The Riding Gallery by Sally Murphy, illustrations by Martina Heiduczek, Walker Books Australia, ISBN 9781760657345
REVIEWED BY AASHI, 10, VIC
Alphabet Soup provided Aashi with a review copy of this book.
The Riding Gallery is a beautiful book that is written in verse. It is historical fiction with poems that bring it to life. The book, written by Sally Murphy, is set in St Kilda. St Kilda is a busy place, in Melbourne, that is right by the sea shore. When you read the book you can almost feel the sand grind between your feet, and the sea roar.
The book features a German engineer, Anton, with a dream. His dream is to build a steam powered merry-go-round. He works on it day and night, carving wood and painting the horses. As he works on it, he realises not everyone trusts him since he’s German.
Evelyn, is the daughter of a newsagent. She wrinkles her nose when her dad tells her they are moving to St Kilda. She is quite reluctant to move to St Kilda untill she hears that her neighbours have a son, her age.
There is also a boy named Rory. He is Evelyn’s neighbour. Rory has a hard time choosing what is right. He wants the Allies (Australia’s side) to win especially because all three of his brothers are fighting. Rory also thinks all Germans are bad, unlike Evelyn.
Soon Anton’s ride is complete. At first, everyone is excited about the new ride. But when the war starts, things change. People get scared. They think Anton is bad, even though he has done nothing wrong. Evelyn tries to understand. Rory feels confused and worried about his brothers. Some people are still kind, but others are not.
Will Anton’s ride become a hit or go down in flames? Will Rory’s brothers make it home? Will Evelyn find friends?
The book is beautifully written. It gives insights for all the characters and their feelings. The pictures by Martina Heiduczek give a great visual interpretation. I would recommend the book for anyone in upper primary school.
Dorothy raised the key to the lock, but the door creaked open before she could insert it.
When ten-year-old Dorothy opened the door to her new home, she also opened the door to a new adventure at 11 Ruby Road. Dorothy insisted to everyone that the door opened by itself which made her feel curious, but no one in the family seemed to pay attention. She had a vivid imagination and was always noticing minor details.
This book is about Dorothy and her family moving from a farm to the city, Brisbane, also known as the new Sydney. Starting school, Dorothy already knew it was not going to be easy. Will she enjoy her new life there?
I am impressed that Dorothy is determined and tenacious. She is an inspiring person to me because she is always eager to share what is right and to include others. I rate this book 10 out of 10 because it grabs my attention and is thought provoking. This book shows how much a little 10-year-old can do.
Outlaw Girls by Emily Gale and Nova Weetman, Text Publishing, ISBN 9781922790231
The publisher provided a review copy of this book.
Outlaw Girls is a great adventure story by Emily Gale and Nova Weetman. It is about two girls. Ruby, who only trusts her closest friends and family, and Kate, a sibling of Ned Kelly who lives in 1878. These two girls are up for an adventure and are ready to break the rules.
Ruby and her friends shoplift chocolate bars regularly. Kate brings supplies to her brother, Ned. When a surprise comes to Kate in the mountains, their two worlds collide. Kate does not want trouble when she meets Ruby so she lies about her identity. As these two girls become friends, they realise they share a common interest: horse riding. They soon are bound to a ride of friendship, courage, and adventure.
Outlaw Girls takes you through the interesting lives of Kate and Ruby. It is interesting to see how they live more than a hundred years apart yet share similarities. This book is never dull and keeps you on your seat. I highly recommend Outlaw Girls to anyone who enjoys adventurous and heartwarming stories. The bond of friendship that develops between Kate and Ruby is truly inspiring, and the way their lives intertwine despite living in different periods is fascinating.
The authors – Emily Gale and Nova Weetman – have created an exciting narrative that keeps readers engaged from start to finish. The themes of courage and adventure are beautifully woven into the story, making it a must-read for anyone looking for an exciting and adventurous story.
Jack’s Island is a short novel by Norman Jorgenson featuring a boy named Jack. Along with his friends Banjo and Dafty, Jack finds himself causing mischief on their small island village off the coast of Australia during World War II. One day, whilst exploring near the cliffs, Jack and Banjo stumble across a Japanese helmet and a rifle. Could this discovery be the invasion they have been anticipating? With Pearl Harbor already bombed just north of their tight-knit island, they possibly face a dangerous situation.
The book is hard to put down due to its ability to capture the reader’s attention and hold onto it for the duration of the book. The characters from the Japanese soldier to trouble-maker Jack, adds an engaging storyline for the readers. Because of this, I confidently rate this book 4 stars out of 5.
I would recommend this book for children ages 8-12 as it is a fun read and suitable for their reading level.
Emily Gale writes for children and for teenagers – you might know her novels I am out with Lanterns and The Other Side of Summer. Nova Weetman also writes for children and teenagers and you might have read some of her books, such as The Secrets We Keep and Sick Bay. Emily and Nova previously collaborated on Elsewhere Girls. Their latest book collaboration is Outlaw Girls, the second co-authored book by these authors. We’re thrilled to chat to them about Outlaw Girls today.
Emily GaleNova Weetman
The publisher provided Alphabet Soup with a reading copy of Outlaw Girls.
From the publisher:
Kate and Ruby live in the High Country in Victoria. They’re both daring, quick-thinking and prepared to break the rules, and they’re both brilliant horse riders –they’d probably be great friends. But they live in different times, 145 years apart.
Two authors, one novel. How do you go about writing a story when there are two writers?
Nova Weetman: Outlaw Girls is a blend of historical research and fiction, so for the research part we spent several months visiting the sites of our ‘real’ character Kate Kelly and learning all that we could about her. Because Kate was Ned Kelly’s sister there was a ton of material to read and study.
We each wrote one character: Emily wrote Kate and I wrote Ruby. Before we started writing the chapters, we had to develop our own characters as well as plotting the entire book as a partnership. I started the Ruby story, then I sent my chapters to Emily and she wrote some of the Kate story, and then we went back and forth like that all the way to the end, giving and receiving chapters. Then we did the editing to make sure it flowed well. It’s important that the main story works but also that each character has their own storyline with its own satisfying ending.
Ned Kelly is a familiar name for most Australians. Can you tell us a bit about how you went about your research for the character of his sister? Did you both collate information?
Emily Gale: We did loads of research, all different kinds. Nova already knew a bit about Kate Kelly but I didn’t so I was starting from scratch. I read or listened to a lot of books. I looked in the index of even more books to see if they mentioned Kate and I read all of those bits too. I watched all the Ned Kelly movies, listened to podcasts, read books about horses, watched YouTube videos about young people taking care of their horses or going riding, and read old newspapers from 1878 on the website Trove, where it’s easy to look up articles from the past.
Then I made a Google Doc of all my research and shared it with Nova so that she could add to it.
A fun part of the research was going on the train with Nova to The Kelly Gang areas in Victoria. We saw the old chimney which is all that is left of the house where Kate Kelly grew up, and we walked around Glenrowan where The Kelly Gang came to an end.
If you could time-slip to any time in history, what year would you choose?
Emily Gale: If I could guarantee that I could come home any time I would take a quick trip to ancient Italy, the first century AD, when the Romans had a time of not fighting anyone – it’s a period called Pax Romana. It would be very smelly, and I wouldn’t like to be a slave forced to participate in gladiatorial games, but I think it would be incredible to go that far back in time.
Nova Weetman: I’d like to take a whirlwind trip through important historical moments, watching them like an eagle from above and then time slipping into the next one once all the drama was complete. I’d meet Cleopatra, visit the Colosseum to watch a gladiatorial battle, and eat Marie-Antoiniette’s cake.
What you are both working on next?
Emily Gale: I am working on a new story which instead of going back in time goes forward a generation. I’m only halfway through it so I can’t say much more but it’s interesting and challenging to make myself think about the future instead of the past.
Nova Weetman: I have just delivered the first draft of a new middle grade novel that is much lighter than the books I usually write, and I’m also working on a middle grade graphic novel with illustrator Renee Treml.
Do you have a tip for young writers who’d like to collaborate on a story?
Emily Gale: It helps to plan your story a little bit first so that you both know where you’re going. But you don’t have to plan every detail and it’s amazing when a story takes you somewhere unexpected, so you should both stay open to that. Choose a story idea that you are both very passionate about and listen to each other’s ideas carefully. If there is something the other person has written or suggested that you don’t like, you must be careful about how you say this: be very kind to each other always and don’t forget to tell them the things that you love about their writing – encouraging each other will get the most out of collaborating.
Nova Weetman: I think you need to be in agreement about how long and how complicated the story is before you start. It’s important that you are both thinking about the same sort of genre and tone, and that one of you isn’t imagining a murder mystery while the other is writing a romance. Have some really honest discussions before you start so there are fewer surprises when you begin to write.
Outlaw Girls is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop, library or order online.
Lizard’s Tale by Weng Wai Chan, Text Publishing, ISBN 9781925603910
Gabriel received a copy of this book to review.
Lizard’s Tale is written by Weng Wai Chan and is set before WWII in Singapore, featuring a young boy named Lizard and his best friend, Lili. Lizard’s guardian, Uncle Archie, disappears without explanation. As an orphan, Lizard barely scrapes by as he has to buy food and rent a tiny apartment, so he does odd jobs for random people and theft for Boss Man Beng.
Lizard had almost choked on his noodles. One hundred dollars! Nearly one year’s worth of rent and food.
Lizard had just got himself the dream job. All he had to do was to steal a teak box from the Raffles Hotel which belonged to a British army visitor and deliver it to the train station at 10pm. Otherwise, he would expect the worst. It couldn’t be that hard, could it?
Lizard soon dives into a world where conspiracies and secret codes thrive, buzzing around concerning the next war. How will Lizard deal with all these problems, especially since his best friend isn’t who he thought she was? Can Lizard reveal the plot in time and save his friends and other people he loves? Will he be able to succeed in foiling his enemy’s plan by himself?
I recommend this book for preteens or young kids who love history and exciting adventures. I would rate this book 9/10 as there are great themes and it’s also a family friendly book. You can find this book online on Amazon as a kindle copy or a paperback, or even in your local bookstore. Have fun reading!
World War I has ended. Twelve-year-old Natalie is outraged at her mother, Ffion, who was fired from work and is a month overdue on rent. On top of that, they are moving away to Ysgol Ynysfach, to her uncle’s smallhold. Her mother is an advocate for the underdog but she gets herself into trouble. Natty meets her cousins Nerys, who is a know-it-all and Huw, a seventeen year old, who was in the war. In the park, Natty meets two other war veterans, Johnny and Charles. Johnny has lost his memory, known as hysterical fugue, and the doctors tried everything they could think of to help him. Natty wants to help. But how can she?
I enjoyed this novel because I can relate to Natty and how she feels emotionally and personally. It also shows the growth and development of Natty’s mind and beliefs. The author relates to the audience, making it personal, bringing the story to life. As it is a historical fiction novel I really appreciated getting an inside view of the lifestyles back then.
In this captivating book, follow Natty’s adventure in finding her purpose and her confidence. I rate this five out of five, for ages 9 to 15.
The Rat Catcher’s Apprentice (by Maggie Jankuloska) is a gripping novel about a young girl, Marie, sent to catch rats during the Middle Ages, where the plague was always near.
I really enjoyed reading this book because it shed a light on what children would have to deal with during an epidemic in a time where beliefs and technology were so different from today. I also think this book is very relevant to today and was easy to relate to because we are dealing with a similar problem as Marie.
I think this book would be suitable for 10 to 14 year olds, but could be enjoyed by older people too. Out of five stars, I would give this book a four.
REVIEWED BY KATE, 11, WA (IONA PRESENTATION COLLEGE)
Mel and Shell by Julia Lawrinson, Fremantle Press, ISBN 9781760990725
The publisher provided a review copy of this book.
Mel and Shell is a book about friendship, laughter, friendship problems and of course ABBA. This book is set 40 years ago when the world was obsessed with the sensational band ABBA.
In this book Shell and her classmates are writing to a pen-pal from 1829 about their day, what they would be surprised about and what they would like.
Another character in this book is Sharon the girl who can’t get enough of herself. She is a mean person but gets people to think that she is nice.
There were many surprises in this book but one of my favourites was that they went on school camp and Sharon forced Shell to push her and some boys out to an island and something happens to one of them.
The cover of this book is amazing and tells a lot, and I love the characters; Shell is just so outgoing, kind and funny and Mel is adventurous and nice. I recommend this book for kids aged 10 and up and for anyone who needs a good book to laugh.
I give this book 5 stars for the creativity and the good plot.
Iona Presentation College students are members of Alphabet Soup’s review team. This is Kate’s first review for Alphabet Soup. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!
Julia Lawrinson is an award-winning writer of more than a dozen books for children and young adults. Her books are about friendship, family and the occasional Jack Russell. We’re very pleased to be chatting to Julia today about her latest book Mel and Shell.
From the publisher:
It’s 1979. Swedish pop group ABBA rules the airwaves, rollerskating is cool, and Mel and Shell are best friends. There’s nothing they like more than making up dances to ABBA songs, and there’s nothing they like less than Scary Sharon and Stinky Simon. But things are changing, fast. Confiding in her pen pal from 1829, Shell discovers she has a lot to learn about loyalty, honesty and rollerskating.
How did you come to write a book set in 1979?
In 1979 I was in year five, and it was a hugely exciting year to be a kid. ABBA was at its most popular, rollerskating was huge, Doctor Who with Tom Baker was my favourite show, and BMX was just taking off. It was also the 150th anniversary of English settlement in Western Australia, so everyone was given a diary with lots of olden day pictures, which fascinated me.
You incorporate two timeframes from history in the book – 1979, when the book is set, and 1829, which the main character is learning about in year 5. How much did you need to research before you began writing the novel?
A lot! I went to the State Library and looked at all the old newspapers on clunky old machines called microfiche, to see what was happening in the first half of 1979, and also to remember what television shows were on when. I also had to make sure I had the right information about who was on what ships coming from England, and what happened to them on the way.
OK, we have to ask – are you an ABBA fan yourself?
ABBAsolutely! I still have an ABBA calendar every year, sent to me by my best friend who lives in England. When we see each other we still dress up and pretend to be Anna and Frida.
If you found a way to time-slip back to 1979, what would be the first thing you’d do when you arrived?
Go rollerskating, buy a yo-yo, and watch Young Talent Time.
Can you tell us a bit about your next writing project?
My next project is my first picture book, set in 1962 in Perth, and features an astronaut. It will be out in June 2022 with Wild Dog Books.
Mel and Shell is out now! Ask for it at your favourite book shop or local library.
alphabetsoup.net.au 