drove off in the family car to seek her fortune in Australia. Tris has very few memories of her. Tris has a solitary life - he is sometimes bullied by the Morley boys and Sylvia, one of his classmates, is always asking him when she can visit his house. The time Tris spends alone - he has created an imaginery world where he and an intergalactic secret agent called Selsey Firebone have many adventures.

Interwoven into this story is Tris's sudden meeting with Winola from the nearby Featherstonehaugh Children's Home and their continued adventures together. There are underrunners - a vast network of tunnels beneath the tussocky grass near his home. Winola hides out in one of the underrunners because Winola has a menacing character, who, she claims, is out to get her. Tris thinks it is one of Winola's stories but suddenly both are kidnapped at gunpoint and driven off to an unknown fate.

The underrunner tunnels are spooky and appear safe but are liable to collapse without warning, just like life can have unexpected ups and downs. This is a fast-paced narrative with good descriptions of the landscape, people and the imaged world that Tris has created. It would be enjoyed by year 6 plus.

Reviewed by Fiona Tags: New Zealand fiction year4-6 year 7-9

When good cats turn nasty

Gary Crew’s Cat on the Island is a shocking book, and shockingly effective. It tells the famous story of the Stephens Island light-house keeper who took his cat with him for company in his lonely job. The cat was pregnant, and within the two years between 1894 and 1896, it and its offspring totally obliterated the world’s only population of flightless wrens—tiny birds that had previously known no predators.

This is still the only instance in the world where a single species has been made extinct by another single species, a feat that even man has not (directly) achieved.

The story is told by a sad old man, son of the original light-house keeper, to his grandson.
‘Nothing comes back when it’s extinct’.

When I saw the tears in his eyes, I knew that extinct really does mean forever.

Gillian Warden’s striking illustrations depict the cat, aptly, as a bloodstained alien, reminiscent of something out of Roswell. Taken somewhere it did not belong, it naturally acted as any cat would in the presence of an obvious and defenceless prey. The removal of much of the island’s vegetation during the building of the light-house added to the tame little birds’ woes by leaving them nowhere to hide.

Cat on the Island is a Sophisticated Picture Book with an important message. Younger children may find the pictures alarming, but used with discretion, it could get this message across to a wide age range.

Reviewed by Cecily Fisher

Published by Angus and Robertson

Here is a list of picture books about Recycling and Conservation

Guys Lit Wire - books for boys

In their own words "Guys Lit Wire was created after a broad discussion among YA bloggers within the lit blogosphere about the lack of books for teenage boys"

If you are tearing your hair out looking for inspiration for 'that book' then you might want to look at Guys Lit Wire.

There are several books on here that sound like really good reads - how does one keep up?

Flickr image by newton free library

Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud

The best adventure/fantasy I have read this year from a master story teller who has already achieved public acclaim for his Bartimaeus trilogy.

Set in a valley surrounded by mountains in which twelve Houses live in peaceful harmony due to a commonality of history cum myth and legend. Each house has it's founding Hero and the legends and history of each house portray their own founder as the main hero of all of the valley. Long ago the Heroes fought a major battle against The Trows (trolls) at Battle Rock and won but all perished in battle and their bodies in full battle kit now guard the boundaries of their land against future Trow invasions. After this battle the descendants decided to banish war and all weapons were destroyed but the Viking culture which all the Houses have in common, still tell of heroics in battle and violence is never far from the surface.

The story is centred in the House of Svein, in which an unlikely hero, Halli, a runt of a boy who is 14 years and adores the legends that he has grown up with. So much so that he wants to recreate it all and this precipitates all the action, and there is action aplenty. The female hero is an older girl called Aud, from another House and she spurs Halli on to greater heights than he ever thought possible.

Before the start of each chapter there is a legend of Svein which are repeated in the action of the book. It is these legends that dictate everything that this community does, the places they live and the people they love and hate. Halli led by Aud challenge all of this, as the young always do, but perhaps it is all true after all.

This is a brilliant read for lovers of adventure/fantasy and Stroud is a master writer ensuring that the fantasy doesn't tangle with the adventure too much.

Intermediate and secondary students will love this book but adults should give it a go too. You will be impressed.

Reviewed by Bob

Published by Doubleday (2009)

The Last Free Cat by Jon Blake

This book is for all you cat lovers out there.

The setting of this book is a world controlled by a powerful company with a powerful dictator in which people are closely controlled in a similar way to George Orwell's 1984. The big difference is that cats have been banned except for those sanctioned by the State and the value of each legal cat is over $100,000. To scare people off, propaganda tells the people that cats are carriers of HN51, a cat flu that can kill. Very few people have even touched a cat and their mystique grows. One day Jade, a teenage girl finds a cat in her backyard and keeps it under penalty of death to her mother if she is discovered. The inevitable happens and Jade flees on the road with the cat Feela, and a teenage boy Kris, trying to get to Ireland where cats are still allowed. The adventure of the escape is breath taking and the ending will surprise you and have you thinking long after you have finished.

Issues of state control, the right to protest and the simple pleasure of keeping a cat are covered in this very readable novel for intermediate and secondary school students.

Reviewed by Bob

Published by Hodder Children's Books (2008)

Grace by Morris Gleitzman

Morris Gleitzman would have to be one of the best writers of Children's fiction writing today. With his latest offering he utilises his insightful talents to dissect a religious cult that has to deal with a rebellious and free thinking young girl, Grace.

Grace loves her family and has a special relationship with her father who has always taught her to true to herself. The family belong to a religious cult that seems to be confused over the difference between the word of God and the word of man. When Grace shows independent views in her class work at school the Elders of the Cult, including her maternal grandfather, blame the father then dismiss the father from the Cult and forbid him to see his wife and family. Grace has to do something and gets herself into a right pickle as Gleitzman uses his Biblical knowledge to telling effect.

Brilliantly told in language that is very accessible to children and structured to appeal to the most reluctant of readers. He explains the issues in simple terms and uses humour to disarm even the most hostile of situations.

Will have wide appeal with readers from middle school through to junior secondary.

Reviewed by Bob

Published by Viking (2009)

Brother Sister Soldier Cousin by Phyllis Johnston

Phyllis Johnston once again uses her successful formula of putting a feisty young girl into a period of New Zealand history, this time 1943 the middle of World War 2, an tells of what it was like to live through this period of time.

Helen or Lenny as she is known, lives on a North Island dairy farm and has a horse called Ginger who she rides to school everyday. She has a brother who returns home from fighting Rommell in the desert, a sister who falls for an American Serviceman in New Zealand and a mother and father who love her dearly. But there is a family secret that Lenny has to contend with along with some grief and some joy.

This novel is very good for comparative lifestyles of yesterday's girls compared to today and of course a portrait of New Zealand when everybody believed the Japanese were just over the horizon ready to invade.

A very enjoyable story aimed at intermediate and junior secondary students.

Reviewed by Bob

A resource kit for this book can be found on the Longacre website

Published by Longacre (2009)

One world, one day

by Barbara Kerley. Published Washington, D.C. : National Geographic, c2009

63 photographs and 210 words are all Barbara Kerley has used in this outstanding picture book to show just how much children all around the world,from vastly differing cultures, have in common. The patterns and rhythm of an ordinary day – getting up, going to school, playing, helping around the house, eating, enjoying family time, going to bed – are all captured here in rich images and economical text. A book for any child (and anyone who has been a child) to enjoy. For those whose curiosity has been sparked by the photographs, there are notes on each one at the back of the book.

Reviewed by Pamela

The Other Hand by Chris Cleave

This very powerful book will shock you, overwhelm you and will monopolize your every moment till you have reached the last page.

The story that seems to begin in an immigration detention centre in Britain, actually emanates from events that occur on a beach in Nigeria…. and that is all I am going to tell you about the book. Anything more will spoil the suspense that unfolds as you read the book.

Author Chris Cleave is a true wordsmith. His writing is both erudite and expressive. I cannot wait to read his previous book called ‘Incendiary’.

Critically acclaimed, The Other Hand has won high standards of recommendation for its literary merit and storyline. It has all the elements required for wider reading at the senior secondary level.

Reviewed by Janice Rodrigues

The Diary of Laura's Twin by Kathy Kacer

It is not uncommon in New York for a young girl approaching her Bat Mitzvah (Bar Mitzvah is for boys) to be twinned with a child of the holocaust so that she can understand the horror that was the Holocaust.

Laura is given the diary of Sara Gittler a girl of Laura's age who went through the Warsaw ghetto and was later taken to Treblinka with her young sister Hinda. Sara Gittler's story is written in diary form that Laura reads while living her own life leading up to her Bat Mitzvah. The contrasting lives, hopes and aspirations of both girls gives drama to the story and adds a novel dimension to the Holocaust story which should be remembered for ever.

A stunning story that will move and surprise the most cynical of readers. A very good follow up story to Once by Morris Gleitzman and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. Suitable for intermediate and junior secondary students.

Reviewed by Bob

Published by Allen & Unwin (2009)

Hippie Chick by Joseph Monninger

A truly amazing and believable story of survival featuring a 14 year old girl and three sea mammals called manatees that Christopher Columbus's men thought were mermaids.

Lolly loves to go sailing but one night she has an accident in the Gulf of Florida and goes missing for three days. When she is rescued by helicopter she is found in the company of three manatees. This is the story of Lolly's ordeal and rescue and the debt she owes to the manatees.

If you like animal stories you will love this one and even if you don't, you will learn something of survival. The ending is excellent with a pertinent Afterword from the author.

Suitable for intermediate and junior secondary school students.

Reviewed by Bob

Published by Front Street Press (2008)

‘Blast: Pat Hanly – the painter and his protests’ by Trish Gribben.

This beautifully illustrated and well-presented book is a vibrant riot of colour, and a celebration of Pat Hanly’s life in images. In a concise manner, the author describes Hanly’s involvement in the protest movement, and his imagery protesting the threat of nuclear war and nuclear testing by the French in the Pacific. In the 1970s he was an active member of the Peace Squadron, which was formed to stop visits by nuclear-armed warships from entering New Zealand waters.
The subject matter is put into context against the background of Hanly’s life, and includes a discussion of the development of his art and style, as well as the meaning of the different icons he forms as a language to illustrate his work.
Each page includes a question for children to answer from careful observation of the accompanying paintings. A timeline of bomb blasts and warfare is included in the back, along with a brief biography.
Over all, this title would be a valuable addition to any collection of art books for children, and a must have purchase for schools. Suitable for Year 5 through to Year 9.

Published by Lopdell House.

By Suzanne Hardy

Pharoah's Boat

Written and illustrated by David Weitzman
Boston : Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2009.

The Great Pyramid at Giza is easily the most well known symbol of Ancient Egypt. Far less well known is the great wooden ship that lay buried at the pyramid’s feet for millenniums before being discovered, excavated, restored and reconstructed over decades of painstaking and meticulous work. The vessel had been buried according to custom in dismantled form, with all its separate components ready for the great Pharaoh Cheops to put together for his voyage to the afterlife. The daunting task of reconstruction was described by the director of the project as “like trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle without having the the picture on the box.” Master author/illustrator David Weitzman has once again put his exceptional talents to outstanding use. His book is a fitting tribute to the craftmanship of both the ancient Egyptian boatbuilders, and the 20th Century archaeologists who followed in their steps.

Reviewed by Pamela

Friday Classic: Deadly Prospect by Fleur Beale Published by Scholastic (2000)

Fleur Beale is without doubt one of our most versatile and engaging writers. She has produced stories appealing to girls - Lacey and the Drama Queens/Lucky for Some, and books that are fantastic for boys, even reluctant readers - Slide the Corner, Driving a Bargain and this book, Deadly Prospect.

Lincoln MacKenzie doesn’t really rate motocross – until one day a friend takes him for a ride on the back of his bike. After that he can’t stop talking about it. He saves up for his own bike, gets good advice and becomes obsessed with the sport. His parents are not happy about it, but since his father is miles away, Lincoln doesn’t care. Then troubles begin – troubles with his parents, with his brother and worse, he has to accept advice from a girl!

Recommended for year 5 and up.

Reviewed by Beth

flickr image by david.ian.roberts

Extreme scientists: Exploring nature’s mysteries from perilous places

By Donna M. Jackson Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2009

Why would anyone want to fly a plane into the eye of a hurricane? What would entice a young woman to explore a deep treacherous underwater cave? How would anyone climb a redwood tree that has no sturdy branches below the height of a 25-story building?
This title uncovers the working lives of 3 extreme scientists, investigating what they do, why they do it, and what it was that first roused their interest in such work.
Each story is followed by a series of quick questions answered by the scientists.
An interesting read accompanied by enthralling photographs.

Learn more about the author and her books at her website http://www.donnamjackson.net

Reviewed by Melva

The Most explosive science book in the universe by the Brainwaves

Author Claire Watts and illustrators Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar. Published by Dorling Kindersley, 2009

Have some fun with science. This fascinating title is a blend of cartoon characters, mind challenging puns and serious scientific facts.
Each page opening deals with a segment of science, explaining key ideas and concepts in clear concise paragraphs. The Brainwaves, small cartoon characters, weave their way through the pages, interacting with the themes that are introduced and with each other.
The cartoons may distract some readers, but for the keen scientist this would provide a fun way to learn about, or revise, the key ideas of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. A good book to browse in the library or at home on a wet weekend.

Other books in this series from DK and the Brainwaves are
How nearly everything was invented
How the incredible human body works
The most stupendous atlas of the whole world.
and another due out later this year The Greatest intergalactic guide to space ever.

Reviewed by Melva

Friday Classic: Once were warriors by Alan Duff

“Once were warriors” by Alan Duff. First published in 1990 Duff’s iconic book centres around the Heke family - Jake, Beth and their five children. Each of these characters is trapped in the experience of the disenfranchised, the unemployed, gangs, drugs and violence. Caught in this poverty trap in a run down suburb surrounded by an indifferent Pakeha society, Beth, struggles to keep her dysfunctional family together in grimly realistic circumstances.

Each member of the family handles their lot in different ways - the men drink and crime is a normal part of their life. Beth turns her abuse into a catalyst to escape, save her remaining children from harm, and rediscover the traditions of her Maori culture.

The writing is gritty and the language authentic and given the adult subject matter Once Were Warriors is only suitable for senior secondary students and adults.

Suzanne Hardy

Quaking by Kathryn Erskine

I have just caught up with this novel and am glad I did, although it took me a while to get into it.

This is the story of a 14 year old girl who is feisty, intelligent and a Goth, but has the behaviour of a whipped dog. She has had a sorry past and is mistrustful of everybody she meets. After many unsuccessful attempts to place her in a family that she can thrive in, Matt, real name Matilda but don't say it to her face, is placed with Jessica and Sam and their young baby Rory. They are Quakers and are Peacenicks at the time of the American War with Iraq when opposing the war was seen as Un-American. As time passes and Matt relates at school to a strongly biased teacher, her past life begins to unravel with Jessica, Sam and Rory helping her at every turn.

A very satisfying story which will appeal mainly to high school girls but I'm a lad and I really enjoyed it.

Reviewed by Bob

Published by Philomel Books (2007)

The Toymaker by Jeremy de Quidt

This is a tale by a master storyteller, one that has more twists and turns than a politicians speech, and one that will keep you reading long after you think you have had enough.

Mathias and his grandfather have joined a rundown circus and made it their lives for as long as Mathias can remember. His grandfather always wears a white-painted face to hide his identity and the question is Why? After his grandfathers death Mathias is purchased by a rich man with a silver topped cane who is eager to find something that the grandfather had, but what?

The adventure that follows is amazing and I was reminded of Cornelia Funke's series that began with Inkheart. The key to this story lies in the Prologue as the plot will keep you guessing until the end.

Great adventure, great imagination, you would be mad to dismiss this story. Suitable for Intermediate and secondary school students. It would make a great read-aloud too.

Reviewed by Bob

Published by David Fickling Books (2008)

See also Philip Ardagh's review from The Guardian

Teach your granny to text & other ways to change the world

Written by Tanis Taylor and 4,386 children (more or less)
Walker Books, 2008

Have you heard of “We are what we do”? It’s a social change movement with a very simple but powerful philosophy: small actions x lots of people = Big Change! “We are what we do” are the creators of this quirky, original book. It offers 30 small actions that just about anybody can do: things like walking your dad, loving your old stuff, not charging your cellphone overnight. You would have to be the world’s grumpiest pessimist not to finish the book with a smile on your face and a feeling that yes, you can make a difference!
Check out their website http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/ for even more inspiration.
Recommended for primary, intermediate, secondary, teachers, parents, and just about everyone else!

Reviewed by Pamela