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.

Elizabella and her friend Minnie can’t wait for school camp. Cabins, canoeing and loads of opportunities to prank. The downer is Mr Gobblefrump, the Acting Principal, decides to be the teacher at camp. His goal is to learn to relax and enjoy himself.

Larry the Lizard lives with Elizabeth’s family. He’s an unusual lizard – he can understand English and struggles to speak Lizard and decides he’s going to Lizard Lake. He’s setting out to find a lizard friend.

Camp doesn’t turn out as Elizabella and Minnie expect, Mr Gobblefrump or Larry the Lizard expect. What is happening at the camp?

I enjoyed the multiple-character plot and the humour.

Recommended for middle-grade readers.

Published by Walker Books 2020.

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin.

Xander loves lists. At the top of his list of people he loves most is his grandmother. She’s in hospital and diagnosed with Stage Four cancer. She’s so sick and she can’t get out of bed anymore. She asks Xander to write a list of 100 Remarkable Feats he wants to achieve before the end of the school year. She tells Xander the doctors can’t do anything more for her and that Xander can help her get better by completing his 100 remarkable feats. Xander leaves his list with his grandmother only to discover hundreds of copies have been plastered all over his school and social media.

Xander struggles socially and year ten at Bellemont High is tough. There are lots he doesn’t understand. School turns into even more of a nightmare when the school bullies read his list of 100 Remarkable Feats. How does Xander manage this disaster?

I enjoyed the poignancy of the story. The simple faith Xander brought to the task of helping his grandmother. 

Recommended for Readers 10 years and above.

Published by Angus & Robertson and imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin.

Jane doesn’t know her mother, where she’s from, or why both her father and she are hated by the townspeople. Ostracized, isolated, and actively hunted if seen by the local people, Jane has learned how to be invisible and survive.

Things go from bad to worse when Jane’s father enters a magical doorway and is gone. Jane is pushed down into a dark hole with no escape. Can she find her father? Can she survive?

I enjoyed the mystery, chase and otherworldliness.

Recommended for Readers aged 10-14 years

Published by Hardie grant Egmont 2018

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin.

Set in the war that resulted in the fall of Troy, Malouf’s book draws on Greek mythology and imagination.

Endless death and destruction from eleven years of war has cost many families precious loved ones. Priam, King of Troy and father of recently killed Hector, sets out to appeal to Achilles for the return of his son’s body. 

Priam is a rigid king who follows protocols and rules to the letter. This journey exposes him to a fearsome enemy and possible ridicule from his family, court, and people. What is the outcome for Priam and Achilles?

I enjoyed the richness and thought-provoking nature of the story.

Recommended for young adult and adult readers.

Published by Vintage Books 2010

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Billie loves dancing. Her life and her most important audition for a place at the World Elite Dance Academy is only weeks away. Her mother works two jobs to pay the rent and to give Billie all the dancewear and shoes she needs.

Life as a dancer at the World Elite Dance Academy is challenging, making friends and dancing with elite dancers. Billie has to find a solution to pay for even more dancewear she needs and to find her place at the academy. Everyone else seems so confident. Nasty comments made by other students and being reprimanded by dance tutors undermines Billie’s confidence. What does she do?

I enjoyed the realism of being a new dancer in an elite academy and the dilemmas the characters had to deal with.

Recommended for 8–12-year-old readers.

Published by Egmont 2017

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Ten and three-quarters-year-old Alexa wonders about the new boy, Ahmet, who sat in the only empty chair at the back of his class. He vanishes at break time and doesn't have any friends. Alexa decides he'll be his friend, and along with Tom, Josie and Michael, they set out to make friends with the new boy.

This story tells the story of Ahmet, a refugee, from the children's perspective and asks the questions children and some adults ask. Why did they leave their home? Why did they come to our home? Why are some people nasty to refugees, and how can they help?

The huge questions the story addresses are answered in language and style children can understand. I enjoyed the story's realism and the Greatest Idea in the World.

Recommended for middle-grade readers and as a conversation starter about the plight of refugees.

Published by Orion Children's Books 2018

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Pig’s practical joke on his friend Brooklyn, the bat, backfired. Pig feels weird and has developed superpowers. But his life as a superpower does not go to plan. How did he end up strapped to a rocket heading towards the sun?

I enjoyed the humour and slapstick antics in the story and the graphic novel format.

Recommended for middle-grade and older readers. 

Published by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2021

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin.

Poppy is ordinary. She’d loved to be good at sports like her champion brother. A mystery explosion nearly wrecks their house and injures Poppy and Carl. Carl becomes a wheelchair user from his injuries.

Poppy is impacted, too but in a weird way. She’s suddenly an extraordinary athlete. There’s nothing she can’t do. Poppy wants to use her skills to win a million dollars, but carl is nervous bad people might want to take advantage of Poppy. What does she do?

I enjoyed the fantasy.

Recommended for middle-grade readers.

Published by Allen and Unwin 

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin.

Sylvia returns to Paris as an adult. It has been her special place since living there as a child. She meets some wonderful people who inspire her to open an English language bookshop and library in Paris. With the support of her lover Adrienne, the bookstore is successful. 

Many talented expatriates visit the store and are helped by Sylvia to find success. In particular, Sylvia helps James Joyce with Ulysses after it is banned as obscene in the USA. She sets out to publish Ulysses and encounters many difficulties, including the author himself.

With the Great Depression and World War Two, Sylvia must make hard decisions for the shop and herself.

I enjoyed the detail, the interweaving of great writers who lived in Paris at the time and the romance.

Recommended for Young Adult and Adult readers.

Published by Headline Review 2022

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

Coco lives with her Mum, Clem, a busy professional woman, often away from home. Coco’s used to being on her own. She loves going out on her boat and catching up with her best friend, Narianna. They both have boats, love dressing up and are crazy about rock star Prince Louis.

Clem calls Coco and tells her she’s not sure when she’ll get home. Coco is sad. She loves her mum and wants to spend time with her. Clem surprises Coco with a special machine that keeps them in contact. Clem is full of surprises, and the girls have tickets to see Prince Louis, but it doesn’t turn out as they wished. What happens?

I enjoyed the fantasy and the Sydney location.

Recommended for middle-grade readers.

Published by Random House 2016

Read and reviewed by Judy Wollin

I read and I write.            

If you read why not write?            

More reviews coming from me and you.