-
Blog Tour :: THE SILVER ARROW :: Lev Grossman
I’m absolutely delighted today to be a part of the blog/bookstagram tour that the team at Bloomsbury Press are running for Lev Grossman‘s brand new middlegrade fantasy book The Silver Arrow, which came out at the start of the month. For my stop on the tour I’m sharing a peek inside the book at one of the gorgeous illustrations, as well as a little extract of the text. Read on below to check it out…*** A small gray fox bent down and placed its ticket carefully on the platform.“Hi,” it said.“Hi,” Kate said.“Been a long time since a train came through here,” the fox said.“Very long,” said the badger, transferring…
-
KIDLIT :: The Pony Question :: Jackie Merchant
I’m pretty sure I’m already on record here somewhere talking about how much I love a pony story – in fact I read a bunch of horsey middlegrade last year (and raved about them here), including Jackie Merchant’s first book – The Promise Horse. I ADORED The Promise Horse and was thrilled to see Jackie had a new novel coming out – The Pony Question. I read this one in a single sitting last week, and it gave me all the feelings! Essie doesn’t believe in signs or wishing on stars. She likes facts, and the fact is she’s left her love of horses firmly in the past. She doesn’t…
-
Kidlit :: The Strangeworlds Travel Agency :: L.D. Lapinski
I read The Strangeworlds Travel Agency a little while ago now, but haven’t quite got to the reviewing because this was one of those books I enjoy so much that the idea of writing a review is a bit intimidating (why am I like this? haha). I’m a portal magic fan from way back (hello Magic Faraway Tree!) so this book was right up my alley! At the Strangeworlds Travel Agency, each suitcase transports you to a different world. All you have to do is step inside . . . When 12-year-old Flick Hudson accidentally ends up in the Strangeworlds Travel Agency, she uncovers a fantastic secret: there are hundreds…
-
Review (kidlit) :: Who Am I? :: Anita Heiss
Anitia Heiss’s Who Am I? is a middlegrade historical fiction novel set in Sydney in 1937, and is the fictional a diary of Mary Talence, a member of the Stolen Generation. It was originally published in 2001, and has been re-released as part of reconciliation week this year. I read this in one sitting last week, at the same time as the Black Lives Matter movement has been increasingly in the media. It feels kind of weird to do this review and talk about this book without mentioning that context (which I absolutely support, just to be clear). I know that a lot of people have been more intentional at…
-
#loveozmg May :: The Year the Maps Changed :: Danielle Binks
Is it weird that I always find it the hardest to write the reviews of the books I love the most? I read Danielle Binks‘ debut middle-grade novel The Year the Maps Changed about a month ago, and I have had total reviewers’ block when it comes to writing up how I felt about it, and why I loved it so much. I’m going to attempt to put my feelings into coherent words below, but if nothing else makes sense please know that I adored this book and I am recommending it to everyone (yes, grown-ups, I mean you too!). Here’s the summary from the Hachette website: One extraordinary year…
-
#ausmgmay :: Aussie middlegrade May
Hello! Obviously my April blogging spree/reviewathon went well until it ended and then it was over! To be honest, I’m still having some trouble settling into a routine. Not in a dramatic, or sad, or very stressful way, just in a floaty, what happened to my day and also what day is it anyway kind of way. I don’t really want to talk about COVID and social distancing and working/schooling from home and everything too much here, but it also seems weird just to ignore it? I had very grand plans for May and June – I was going to be on long service leave, home alone during the days…
-
Kidlit :: The Good Hawk :: Joseph Elliot
Middlegrade fantasy is my favourite thing to read at the moment. There are just so many great stories coming out in this category at the moment. One of the things I’m loving is the increasing amount of diversity I feel like we are seeing in stories for kids (or perhaps I’m paying more attention?). Joseph Elliot’s recent novel The Good Hawk, is a great example of middlegrade fiction that is about a young person with a disability, without being a story about that disability. Agatha is a Hawk, brave and fierce, who protects her people by patrolling the high walls of their island home. She is proud of her job,…
-
Kidlit :: E-BOY :: Anh Do
Anh Do must be one of Australia’s most prolific authors at the moment – I feel like he has something new out all the time. I haven’t read his lower primary books – like the WeirDo or Hot Dog series – but I have picked up some of his newer middlgrade/YA books – including his most recent release, E-Boy Part human. Part robot. All hero! Ethan is supposed to be doing regular teenage things – like playing sports and hanging out with friends. He is not supposed to be in hospital getting a brain tumour removed by Gemini, a high-tech android doctor. But just as the operation begins, the medical…
-
Kidlit :: The Republic of Birds :: Jessica Miller
I first came across Jessica Miller’s then upcoming middlegrade fantasy novel The Republic of Birds when I was spending A LOT of time on twitter following #authorsforfireys. The cover is so stunning it caught my eye immediately (and its even better in real life!) – and, on reading the blurb, I thought it sounded really cool! Here’s the summary from Goodreads. Olga loves the stories of the old cartographers and pores over their ancient books and maps, trying to unlock their secrets. Sometimes, she can even feel through the maps—almost see into them — as if by magic. When the bird army kidnaps Olga’s sister, Mira, Olga knows that only…
-
Kidlit :: The Threads of Magic :: Alison Croggon
Something about the cover of Alison Croggon’s new middlegrade/upper primary fantasy novel – The Threads of Magic – caught my attention the very first time I saw it, so I jumped at the chance to get my hands on an early copy (kindly sent to me by the team at Walker books). Pip lives on his wits in the city of Clarel. When he pickpockets the wrong man, he finds himself in possession of a strange object – a heart in a silver casket. What’s more, the heart seems to be trying to communicate with Pip, and the royal officials who lost it will stop at nothing to get it…
