Site Content

Read something you really liked?            

Read something to your family that they really liked?            

Know of a book middle-grade children enjoyed?            

Share your success.            

Write a review.            

Include title, author, what you liked and ISBN.            

email your review to me judy.wollin@gmail.com           

 I'd love to hear from you.

School is not Oscar’s thing. Trouble followed him, and the Deputy Principle thought he was a waste of space. Skateboarding was what Oscar loved to do. At the skate park, he met boys who told him he’d arrive at the best skatepark ever built if he looked through a mirror. He didn’t believe them, but anything was better than school, so he looked into the mirror.

Imogen, Ester and Astrid are home from boarding school, and their cousins Bronte and Alejandro have come to stay. A letter from the Elfin king beginning Esther to save them sends the cousins on a quest. They find a strange boy, Oscar, and he joins their quest to find nine pieces of a key needed to save the elfin world. If they can’t save the elfin world, Oscar can’t get home.

What do the questers find?

I enjoyed the mix of cultures across the two worlds.

Recommended for 10–12-year-olds.

Published by Allen and Unwin 2021.

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin.

Cordelia lives with her family in a castle, safe from the bigger world. He older brother always looked out for her and her triplet brother and sister.

The family’s safe world was blown away when armed troops camped out the front and demanded the return of the heir of the Raven Crown. Cordelia shape-shifted to get closer to see what was going on. She was horrified to see her mother and older brother trapped. Her mother told Cordelia and her triplet brother and sister to run and never stop until they were safe. She would find them.

Where did they run to, and what did the three children discover?

I enjoyed the tension and pace of the story.

Recommended for middle-grade readers.

Published by Bloomsbury Children’s books 2021

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Melodie was sure of two things. She loved to sing and couldn’t remember what had happened. The label said she belonged here but where was here?

The boarding school is falling down, and there are three ghosts, and only a few girls enrolled. A mystery woman wants to buy and close the school, but it’s the only place Melodie has felt she belongs. 

She sets out to find out who the woman is and to prevent her from buying and closing the school.

I enjoyed the mystery and the songs.

Recommended for middle grade.

Published by UQP 2021

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Mary Blackwood lives with her sister and their uncle in a crumbing former stately home in a small town in the USA. They live with a mystery. What happened the night several family members died? Were they poisoned, and by whom?

The townsfolk hate the Blackwoods, and they keep their distance until a house fire brings the fire brigade and the townsfolk to the Blackwoods’ home. The sisters continue to live in the partially destroyed home, fuelling the questions surrounding them.

I enjoyed the rich characters and the mystery.

Recommended for young adult and adult readers.

This edition and published by Penguin 2010

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Matthew is cautious. His parents keep him sheltered and safe, and he remains unsure of his own capabilities. He is lonely and isolated, and his favourite place is the North Pole.

A surprise visit from a talking crow takes Matthew on a magical ride. What does he discover about the North Pole and himself?

I enjoyed the details about the North Pole and the main character's personal growth.

Recommended for middle-grade readers.

Published by Allan & Unwin 2021

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Salim and his mother Gloria are visiting family they have not seen for years on their way to moving to New York, the USA, from Manchester, England. Salim and his cousins Kat and Ted are going for a ride on the London Eye as a treat.

Salim is given a ticket by a stranger and goes on the London Eye by himself. The trouble is he doesn't get off. The police and the adults keep saying children just don't vanish. If he didn't disappear, what happened during the ride on the London Eye?

Ted and Kate set out to discover what happened.

I enjoyed Kat and Ted's problem-solving and tenacity as they set out to solve the mystery.

Recommended for middle-grade readers.

This edition Published by Puffin 2016. 

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Bridget’s family are forced from their home, and the house is destroyed when the landlord wants to run sheep, not have cottier farmers growing potatoes. Potato rot had impoverished families across Ireland with repeated crop failures year after year.

Life on the road became too hard, so the family were forced to go to the workhouse. They could only look forward to endless hard work and barely enough food to stay alive.

When the government was looking for teenage girls to go to Australia, Bridget found herself in a land where a harsh life and difficult choices still plagued her and her sister. Bridget is alone and has to make a life for herself. Her only dream was to work with horses, but that didn’t look likely for a girl.

I enjoyed the historical detail and the strong characters.

Recommended for middle-grade readers.

Published by Omnibus and imprint of Scholastic Australia 2015

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Nevo Zisin sets about demystifying and celebrating Diversity. This short book includes parts of Nevo’s story but is way more than that. It is a resource book that provides insights for family and friends of trans people and trans themselves.

The book begins with insights into the past experiences of trans people and gender in various cultures and the future.

The resources provided were excellent. 

Recommended for young adult and adult readers.

Published by Smith Street Books 2021

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

A whirlwind romance ended with Fleur marrying Hugh, an Australian soldier posted to Europe for the First World War. He’d talked of them building a new life together in Australia. A land of huge bright blue skies and endless possibilities.

Hugh’s death resulted in Fleur inheriting property and land she had no idea Hugh owned. Fleur set sail for Sydney to investigate her inheritance and to find family more entitled to the inheritance than herself. 

She finds mystery, death, and cruelty. Who was Hugh, and who should get the inheritance?

I enjoyed the historically accurate details, including settlers’ interaction with the First Nation people, taxidermy and law and order in the early 1900s.

Recommended for young adult and adult readers.

Published by HQ Fiction 2019

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Suketu Mehta, in a little over 200 pages, establishes the ongoing nature of the movement of migrants, legal and illegal, across the globe. The book provides specifics about migration in the USA, but the lessons are universal.

People have always moved about the globe. Motivated by poverty, hunger, and danger. 

People don’t choose to leave family, friends and the lands they know. They feel pushed, sometimes by lack of opportunity and sometimes by the threat of death itself. The reasons often reflect historical factors, colonisation, riches plundered, and lands left bare.

The fear propagated by anti-migration proponents often focused on migrants taking our jobs. Suketu Mehta provides solid evidence that migrants stimulate economies, create jobs and foster prosperity. Closing borders may breach international law. People have an internationally recognised right to seek refuge. In addition, closing borders threatens the financial well-being of the countries trying to exclude migrants. Economies like the USA, Australia, and Europe rely on ongoing consumer demand to grow their economies. Closing the door puts this at risk. 

The relatively short book pulls together complex arguments.

Recommended for young adult and adult readers.

Published by Jonathan Cape London 2019

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

I read and I write.            

If you read why not write?            

More reviews coming from me and you.