The Amber Spyglass ~ Philip Pullman

 

FAVOURITE

A re-read of His Dark Materials Part 3 before the TV series.  

It was my least favourite of the books when I first read the series and was this time too, though for different reasons. 

I felt it was too jumpy and disjointed, tying up loose ends, tying in old characters and yet introducing too many new characters.

The Golden Compass ~ Philip Pullman

**** RECOMMEND****

A Wrinkle In TIme ~ Madeleine L'Engle

* NO *

- UNFINISHED -

So dated, such stilted language, such cardboard characters
Just like a wrinkle, is shows its age - and not well

A Monster Calls ~ Patrick Ness

**** RECOMMEND ****

Storm Boy ~ Colin Thiele

** OK **

Pure and simple

An old time classic

This is a short children's novel.  It would be great for poor readers.  It doesn't push any boundaries as far as vocabulary or language devices.  I actually found it a bit lacking in descriptive qualities.  It tells a story and does that in the briefest and most superficial way.

It hasn't aged well.  But I can see that it would make a great movie (must see it some time!)

Pre-trip reading before heading to the Coorong.

A Drowned Maiden's Hair ~ Laura Amy Schlitz

* LIKE *

Good, old style children's fiction
Subtitled "A Melodrama" ... perfectly apt

A totally enjoyable classic Victorian period piece with a feisty "heroine" and heartless "baddies". Though in this the villain isn't the usual out-and-out baddie. And the heroine leans towards naughty and is eager to seek love by participation in morally questionable activities. Characterisation and description are strong points, pitch perfect for the young reader, with excellent vocabulary and historical reference to enhance the melodramatic plot.

This follows the old "Pollyanna" style of sweetness and light winning out ... but with less saccharine. There is a moral of doing what is right and telling the truth though it could cost you the (false) love you have been looking for.

The Happy Prince ~ Oscar Wilde

** RECOMMEND **

Catch up on a classic
Short stories (or fairytales)


This was a First Tuesday Book Club book ... and it was a gem!

While there were other stories, The Happy Prince was a standout. It was beautifully written and poignantly told. All the stories in the book had a strong touch of bitter-sweet.

I just don't know how I missed this up till now ... and I think it is worth a re-read anytime!

First Tuesday Book Club

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick ~ Chris Van Allsburg

* LIKE *

Ahhh ... should have left it to my own imagination!
Some good, some ordinary, few as good as the illustrations!

Ok ... there were good ones ... ok, there were even lots of good ones ... They ranged from readable to enjoyable. There were creepy ones, sci-fi ones, sweet ones.

But ultimately for me it was like putting a bird in a cage. Like putting a limit on your dreams. Like watching TV rather than read a book.

I find the intro and pictures in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick so vivid that they enthral your imagination. I have used it often in the classroom and each time I would take it out something new, different, wild or whimsical would come to mind. The “Mysteries” tantalises where the “Chronicles” serves it on a plate.

Is there a place for it? Yes ... i can see that it is a good way to introduce children to a range of genre. Give them an idea and let them better it.

The Graveyard Book ~ Neil Gaiman

** RECOMMEND **

Winner of the Newbery (2009) and Hugo (2009)!!!!!
A dark fantasy for kids.

A children’s award winner ... but a Hugo as well???

It was an engaging narrative not overloaded with characters but many fleeting glimpses of the ghosts and ghouls that inhabited the graveyard world of Bod (short for Nobody). Growing up in a graveyard gave Gaiman lots of action scenes and creepy descriptive opportunities.

It is suitably supernaturally creepy to keep adults interested but not too scary for its intended audience.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane ~ Kate DiCamillo

** RECOMMEND **

Children’s fiction at its best
Recommended by Colin

This is a really sweet story ... but never ever saccharine. Its sweet simplicity hides a story of great love and great sadness. Both the desperate situations that he finds himself in and the flawed lives of the people who own him, lead “Edward” to find room in his heart for love.

It is more than bittersweet at times as Edward learns to open his heart. (Note : I didn’t cry ... I just had something in my eye)

Not sure what age group I would read it to or suggest it to ... there are confronting topics within.

Hell’s Bells ~ John Connolly

** RECOMMEND **

Round 2 of Samuel Johnson V The Devil
Fun follow up; Young Teen Fiction

Connolly does “dark & creepy” so well for adults but also for children.

This is well pitched with good fun thrown in with the dark and creepy. This is a good follow-up to “The Gates” and there is book #3 in the pipeline.

aka "The Infernals"

The Gates ~ John Connolly

** RECOMMEND **

Young teen fiction
Cute, well constructed, fast paced.

One of my "Favourites" is Connolly's "Book Of Lost Things" which is also in the Young Adult category (maybe??) but for an older audience than this.

Demons have been let loose! The Gates of Hell are opening. All because a small chink occurred diring the operation on the High Speed Particle Accelerator. So it is up to our cool hero ... a dorky young boy ... ably assisted by his two friends and his very well written dog.

This book is fun!

The Selected Works of T.S.Spivet ~ Reif Larssen

Quirky in presentation & storyline
But a mixed bag.

This had larger format pages to accommodate maps, drawings, diagrams, doodles etc in the margins.

I really enjoyed the first half : A 12yo boy genius is awarded a Smithsonian prize and runs away and rides-the-rails to collect the honour.

So far, so good. Good premise, good characters.

On the train we get a mega-dose of exposition ~ narrative shoved at us to carry the plot along and to fill in gaps (of its own making). T.S. had taken his mother's diary when he left home and his reading of this gives us a great slab of family history. I found this awkward, way too contrived and just not interesting.

But then we go completely off the rails.

The book becomes a mish-mash of SciFi + Dan Brown with wormholes and secret societies at the Smithsonian.

There were many good ideas ... just not all needed to make this book interesting. Needed an edit.

The Amber Spyglass ~ Philip Pullman

***** FAVOURITE *****

Longlisted : Booker Prize 2001

#3 in His Dark Materials