Sandry’s Book

Tamora Pierce

Briar, Tris, Daja and Sandry hae been left without their close families and packed off to Winding Circle. All from very different backgrounds, and initially it seems like Sandry is the only one making an effort to spin them together. It’s a great children’s book.

The majority of this book is each of the characters finding themselves and their magic. It is a foreign concept to them that magic can be anything other than special words for a love spell, or an alarm spell for protecting special trees. I can easily see the magic in the simple things, such as growing plants. Some people have green thumbs!

Although the point of view is split between each of the four children, it still reads nicely, and I was able to get attached to each of them. If there was a fault in this book, it would be that I felt like Briar’s character didn’t get enough air time.

Something that struck me about the new titles for the books (each after the four main characters) was that they no longer really do justice to the story. I wouldn’t have said that this first book was specifically about Sandry, it is more of an introduction to all four of them.

I couldn’t tell you what attracted me to the book in the first place, because I’ve read it so many times that it is just comforting to me to read it. It is a very short read, I can read it in 1-2 hours, but younger readers would probably take longer. I’ve been reading and rereading this book for years now. I can still remember checking out ragged old copies of it from the high school library! Back then, it was called the far more descriptive ‘The Magic in the Weaving’. Or now, a quick google tells me that that’s the UK version and this is a USA version that I have. Anyway, I think it’s unfair to call it ‘Sandry’s Book’, as it is about the other three as well.

This book is certainly suitable for children, and some teens as well. No blood or guts, just  If you’re like me, and encountered this book earlier in your life, do you still love it just the same?

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13 Reasons Why

Jay Asher

Hannah Baker committed suicide. That’s not the end of her though – she has made a map and audiotape a bunch of reasons why she has killed herself. Poor Clay is on her list, and he feels compelled to keep listening.

I didn’t actually like Hannah very much. I felt that she could have avoided the trouble she got herself into – it wasn’t fair to blame her year level. She should have known better! She gave up.

I found the first chapter of this book confusing more than anything. Initially I thought it was the person who’s chapter it was with the interspersed comments, but it wasn’t. I checked the blurb of the book multiple times to make sure I wasn’t confused.

The book was compelling in a weird way. Asher did suck me in and I wanted to know what Clay had done. And then I was disappointed there too. I can’t say I found it comfortable to read – but then it wasn’t supposed to be comfortable. I ended up skimming the end. I just wasn’t into it enough to accept it.

I felt let down by this book. I expected so much more, maybe unrealistically hoping that Hannah had bigger problems than just being labelled a slut. Yes, it’s bad, but there are other things you can do rather than killing yourself. There is help available! She didn’t really try very hard, and although people didn’t help her, it was unfair to blame everyone else for a choice that ultimately only she could make. I guess I was looking for depth, but I didn’t find it.The discussion question type things at the end are ok. I guess this could make a good school book, which would be ever so relevant, particularly to American teens. Sorry, perhaps Australians are a little less wimpy. I’d recommend this book for teens. I really didn’t love it enough to properly recommend it – maybe other people will enjoy it more than me. I know there are a number of people out there who love this book. But it’s not me. I feel like I have wasted 10 reviews on ‘earning’ this book, and I could have picked something with more substance.

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The Wind Singer

William Nicholson

Bowman and Kestrel are close twins. Within the city of Amaranth, everything is controled by tests and family ranking. Each of the districts has its own colour, and no one is allowed to swap – unless their family ranking moves up and down. Kestrel doesn’t like the tests. When their baby sister fails her tests it doesn’t impress the officials, and it doesn’t make Kestrel feel any happier.

Mumpo irritates me as much as he irritates Kestrel! Nose dribble, ugh. At the same time, he’s representing so many things that kids take for granted. Being a slow/dumb kid means that you don’t have friends. I think the ending for Mumpo is particularly suitable, although a little predictable.

This book is really quite harrowing in a way. The Zars are killing machines, and they literally kill everything and are happy about it! Not that this is presented in a positive light, the Zars are really quite terrifying. It’s a race to see who can survive, and it’s cut very fine.

Yes, the plot of this book is simple, somewhat predictable, and there is no character development to speak of. But it’s a children’s book! I think that the ideas presented in it are clear enough to children, and that’s what is important – not what a 20 something year old thinks of it.

I can understand why this book was a ‘Gold Award Winner’. The themes and values expressed in it are so poignant. The values of family, and friends, and also not judging people all on the same basis. The character of Mumpo is for pitying, but at the same time, he surely must be good at something.

This book reminds me of the Seventh Tower series by Garth Nix in a way. The castle with its different layers of people, each class not wanting to talk to the one below it. An emperor who is powerless or unhelpful. Of the two, I think I prefer the Seventh Tower, just because the character from that has a little more depth. As I’ve said before though, The Wind Singer is still enjoyable.

This book actually brings to mind the Naplan tests that are currently sweeping over Australia. Kids in grade 3 are expected to answer all kinds of questions, and then their schools are ranked according to the answers. It’s based on literacy and numercy – which are both important, but some kids’ minds just don’t work like that. I read the other day about kids in kindy being prepped for these big tests. There just is something wrong with ranking kids and schools like that, and then giving teachers rewards based on performance.

This is the first book in a trilogy. I read all of these books when I was much younger (when they are actually age appropriate!). I picked this one up at the opshop, because I prefer the old covers. Amazon’s offering for this one is a trilogy set only that I could find – but if you like the first one, you’re probably going to like all three.

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Power of Three

Diana Wynne Jones

There is a powerful curse at work on the moor. The giants, the people and the Dorig are all suffering from one ill-advised deed. Although the reader may think they know what to expect – they really don’t. It is up to Gair, the ordinary son of a hero, to save the day.

The plot of this book builds up slowly. Although the reader will know from the beginning that things are not right, and where the curse has come from, it is not clear how things can be set right, or even if they can be.

There are a variety of characters which is nice, with the majority of focalisation through Gair. Children will find them likeable, and not too confronting. The ending is a bit of a chair edged one, but it’s certainly not too scary!

I guess this book was a little disappointing for me. I thought I had never read it before, but after getting into it, I realised that it had. It meant that even with all of Gair’s bad feelings, I knew what was going to happen, and I couldn’t dread it properly.

This was a fast read for me, but no doubt will be a little more challenging for its target audience. It did read aloud well though, probably a mark of its author’s craftmanship. It’s a good book, just not for me any more. I somewhat regret buying this one, except that I am sure I will share it with my children eventually!

This book is for children. The storyline is simple, and emphasises the need to look after your friends, and also the importance of words. For a writer, words are all you have to get the message accross, so of course they are important!

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Scatterheart

Lili Wilkinson

Hannah is Quality. She is one of the born aristocrats of London, but her father leaves her behind. A series of misunderstandings later and Hannah finds herself on a ship to Australia. Hannah has always been selfish, but the long trip and the factories afterwards open her eyes to enjoying what she actually has.

Hannah develops beautifully as a character, and it is obvious that lots of research has gone into this book. Wilkinson has a gift for bringing history to life. The majority of tortures written into the book actually occurred, and that is what makes this a historical fiction, as far as I am concerned.

I felt driven to finish this book, even though I knew what the outcome would be. It wasn’t a badly written book, like some others I have read recently, but it just wasn’t my style. For a book that says it is ‘fantasy’, it doesn’t cut it for me. The only fantasy element that I could see were the short fairytale sections put in as hallucinations or flashbacks, as well as the chapter verses.

I really want to blame disliking this book on it being written by an Australian author. But at the same time, some of my other favourite authors are Australian (think Isobelle Carmody). Maybe it is just the Australian content. I will probably try more books by this author, just not from this pseudo-fantasy genre.

This book has been long listed for a number of awards, and has glowing reviews elsewhere, if historical fiction is your thing and you think you want a more unbiased opinion. There is an underlying romance in this book that also might appeal to others – again, it’s not really my thing, and I couldn’t tell you if it is representative of its kind.

I picked up this book by mistake at the library. It was right next to another set of books by Carole Wilkinson which I really enjoyed, and the spines of the covers looked very similar. Both sets of books are published by Black Dog Books.

The level of gross in this book is pretty high. There’s torture, sex, theft; a whole range of fantastic bad things! I’d recommend this book for teenagers, not children by any means.

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The Legend of Nightfall

Mickey Zucker Reichert

Nightfall is a legend with multiple disguises, but he has finally made a mistake. Executed, stripped of disguises and charged with a seemingly impossible task, he needs to land Ned before he can escape the oath bond. Nightfall no longer has his true self to return to, but he mustn’t remain Nightfall either.

Nightfall or Sudian, whatever you want to call him, is a nice character. I wouldn’t say he was great, but he’s not bad. You do see some significant character development, but it is mainly in terms of the way Nightfall begins to interact with the other characters, particularly he idealistic Ned.

It’s hard to discuss this book without giving away key spoiler points. Must of the book is built on suspense, which is appropriate as the third person narrative. The majority of the time it is focalised through Nightfall, which works very well for building his character.

Something I didn’t understand was why Nightfall didn’t just create another persona like the assassin Nightfall. That sentence is confusing until you have read the book I guess. Nightfall doesn’t fall into his other personas, he only remains Sudian, but surely he could have come up with another assassin similar to intimidate people! That would totally destroy everything that his childhood friend has tried to do for him though, which would undermine other parts of the book.

Something that bugs me about this book are the constant reminders about being undernourished at birth and this making Nightfall look so much smaller and uglier than Ned. If I imagine Nightfall like the way he is portrayed on the cover, I find him very attractive for a man! It’s probably the beard. Another issue I have with that is that at some stage, his locks of hair are described as being clipped shorter, but the book cover doesn’t reflect that.

This is my second time reading the book, and in my opinion it lacks something. I remembered the storyline quite well, and so all the suspense that drives the plot was lost for me. I knew that whatever Nightfall tried, he would wiggle his way around it!The book ends on a cliffhanger to an extent, and so it is fortunate there is a second book! I believe it took a long time for Reichert to produce the sequel, but it was very eagerly anticipated. It is also on my bookshelf and I’m aiming to read it some time soon. I enjoyed this book first time around, and it wasn’t a bad read as a repeat either. I’d advise savouring the read slowly the first time (if you can, it’s pretty a pretty driving narrative) so that you get the most of this book before moving on to the second.

I’d recommend this book for adults and mature teenagers. The issues of sex, diseases and prostitutes, and also violence against children are all present, but I think they are dealt with quite well, and certainly not in a positive light.

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