Toppling by Sally Murphy, ill. Rhian Nest James, Walker Books Australia, ISBN 9781921529429
REVIEWED BY CELINE, 12, WA
Celine reviewed her own copy of this book.
I attended a Literature Centre session last term where Sally Murphy was teaching us how to write poetry. She showed us some of her books she had written, and this was one of them, so when they announced that they were selling some of Sally’s books, I jumped at the chance to buy my very own copy of Toppling.
John loves to play with dominoes; they are his passion. He plays with them in his spare time, and when his mother is not looking. Coincidentally, his best friend’s name is Dominic, which sounds a lot like domino. Dominic and John and have a group of friends, which consist of Joseph, Christian and Tran. They hang out together at school all the time, so when Dominic is suddenly sick, John, Joseph, Christian and Tran become very worried. Dominic has to go to hospital, and John and his friends have not seen him for quite a while. They hope he won’t pass away. Will John, Joseph, Christian and Tran ever see Dominic again?
This was a unique book, where the whole story was in verse. It is not rhyming poetry, but it was very entertaining, telling the story of a group of friends, and how they coped with their friend’s absence. I absolutely adored this book, and I felt so sorry for John, Dominic and their friends. I really hoped Dominic would get better soon.
I would rate this book 105%, and it is recommended to a very wide audience, especially people who have had a sick friend or family member.
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Celine is one of our regular book reviewers. Her most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of Pharaoh, the boy who conquered the Nile. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!
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