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   What kids or young adult books have you read recently?  Like to let people know your recommendation?            

Email me the following details to be in the running to have your book review posted. The book you have read's title and author, the name of the most important character and a description of the plot or story.       

Include what you liked about the book.   What was funny, moving, or interesting?    Who would you recommend the book for?          

Please include the ISBN and name of the publisher too.        

 It doesn't need to be long. Three or four sentences is all that's needed.        

my email judy.wollin@gmail.com  

Percy Jackson wakes horrified by his dream. In it his friend Grover is running for his life and hides in a wedding dress shop. At School Matt Sloan sets out to kill Jackson in a game of dodgeball. A stranger throws the dodgeball and does nearly kill Percy. Monsters. The school hall erupts in chaos and Percy runs for his life.

Annabeth comes to Percy’s rescue, and they set out to find answers together.

I enjoyed the mystery and chase and characters based on mythology. The beginning of a series.

Recommended for MG 8-12

Published by Penguin Random House UK 2006

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

When you win a worldwide competition, you don’t expect to find yourself fighting for your life, wondering if conspiracy theories are true.

Yasmin lives within sight of the pyramids at Giza. As she tried to fly to receive her prize deadly thugs break into her family shop and threaten her. Why do they want to kidnap her?

Andy and Dylan meet at the awards ceremony. Andy has a fake Australian accent and Dylan an awful American accent. They become friends immediately. Andy has on online news service Scoop. What do they post that makes their lives very tricky?

Zander is Greek and another winner. He doesn’t trust Andy at all. Zander lives with his grandfather who recognises a weird symbol Zander has been sent.

Isabel from Colombia and Mila from Chile are both staying at Isabel’s home when they receive weird symbols too.

Park Jae-joon, or JJ is from South Korea and wonders about his symbol.

A plane fires a missile into a pyramid at Giza and Cairo is thrown into chaos before the group of seven can work out what their weird symbols mean. The clock resets and is heading for zero again. Where is the next disaster? 

I enjoyed the character mix. The beginnings of a mysterious series.

Recommended for MG 10+

Published by Scholastic Australia 2016

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Alina’s life dream is shattered. A broken legs means she’ll never be the ballet dancer she dreamed of. Ballet filled her whole life, the music the beauty and the fabulous feeling it gave her to create something so magical.

Life as a fulltime high school student without ballet is grey, scary, and overwhelming. Margot befriends Alina and suggests she tries out for the school musical. Alina struggles to fit in, deal with the people and finds the dancing a poor imitation of her previous life as a ballerina.

Life at home is not easy either. She fights with her sister who she thinks disrespects ballet and her parents who want her to move on.

Slowly Alina begins to make friends and finds ideas about a way forward but with that comes insights into ballet that threaten her idea of its beauty. How does she find herself?

I enjoyed the subtle way racism was incorporated into the story.

Recommended for YA 13+

Published by Allen and Unwin 2021

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Keep reading. The more the better. It won't be long and I'll put up another review.

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    What kids or young adult books have you read recently?  Like to let people know your recommendation?            

Email me the following details to be in the running to have your book review posted. The book you have read's title and author, the name of the most important character and a description of the plot or story.      
Include what you liked about the book.   What was funny, moving, or interesting?    Who would you recommend the book for?          

Please include the ISBN and name of the publisher too.       

It doesn't need to be long. Three or four sentences is all that's needed.        

my email judy.wollin@gmail.com  

Twelve-year-old Jimmy works hard after school to help his mum pay the bills and put food on the table. He loses his job, his mother gets sick, and she is out of work too. With no money coming in and his older brother in the Dardanelles fighting for Australia Jimmy has no choice but to drop out of school and work where he can. 

He’s too small to do heavy work and no-one wants him for deliveries. He wouldn’t earn enough anyway. He decides the only option he has is to work for the illegal bookmaker.

Jimmy’s brother comes home from the war injured, sick and disillusioned. He makes Jimmy’s life harder. How does Jimmy sort it out?

I enjoyed the real-life action and fast pace.

Recommended for MG and reluctant readers. 

Published by Penguin Random House 2015

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

    Sarah loves the sea. She also likes ghosts and exaggerates a lot. She spends her time at the beach and searching for ghosts usually with her friend Yvette. A colossal squid washes up on the beach and Sarah wonders why.

Sarah lives in a houseboat and is used to hearing sea noises and the boat swaying with the waves. Creaks wake her. Strange lights deep in the night sea intrigue her and what she finds terrifies her.

I enjoyed the creepiness of the dark sea and the monsters hiding out of sights.

Recommended for MG 8+

Published by Scholastic Australia 2015

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

  She wasn’t sure how she came to have so many names, Winifred, Fred or Winnie, but that is the way it is. Fred’s life has included some ugly curve balls. Mum died when she was three and Grandma has died too. Her family is Pop, Luca her dad and herself. Point Nepean Primary is a small school. Sorrento is a small beach side town. Luca is a local policeman.

Pop had a fall and went to a rehabilitation hospital for months.

Anika and Sam become part of Fred’s family. Sam’s dad doesn’t call or visit. Anika and Luca are expecting a baby. Fred and Sam wonder how it will affect the family. 

School changes too. Sam was in Fred’s class. Mr Khouri is a good teacher and explains lots.

Refugees from Kosovo are settled in The Sanctuary at the tip of the peninsula. Fred’s world is changed forever.

I enjoyed the interwoven plots and the rich characters.

Recommended for tween 10+

Published by Lothian Children’s Books an imprint of Hachette 2020.

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin.

  Simon loves football, Aussie rules. Lives for football, practice and is the team’s best full forward. He takes spectacular marks – that’s how he got his nick name Specky. Kicking goals is his speciality. What he struggles to understand is why he’s so good at football and his family aren’t even interested. His dad doesn’t come to watch his games like other dads.

Specky finds a photo of himself as a toddler in a Geelong football outfit. That prompts questions and a huge family reaction. What has Specky discovered?

I enjoyed the pace and the different characters reactions to the issues that had to dealt with.

Recommended for Middle Grade 8+

Published by Puffin Books 2002

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

  This collection of three stories included Power Forward, On Point and Bounce Back. 

In Power Forward, Zayd is keen to get from the D Team to the gold basketball team. D doesn’t mean D as in fail, it means developmental, but Zayd still wants out. His friend Adam plays in the Gold Team. Skipping orchestra practice for basketball practice get Zayd into a mountain of trouble. Does he make the Gold Team?

In On Point, Zayd plays point for the first time. He’s nervous and worries he’s not as good as Adam who used to play point. His Grandfather helps him understand the importance of leadership rather than being the best.

In Bounce Back, an accident at training leaves Zayd on the side-line. This challenges his thoughts about on court game leadership.

I enjoyed Zayd’s development over the three books.

Recommended for MG 8+

Published by Salaam Reads an imprint of Simon and Schuster 

Children’s Publishing 2020

Read and Reviewed by Judy Wollin

Everett, Ever is her preferred name, is drowning in her family. They want her to be the perfect daughter, go to medical school and marry someone from a ‘good family.’ At eighteen, Ever must decide what she wants. She has a place at medical school and has been offered a place in a dance school. However, her parents have decided eight weeks in Taipei is what she needs to learn about her culture and Mandarin.

Ever is furious. Sent away for the Summer. Her roommate Sophie is friendly. Ever decides it’s time for the Wong rules to die. Ever and her roommate make choices Ever is sure her parents would not approve of, but she’s eighteen and a long way from home. 

Ever discovers some choices have very ugly outcomes, but some people are better than they first appear. Racism and its impact on her life and her other American Chinese friends is recognised as their reality and lived experience.

I enjoyed this book. It starts as a young adult coming of age but is more than that. 

Recommended for 15+ YA

Published by Simon & Schuster 2020

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

    Pearl Periwinkle is so excited. It’s her birthday, and she’s going to have the best party ever. All her friends are coming. Pearl is late for school and goes via the reef only to be confronted by a reef shark. She hides on a rock until it’s safe to swim to school. Something very bright flashes close by.

At school, Pearl finds a bright stone in her bag. A squabble breaks out, and it is lost. Pearl is cross with Sandy and uninvites her to the birthday party. How do Pearl and her friends sort out the mess? 

I enjoyed the issues the girls had to deal with and their problem-solving. The illustrations are fun and added to the story, particularly the diversity in the mermaids.

Recommended for early readers 6+

Published by Albert Street Books, an imprint of Allen and Unwin 2021

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin. 

    Living in the weirdest town in the country isn’t always fun especially if your parents are invisible, your schoolteacher is a witch, or your friend’s family is the only ‘normal’ family.

Kipp is worried that things are getting weird, really weird in Huggabie Falls. He skips school, even though he knows the witch teacher will make him pay. She’s turned one classmate into a toilet seat. Kipp, Cymphany and Tobias set out the find what is making things in town so unusual. Some people aren’t happy about kids sticking their noses where they shouldn’t be and make finding the answer to the mystery very dangerous.

I enjoyed the humour in the book.

Recommended for MG 8+ and reluctant readers.

Published by Text Publishing 2018

Illustrated by Andrew Weldon

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin.

  Billy picks up his bag, takes his dad’s beer and walks out the front door. A long train ride West and he lands in Bendarat. He finds an abandoned train carriage and sets up his new home. He finds the library which is warm and safe. He finds McDonalds for cheap meals – other people’s leftovers.

Old Bill drops his last bottle of beer and cries. Life is awful. Who is this kid bringing Weetabix in the morning?

Caitlin should have no worries, she spoiled, has rich parents who give her anything – lots she doesn’t need but she’s unsettled.

What are all the characters looking for?

I enjoyed this verse novel. The rich emotions and dynamic characters.

Recommended for Teens+ YA

Children’s Book Council of Australia Short-Listed Book 

Published by UQP 2014 (multiple reprints 2020)

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

After five years in the USA Livy has come to stay with her grandmother on her farm. Livy feels bad because she can’t remember much about her visit as a five-year-old. She is pulled to visit her old room by herself and finds an unusual friend when she opens the wardrobe.

Bob has been waiting for Livy to come back for five years. 

Together they must work out what he is and then where he’s from and how to get home.

I enjoyed the creative adventure.

Recommended for MG 8+

Published by Text Publishing Comp-any 2018

Illustrated by Nicholas Gannon

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin.

Herbert Lemon is the Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel. Every great hotel has one, otherwise how would lost things ever be found. Herbert usually keeps lost shoes, cases, walking sticks and books safe until they are claimed. That is until a lost girls falls into his cellar and needs hiding.

Violet Parma isn’t lost, she just doesn’t want to be found. She has lost her parents and is being hunted by nasty people and evil creatures.

How do Herbert and Violet help each other? What happened to both Herbert and Violet’s parents?

I enjoyed the mix of murder mystery and fantasy along with the fast pace.

Recommended for MG and reluctant readers. 8+

Publisher by Walker Books 2019

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin.