Month: March 2021

Reviewed by Deepana, Year 10, Term 1, 2021

This one is ours by Kate O’Donnell is a novel about 16-year-old Sofie who is going on an exchange program to France. When she arrives in France from Australia,  her excitement and amazement dies down and now all she feels is homesick. As she navigates through developing her language skills and finding friends, political events start to come into the way, and Sofie realises the injustices that exist in France. With her host sister and her best friend from Australia, she sets out to try and make change. 

I loved how Kate O’Donnell has written this book, in a way that allows the audience to experience the emotions Sofie goes through, using emotive language and visual imagery. As a student learning French, the phrases and words used through the book have helped me improve my own French and educated me about French teenage culture. 

Age recommendation: I would recommend this novel for children 13 and above as it follows through with sensitive topics of injustice and political problems. 

Rating: 5 Stars as this novel was interesting, informative and has inspired me to try and make a change in our world.

Reviewed by Deepana, Year 10, Term 1, 2021

The time traveller and the tiger by Tania Unsworth is a novel about the injustice of animal cruelty. The main character, Elise, travels back from the present time to 1940’s India, to when her great uncle was just a boy. Elise stops her great uncle, John, from making a regretful decision of shooting a tiger when things start to go downhill and they both become lost in the forest. As she uncovers secrets and fights for justice, Elise makes friends and realises important lessons about the past. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot twists and engaging chapters but loved the few chapters which are written from the tiger’s point of view. It gives readers an interesting insight into the mind and behaviour of a wild tiger. 

Age recommendation:  I would recommend this book to children aged 11 + as some themes and description written about animal cruelty and mass slaughtering is sensitive.

Rating: 5 Stars as this book is an engaging novel about wild India and its mysterious and amazing wonders. 

Reviewed by Jennifer, Year 12, Term 1, 2021

The Gaps is a brilliant, heart wrenching novel that demonstrates the problems and difficulties faced by young women in our society. This is the first psychological thriller I have read and I was not disappointed. However, I did put this book down a few times initially due to its slow pace, but I found myself picking it up the next second as the story was compelling. It is about two girls, Natalia and Chloe, who are trying to find their lost friend, Yin.

Leanne Hall’s writing is engaging; demanding tears, fear and realisation from her readers. This is done brilliantly through her protagonists, Chloe and Natalia, as they desperately crave reassurance that their classmate, Yin, is safe after her unbelievable disappearance. 

The development of Natalia’s character constantly engaged me throughout. Her journey was displayed in a marvellous way, making readers despise her, love her and not knowing how to interpret her next. We also see young Chloe’s journey and how deeply struck she is by Yin’s terrible disappearance.

Together, both girls, completely different, embark on a fragile journey, trying to understand Yin’s circumstances as well as trying to raise awareness about race and privilege through multiple situations. I was captivated by Hall’s storytelling covering racial diversity and different genders and personalities. 

This novel is a vital read, as the psychological thriller is not only entertaining, but also a significant educator in this instance. I highly recommend The Gaps, not only to girls, but to boys as well to gain an understanding of the problems we face as a society. It was a complete eye opener. I loved this book and I give it 5/5 stars.

This is a book for mature readers. I would recommend it for senior high school students in Years 11 and 12.

Reviewed by Deeya, Year 8, Term 1, 2021

October lives in the wilderness with her dad. They know the rocks, the plants, the forest, the trees. Everything changes when October turns eleven. A woman who claims to be October’s “Mother” comes to take her to live with her in London after October’s dad falls from a big bushy tree and suffers a drastic injury. She doesn’t know anyone in London. October hopes her Dad recovers quickly so she can go back to her home, in the forest. Beautifully written “October, October” tells us about October’s world. It tells us how there are ups and downs in her relationship but she starts to make pleasant moments with her mother after spending a while together that she will treasure forever. Relationships can start as being complicated but as it goes on October starts to make wonderful memories. This book is about how we meet new people and develop relationships with parents, family and nature.  I would give this book five stars because it is one of my favourite books this year. I found it both stunning and incredibly moving. I’d recommend it to those who love the woods, and wild animals.

Reviewed by Audrey, Year 12, Term 1, 2021

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik is a novel filled with darkness and magic, set in a school with no teachers, no grades, no rules (sounds like a perfect school right?). A Deadly Education is set in the Scholomance, a school that both protects and exposes the students to the dangers of the outside world; mals (deadly creatures) and mana (the students’ power source of magic). Galadriel Higgins (or El) is the main character in the novel, a sassy and smart POC (half Indian, half Welsh) heroine and she’s a girl that needs allies for her survival at graduation. But, one of her many problems is that no one really likes her. To me, she seems like more of an anti-hero, compared to the stark opposite of her, Orion Lake, who is the actual hero character of the book. El’s relationship with Orion is one of the best parts of the book, showing an endearing dynamic amongst all the chaos.

A Deadly Education is a dark comedy with creative twists and an overall entertaining story. El slays the monsters hiding in the professor-less, creepy Scholomance, an ideal educational institution in a post-Corona world! If you are looking for a dark academia version of Harry Potter, this is the book for you!

Rating: Great book, 4/5 

Reviewed by Gretel, Year 11, Term 1, 2021

Garth Nix’s The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is a unique read filled with lovable characters and the exciting world of the booksellers. The story follows Susan, an art student in search of her father, into London where uncovering the secrets of her family leads her to discover the secrets of the mythic Old World. In her search for her father she meets Merlin, a bookseller with his own quest for answers. The booksellers, along with selling books, serve to police the Old World and as Susan learns their ways it becomes more and more clear that her father was involved in their world.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is a thrilling adventure as Susan uncovers the secrets of her true self and discovers new friends along the way. Susan’s character gives the story life and her relationship with Merlin, a charismatic left-handed bookseller, adds perfectly to their characters without taking away from the plot. This exciting story is for young adults, however I believe that older audiences would enjoy the read as well. 

Rating: 4 ½ stars 

Reviewed by Siena Mia, Year 10, Term 1, 2021

The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor is an adventurous and heartwarming story recapping the story of E.W Cole’s marvellous book arcade in Melbourne. The novel is filled with many fun puzzles, tricks and the most delightful characters who fill the narrative with such imagination and spark.

Set in the 1890s, the story follows the adventures of Pearl and Vally Cole, two of the seven Coles that own, create and live the wonders of Cole’s Book Arcade, noted as the Grandest Bookshop in the world. After the death of their sister, Ruby, the family feels that there has been a missing spark in their lives. It is not until the visit of a most strange and mysterious man – The Obscurosmith –  giving Edward Cole a chance to reignite that spark – but at a deadly cost. Driven by the prospect of reviving his daughter, Pa starts to feel unwell and so does, unexpectedly, the book arcade. It is up to Pearl and Valley to beat the Obscurosmith at his own game to bring Pa and their home back before the final bow of the rainbow fades and their memories of everything they ever loved does too.

The Grandest Bookshop in the World is an incredible novel with such a lovely moral of the building of family connections and dealing with the loss of a loved one. It is filled with many light-hearted moments, many funny plotlines, and the most amazing challenges and obstacles in a story. Each puzzle really captures the reader and I found it almost impossible to put the book down. The plot is very enticing and, overall, it is a fun and adventurous book that will have you hooked until the end.

Rating – Overall, I give The Grandest Bookshop in the World five stars out of 5.

Age Recommendation – I recommend this book to children aged 13+

Similar Reads – Novels that I found to be similar to this book are:

• Nevermoor by Jesscia Townsend
• Enola Holmes by Nancy Springer (for the mystery component)

Reviewed by Siena Mia, Year 10, Term 1, 2021

On a normal day of school, it is unlikely that you will be sent anywhere unusual or unseen. That is until Arthur, Ren and Cecily encounter a series of strange events, including the exploding of several garden gnomes. Their curiosity leads them to be whisked away to the Wonderscape, an enthralling game set in the year 2473. Here, they meet a number of unlikely historical characters, like a unicorn-slippered Isaac Newton, rally-car riding Tomoe Gozen and a zombified Mary Shelley. With the assistance of these heroes, Arthur, Ren and Cecily must battle through the different realms of the Wonderscape, defeating challenges to find the time key that will enable them to escape back to the 21st century. However, they must do this while escaping the leaders of the Wonderscape, Tiburon and Valeria who are also hunting down what they desire; the third time key, owned by their brother Milo. The three friends must find the final time key to go home before their 53 hours are up and they are forced to turn into universal slime.

Wonderscape is an adventurous and exciting novel by English author, Jennifer Bell. I found that once I picked the book up, I could not put it down. The mixture of time zones blew me away and encaptured me from page one. I loved the obstacles the protagonists had to face and the overarching lesson of making friends with people in an unlikely situation is really shown through Jennifer Bell’s storytelling. I also thoroughly enjoyed the play on the historical characters in a futuristic setting and how they handed down their knowledge to Arthur, Ren and Cecily really made it a fun and enjoyable book to read. The ideas of the whole world being a video game made it worth reading as I feel many younger readers will be able to connect with the problems faced by the characters.

Overall, I highly recommend Wonderscape to anyone intrigued about journeying through timeless lands and in love with history because this novel is full of it! Travel with Wonder.

Rating – I give this book 5 stars out of 5 for its creativity and ability to truly immerse the reader into a land of the unknown and excitement.

Age Guide – 12+ 

Similar Reads – The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum; Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.