Rue has learnt the secrets of healing and curses from her mother. We see her grow as the story jumps from slavery times to freedom times and what the weight of all her secrets and lies (and others) has on her life. You are transported to the south with the author’s use of language. It is not an easy read, there is no shying away from all the violence and cruelty and the fact that freedom did not instantly make things better.
Written in 1722, this is the fictional memoir of a woman born into poverty, and lead into a life of extreme wickedness before repenting and enjoying love and riches in her old age. I found it very interesting to read a book about the lower classes, and the lack of options, particularly for women. It is also a great adventure, full of amazing coincidences, much debauchery, and criminal high jinks.
Do you believe that spending time on art and music could lead humanity to destruction? And imagine living a life reduced to speaking only 500 words! Horror!! The icecaps have melted and the survivors are subsisting in a place called Ark where they blindly follow the rules of John Noa and punishment is banishment to the wilderness and starvation. Letta is the apprentice to the Wordsmith who has to reduce the permitted spoken words to 500, removing words such as hope, beauty and thank you, and then he goes missing. A desecrator named Marlo, who incites people against the laws, needs her help, and Letta begins to question her life. Letta’s world continues to change in the next book The last word. For readers 12 years+. And if you like this type of post-apocalyptic world I recommend Paolo Bacigalupi’s Ship Breaker series.
Three 13 year old girls, with different backgrounds and personalities, find themselves sharing a hospital room. They see something from the window that sets off a chain of events that changes them all. A thoughtful coming of age story, more middle grade than young adult, about privilege, strength, and being ourselves.
Bri Lee was an enviable young woman. She has a loving family and partner, plus a plum job as a judge’s associate. Behind the scenes, however, she was barely holding herself together, and her year of dealing with hideous court cases in regional Queensland gave her the impetus to deal with her own past. Not an easy, or pleasant, read, it is a moving story of the impact of abuse, the imbalance in the justice system, and the pain associated with speaking out.
If you know award-winning Australian comedian Magda Szubanski, you can imagine how much fun one of her children’s book characters will be. Timmy, a hot to trot Shetland pony, thought he was sooooo special, but really he was just a rude, lazy and cranky celebrity until he was upstaged by Tony the show pony. And then Timmy did a poo on Saffron’s hoof! Timmy has been brought to life by Australian comics artist, Dean Rankine, whose work has appeared in KidZone, Mania, Krash and Wacky But True. This is the beginning of a hilarious series for readers 7yrs+ that you might shudder at but your kids are going to roar with laughter. Trust me!
The family mystery is a favourite storyline for me and this one did not disappoint. Riley returns to the family home after the death of her father. It is while she is clearing out the house she begins to discover what the family has kept hidden from her, information related to her sister’s suicide. As Riley begins to uncover the truth we are taken back to the life of her sister. This dual storyline works well and I pieced most things together before Riley. I had to keep reading to see how it all ended as it included some heavy issues that I could not see being easily resolved. I didn’t totally enjoy the ending, but fit with the storyline.
What an emotional read! You may need to reach for the tissues. This is the story of a family dealing with secrets and tragedy. Lucy springs a wedding on the family that brings them all together – will they all be able to celebrate? The characters are real and you find yourself caring for them and looking for a happy ending.
This is a really sweet, contemporary, young adult romance. Steffi is 16, and has been struggling with select mutism and anxiety since she was five. Her best friend just left, and she is not looking forward to the year ahead, when a teacher introduces her to a new boy, who is deaf, as she speaks some sign language. It’s about the experience of anxiety, the complicated, messy world we live in, and the importance of real communication and self determination, wrapped up in a really sweet love story.
Majok Tulba’s earlier novel, Beneath the Darkening Sky, was about a boy forced to be a soldier in South Sudan’s rebel army. This book is the story of a boy too young for the rebels, who saw his town destroyed by the government, and was sent on a dangerous journey to a refugee camp. It is a moving look at a way of life lost in South Sudan, the horrors endured, including those within the refugee camp, and the deep bonds of friendship formed under these circumstances.
rrlreads 