A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

OMG!!!
Wow! Wow! Wow!

Warning!
This is going to be a rave review complete with gushing, exclamation marks! and declarations of love.

Okay....deep breath!

To start - for my job, I end up reading (skimming) through a lot of YA and teen books. Sadly, a lot of it is dross.

I usually don't bore you with a review for these books as I try to keep my posts on the positive side. I usually follow the principle of "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all".

Sometimes the book is just not my thing, but often the 'dumbed down' stories just make me want to cry for the young people who think this is all there is to reading. We all have comfort reads and sometimes in our life we all need an easy, uncomplicated read. But bad writing and poorly constructed plots do my head in.

Maybe that helps to explain why I have also embraced the whole Classic Club thing so wholeheartedly. A chance to focus my reading onto books and genres I love.

So it is with much delight and fanfare that I present to you Book One in The Colours of Madeleine: A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty.

Wow! Wow! Wow!

Okay, time to pull myself together and write something sensible!

This book stands out from the crowd.
It is quirky, funny and clever. Whimsical, charming and mesmerising also springs to mind.

I love the writing and the colourful phrases.

Madeleine and Elliot are characters to fall in love with. They're authentic, real and believable, just as I believed in Gandalf and Bilbo every time I read LOTR. They have presence. Their predicaments became mine and I couldn't wait to see where Moriarty was taking us all next.

As the last chapter loomed large I began to moan "no, no, no" - I didn't want this story to end.
I want more and I want it now!

As I was reading it I was trying to work out why I enjoyed this so much.
When you read a lot of average stories, finding one that stands out and grabs you and makes you read it as quickly as possible, but as slowly as possible at the same so you can spin out the pleasure for as long as possible - that's a good sign!

A Corner of White transcends genre and generation.
This book is not just YA or contemporary fantasy.
This book could be loved and cherished by anyone of any age.
It is easy to read, uncomplicated and fun.

Sadly, the rest of you have to wait until October for Pan Macmillan Australia to release this book (and for those of you in the UK and US, you have to wait until April 2013!! You poor things.)
I'll try not to gloat too much!!

Bibs and Bobs

I haven't written many book reviews lately - I seem to be experiencing some time management and prioritising issues!

Part of the problem is The Classics Club which has got me all excited about making lists, writing classic memes and thinking about what defines a classic in the first place (I can feel another post coming on...!)

Every day I now find myself checking out the Classics Club page to read what everyone else has been posting, writing comments and saying hello to new members.

I'm also reading a ridiculous number of books at once...and making little headway with any of them.

Last night I finally finished Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan (post pending while I stew over it a little longer).

But I'm also half way through Friday Brown by Vikki Wakefield, A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty, Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain, Adelaide by Kerryn Goldsworthy, I Thought it was Just Me (but it isn't) by Brene Brown and two back copies of Slow Magazine!!

I'm enjoying them all in their own way, but I don't like to blog about a book until I've finished it...hence the lack of review posts recently.

But I will tell you that two of the books are YA, two are non-fiction/psychology books and one is a travel book to whet my appetite for an upcoming holiday with my lovely hubby.

So time to stop chatting and time to start reading.

Happy reading!

What is My Favourite Classic

The Classics Club will be hosting a monthly meme alongside it's 5 year challenge to read 50+ classics!

Personally, I'm excited!

I'm also a little stressed about how I'm going to fit all this extra reading and blogging into my already crazy life!

The first Classic Club meme is 'What is your favourite classic? Why?'

Easy peasy....
Or so I thought!

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice came to mind straight away.
I read it for the first time when I was 17 studying for my HSC.
Twenty seven years later I can fairly safely say that I have now read Pride and Prejudice about 27 times!!

Yes, you read that correctly! 27 times!

I haven't read it every single year since my HSC, but I did read it 5 times during the HSC period.

During my teaching years, P & P became my comfort read at the end of the summer holidays just as I was feeling melancholy about going back to work. P & P invariably cheered me up or at least made me forget about hot, smelly classrooms for a little bit longer!

But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that P and P is not actually at the top of my favourite classic list.'

P and P is my comfort read. I love it for it's familiarity, it's humour, and it's delightfully constructed drama.

However Mr Darcy is not my favourite Austen hero and Elizabeth is not my all-time favourite Austen heroine. Lizzie is not a "kindred spirit" (to borrow from one of my favourite children's classics Anne of Green Gables).

That honour goes to Elinor Dashwood. 

Like me, Elinor would have spent her life spelling her name for others! Like me she was accused of being unfeeling because she chose to keep her feelings private. Like me she avoided dramas and drama queens, but was too polite to tell them to bugger off. Like me she was searching for a man of honour and loyalty. Elinor is a "kindred spirit".

But Sense and Sensibility is not my all-time favourite classic either.

My favourite Austen hero is Mr Knightley.

He's funny, intelligent, forgiving and patient.

And as I write these words, I realise that I am the luckiest woman in the world...because I did, in fact, marry my very own modern day Mr Knightley :-)

But I digress...

Emma is not my all-time favourite classic either and Emma is definitely not a "kindred spirit".

My all-time favourite classic read is....(drum roll please.............) Persuasion.

I've probably re-read Persuasion 5 or 6 times. 

I adore the long-lost love scenario (even before I had my own real life long-lost love scenario).

Although Anne Elliot can be a bit submissive at the beginning, I enjoy watching her character emerge as she matures and becomes more confident about her own abilities.

Persuasion also has one of the best lines ever about history and books being written by men...

Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. . . the pen has been in their hands," Anne tells Captain Harville. "I will not allow books to prove anything.

Given that many people thought that women from that era were meek and mild, Austen (a woman from that era) has her heroine (another woman from that era) using such powerful, intelligent words to show us how wrong that kind of thinking really is.

Anne is also a "kindred spirit" of mine and with her appalling family, she needs as many kindred spirits as she can get!

My only wish is that Austen had more time to develop the ending before she died.

I found both possible endings unsatisfactory (except for the obvious part where Anne and Wentworth get together). And I can't but help think that Austen would have reworked this a lot more if she had had a chance.

Maybe that is another reason why I love Persuasion so much. As a reader you can see the writer at work. You can appreciate Austen's craft by seeing the unfinished ending in the rough. I've always enjoy imagining how Austen would have polished the ending further.

Anne and Captain Wentworth are the most perfectly matched, well-suited, deserving lovers in history!

And I wish them all happiness together.

Books as therapy

Random Quote Time

Angela Mollard from The Sunday Telegraph's Sunday Magazine August 11 2012 gives advice to her young daughter . 

 "Books are great solace when you need a break from your own story."

Joshua Krause "Solace, In Excerpts" (2008)

"Remember when you were little and you loved kaleidoscopes? The tiniest twist, and the pattern would change. Life's like that - but be exhilarated, not cowed. Talk 'til dawn, swim behind waterfalls, kiss. Be brave. Ahead are days of miracle and wonder."

I love how some days you just stumble across the exact thing you need to keep going.

Books about New Babies

A number of friends, as well as family members are having babies this year.

It's all very exciting.

But it has given me cause to think about all the wonderful picture books out there to help siblings come to terms with the birth of a new baby.

Below is a list to get you started.

Brand New Baby by Bob Graham

Hey Hippopotamus Do Babies Eat Cake Too? by Hazel Edwards

I Love My Baby Brother by Anna Walker

I Love My Baby Sister by Anna Walker

I Want A Sister by Tony Ross

It's Quacking Time by Martin Waddell

Our Baby by Margaret Wild

Peter's Chair by Ezra Jack Keats

Queenie the Bantam by Bob Graham

Sophie and the New Baby by Laurence Anholt

Spot's Baby Sister by Eric Hill

There's a House Inside My Mummy by Giles Andreae & Vanessa Cabban

There's Going to Be a Baby by John Burningham & Helen Oxenbury

Za Za's Baby Brother by Lucy Cousins

Holocaust Literature for Younger Readers

Continuing my lists of Holocaust books for kids:

After by Morris Gleitzman


Anne Frank's Diary by Anne Frank  (R)

Chocolate Cake with Hitler by Emma Craigie

Elie Wiesel: Voice From the Holocaust by Michael Schumann

Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter

Hitler's Daughter by Jackie French

I Am A Star: Child of the Holocaust by Inge AuerbacherI Am David by Anne Holm

If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan

Jacob's Rescue by Makla Druker and Michael Hal

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Once, Then and Now by Morris Gleitzman

Pennies for Hitler by Jackie French

The Silver Sword by Ian Serralier  (R)

To Hope and Back by Kathy Kacer

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr  (R)

(R) read pre-blogging days

These are just a few titles that I remember from my childhood plus new ones I've discovered since writing this blog.

If you know of any other books that I should add to this list, please leave a comment (and a link to your review if you have one) and let me know.

Please also check out my posts for Holocaust Literature for Adults and for Teens.

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Ninth Ward was published two years ago, but has just been released in Australia.

Jewell Parker Rhodes has written a number of adult novels, but this is her first foray into junior fiction. She has picked a doozy of a topic - Hurricane Katrina.

Lanesha is a twelve year old girl living with her Mama Ya-Ya in New Orleans. Rhodes captures the time and place beautifully, weaving a story of magical realism and survival even as Katrina does her worst.

The images from the aftermath of Katrina were horrific and Rhodes has done a superb job to get inside those images and make them accessible for young readers. She describes the horror and fear, but also the hope, determination and will to survive that inspire us all.





I couldn't put this book down. I devoured it in one sitting. It's not often that a book so obviously trying to do something worthy is also so readable.

I admit that the cover is not very inviting and I wish they had gone with the cover on the right that I found on google, but the slightly dowdy cover hides a wonderfully rich story that I recommend for mature 10+ readers.

Holocaust Literature for Teens

Below is a list if books that have the Holocaust as their main theme. 
These books are suitable for teen readers (12+)


After by Morris Gleitzman

Anne Frank's Diary by Anne Frank  (R)

Annexed by Sharon Dogar

Auslander by Paul Dowswell

The Boy in the Striped Pyjama's by John Boyne  (R)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak  (R)

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up In the Holocaust by Livia Bitton-Jackson

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli


Night by Elie Wiesel  (R)

Once, Then and Now by Morris Gleitzman

Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orlev

The Wrong Boy by Suzy Zail

(R) read pre-blogging


These are just a few titles that I remember from my childhood plus new ones I've discovered since writing this blog.

If you know of any other books that I should add to this list, please leave a comment (and a link to your review if you have one) to let me know.

Please also check out my posts for Holocaust Literature for Adults and for Younger Readers.

After by Morris Gleitzman

After is the fourth book in Gleitzman's series about Felix.

After came as a bit of a surprise for all of us, including Gleitzman himself. We all thought the story was done and dusted after Now. But it turns out that Felix had more to say.

After takes us back to the war. Felix is still in hiding in Gabriek's barn, but the Russians are on their way and the German's are fleeing...burning and pillaging as they leave.

After sees Felix and Gabriek helping the Partisans, fleeing the Germans and Allied bombing and confronting the reality of the concentration camps.

As with the other three novels, the story is told simply though the young Felix's eyes. Despite (or maybe because of) the juvenile language and thinking processes, the emotional impact is quite powerful in places.

Gleitzman has written a wonderful series for younger readers that takes them into the heart of Nazi Germany and the effects of the Holocaust. In spite of all the horror and heartbreak, he shows us the power of resilience, hope and love.

Mature 8+ readers could manage this although the content is aimed more at the 10+ reading level.

Good Night, Sleep Tight by Mem Fox

In some people's eyes, Mem Fox can do no wrong.

In other's, she can do no right.

My opinion has always landed somewhere in the middle - I love and adore some of her books, while others fall flat.

I will always remember being introduced to her work for the first time at uni via a video of her retelling the story of The Little Match Girl.

There was not a dry eye in the house. And I left that room determined to learn how to become a great storyteller too. I wanted the children in my classes to be moved by stories too.

I loved Possum Magic and Wilfred, Gordon, McDonald Partridge, but never enjoyed reading them out loud to a class.

I was sceptical about Koala Lou, until I read it out loud to a class that fell in love with it so completely, that I had to reread it hundreds of times throughout the year!

And I have always loved reading Hattie and the Fox, Where is the Green Sheep and Tough Boris out loud.

For me the misses include The Magic Hat, A Giraffe in the Bath and Where the Giant Sleeps.

However, with Good Night, Sleep Tight, I believe that Fox has once again hit on a winning formula. Teaming up with illustrator Judy Horacek again just adds an extra big tick in her favour.

Good Night, Sleep Tight is about a young man babysitting two young children.
As he gets them ready for bedtime, they ask for a story.
Each time, he tells them another traditional nursery rhyme, as they get closer and closer to being ready for bed.

I haven't read this one out loud yet to a group of young children, but it has all the right ingredients.

Published in October through Scholastic Australia.

Happy reading.

A Year in Books

This meme - A Year in Books - is simple...using your blog posts from the past 12 months or so, find a book title to answer the questions below.

Please comment, follow, like the posts of others.

Then leave a link with your post URL in the comments section so we can comment, follow, like you too.





I Come From: The Daughters of Mars

I Am: Just A Girl

I Feel: Prized

I Currently Live: The Future of Us

I Work: with The Rights of the Reader

If I Could Go Anywhere, I Would Go: To Hope and Back

My Favourite Form of Transport: Hero on a Bicycle

My Favourite Time: Now

My Bestfriend is: a Rudie Nudie

Me and My Friends Are: Among the Mad

The Weather Here is Like: Cinnamon Rain

I Fear: Bitter Greens

I Wish: to be The Paris Wife

A Piece of Good Advice: Search for Wondla

I Would Like to Die: Wonderstruck

My Soul's Present Condition: Rules of Civility

My Thought for the Day: Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick

P.S. This is not an original idea. I saw similiar posts to this ages ago, but have not been able to find them again! If you know who this meme originated with, please let me know so that I can acknowledge them appropriately. Until then, please accept my imitation as the highest form of flattery.

Herman and Rosie by Gus Gordon

Australian author/illustrator Gus Gordon has presented us with another quirky, heart-warming tale.

There are no chickens in sight in Herman and Rosie.

Herman is an oboe playing, wild boysenberry yoghurt loving crocodile.
Rosie is a jazz singing, toffee loving deer.
They live in opposite apartments in New York but have never met. They are both lonely and searching for something soulful to give their lives meaning.

Like Wendy (the adventure seeking chicken), Herman and Rosie is not necessarily a story for younger picture book devotee's.

The humour and emotional complexity appeals to older minds and hearts. I loved it and I'm sure it will be a hit with parents - I'm just not sure it's a read aloud book to share with young children.

As my 12 year old stepson said, "I'm not an adult, living in an apartment, going to work. I'm just a kid living in a city." He failed to connect with the big city blues that Rosie and Herman experienced.

Herman and Rosie is a September release with Penguin Australia.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

I confess that I knew next to nothing about Ernest Hemingway before reading this book.

I knew he was regarded as a literary hero by many Americans, that he lived in Paris during the 1920's and hung out with the Scott Fitzgerald's, Gertrude Stein, Ford Maddox Ford & Stella etc.
I knew he was a heavy drinker  and not very well liked on a personal level.

The Paris Wife is based on Hemingway's first marriage to Hadley Richardson and their time together in Paris at the beginning of his career.

McLain's acknowledgment states her intention "to push deeper into the emotional lives of the characters and bring new insight into historical events, while staying faithful to the facts."
I don't know if she added any new insights to the Hemmingway mythology, but I enjoyed learning about her version of events.

I felt a genuine empathy and sympathy for Hadley, but found it harder to like Hemmingway. He came across as selfish, self-centred and thoughtlessly cruel.

McLain's writing was a delight. She evoked the period and Paris life beautifully. Hadley's time with Hemingway was obviously life changing for her.

Although this book was not life changing for me, I suspect it will be enough to start me on another Francophile phase of reading obsession!

The Tadpole's Promise by Jeannie Willis and Tony Ross

It has been a long time since I had a full-bellied laugh out loud moment whilst reading a picture book.

But The Tadpole's Promise did just that.

This is a simple story about love and change.

A tadpole falls in love with a caterpillar - they meet on the edge of a pond to declare their undying love and promise to never change.

But, of course, every time they meet, the tadpole has changed - first back legs, then front legs.

The caterpillar is unhappy with the changes but eventually comes around, accepts them and continues to declare undying love....

You can probably guess where this is headed...

...and yes, you're right.
The caterpillar does change too...into a beautiful butterfly....

But I will not tell you what happens when the tadpole/frog and the caterpillar/butterfly meet for the last time.

This is where the black humour (& the belly laughs) lie!  
If you want to know how it ends, you will have to search this book out to discover the amazing ending for yourself!

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

I never thought I would find myself regaling my family and friends with tales of apple seeds, tulip mania and the merits of marijuana around the dinner table.

I never thought I would chat with friends over a glass of wine about Prohibition, cider production and Johnny Appleseed.

The Botany of Desire is more than a simple discussion about four common plants and their relationship to human beings. It's about the impact we've had on each other - how we've adapted to the plant and how it has adapted to us. We meet the apple, the tulip, marijuana and the humble potato. It sounds scientific, and it is, but mainly it's just plain fascinating.

There are times within each of the four sections where Pollan suddenly shines out as a master storyteller. His language soars to new heights and for a brief while I forget that I'm reading a non-fiction book about the cultivation of food and its impact on the environment, humans and history.

For a moment I'm spellbound by story!

Try it; you wont be disappointed.