Tag: NetGalley

Surf Riders Club #1: Ava’s Big Move – Mary van Reyk

Where was this book when I was growing up?! Girls are going to adore and be empowered by Ava’s story. This story is so sweet it may as well be coated in sugar but young girls love that!

I spent most of my childhood weekends and school holidays at the beach, reading until I got too hot, then swimming or bodyboarding until it was time to read again. Back in the olden days I didn’t see female surfers but longed to be one, even though I adored bodyboarding. Had I read this book as a kid I’m positive I would have had the confidence to ignore all of the boys in the water and claim my right to be a girl surfer.

When Ava finds out her parents are moving their family to Beachcrest to fulfil their longtime dream of opening a café, Ava is devastated. She can’t imagine not living in the city across the road from her best friend Sarah.

When Alex, the first girl Ava meets at her new school, tells her the school is offering surfing as a sport for the first time that year, Ava decides to join as well. Together with Molly, Janani and Bronte, they are the only girls to join the beginners class. Also in that class are a couple of confusing boys, James who used to be nice but isn’t anymore and nice boy Tom. My favourite character was prickly Bronte who appeared somewhat confused by her own desire to join in with this lovely bunch of girls.

Ava spends plenty of time practicing surfing with her new friends, waitresses at the opening night of her family’s new café, hosts a sleepover, and eats plenty of pizza and ice cream. I’m definitely craving pizza now…

To graduate from beginners to intermediate next term each surfer needs to be able to catch five waves in the final lesson of the term. Ava is anxious about the possibility of being left behind in beginners while all of her friends move up a level. What will happen when the big day arrives?

I love that this book is endorsed by Surfing Australia and really appreciated that while this is a great book about friendship, girls will also learn some useful information, including:

  • How to identify rips and what to do if you’re caught in one
  • How to bodysurf
  • Tips for choosing a good beginner’s board
  • Surfing lingo and etiquette
  • How your body needs to be positioned on the board to catch waves on both a bodyboard and surfboard.

While most of the sugary sweet sections had me thinking about how much I’d have loved reading that as a kid, one scene really annoyed me. Ava and her Year 7 friends are dancing around in the lounge room during a sleepover and her Year 11 brother gets home and joins in with the dancing. Huh? Really? I would have found this so much more realistic if the brother simply rolled his eyes and smirked at the girls on the way to his bedroom to escape the giggling.

Adding to my growing list of insults to store in my head for future use, telling someone they’re “the stink that lingers around a dead rat”.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hachette Children’s Books, Australia for the opportunity to read this book. I’ll be continuing to read this series and look forward to getting to know Ava and her new friends better along the way.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Join the girls as they take on the world, one wave at a time!

Meet five very different girls with one thing in common: they’ve caught the surfing bug!

Ava has grown up in a big city. But everything changes when her parents decide on a sea change – they’re moving to the small town of Beachcrest to open a cafe. Ava will be starting high school that year, and now she has to say goodbye to her life in the city. Her new school is very different and Ava misses her friends. When she hears that surfing is going to be offered as a sport for the first time, Ava uses her snowboard skills to give it a try. Not everyone thinks she can become a surfer but Ava is determined to prove them wrong, and she’s making new friends along the way!

Ava, Alex, Bronte, Janani and Molly form the Surf Riders Club to help each other practise, but it quickly becomes much more than that. Whether it’s learning how to get barreled, problem parents or annoying boys, the Surf Riders Club are there for each other, no matter what.

Officially endorsed by Surfing Australia.

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DayBlack – Keef Cross

Written and illustrated by Keef Cross, DayBlack is a graphic novel that introduces Merce, a vampire with narcolepsy who sleeps in a very cool coffin. Currently spending his time in a small town called DayBlack in Georgia, where the pollution is so all consuming it blocks out the sun, it’s the perfect place to be a vampire.

Having tried out other occupations including mercenary and astronaut, he’s currently a tattoo artist that specialises in black and grey tattoos with occasional red, because vampires are colour blind with the exception of red (fortunately).

Because of the risk of HIV, Merce doesn’t obtain his blood the clichéd way. Instead he’s rigged his tattoo machine to simultaneously ink people as well as extract their blood into a coffee machine. Unfortunately this new method has some side effects – narcolepsy and bizarre dreams.

Merce sponsors and later becomes a foster parent to Rodamez. Ironically his sponsorship money was spent training Rodamez to become a vampire hunter, which makes for some awkward moments between the two.

Keef Cross is an incredible illustrator and has played around with vampire mythology, incorporating the well known with the innovative. While I appreciated the artwork and the premise I don’t feel like I was a member of the target audience. I wanted a more cohesive storyline and considering this graphic novel was Volume 1, I expected for it to sink its teeth into me (sorry, I had to!) and make me eager to read on to find out what happens in Volume 2. Sadly this didn’t happen for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rosarium Publishing for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Beneath the polluted clouds of DayBlack, Georgia, exists a murderer. After hundreds of years of killing to survive, he no longer wants to simply exist . . . he wants to live. DayBlack is the story of Merce, a former slave who was bitten by a vampire in the cotton fields. Four hundred years later, he works as a tattoo artist in the small town of DayBlack. The town has a sky so dense with pollution that the sun is nowhere to be seen, allowing Merce to move about freely, night or day. Even darker than the clouds are the dreams he’s been having that are causing him to fall asleep at the most awkward times (even while he’s tattooing someone). As he struggles to decipher his dreams, someone from his past returns with plans for him—plans that will threaten his new way of life and turn him back into the cold-hearted killer he once was.

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Frozen Charlotte #2: Charlotte Says – Alex Bell

Suspend all disbelief and take a ride back to the early 1900’s where we meet Jemima, a 17 year old girl who takes a position as assistant mistress at Dunvegan School for Girls, an industrial school for girls who haven’t committed crimes but have nowhere else to go, located on the Isle of Skye. Jemima herself is desperately trying to escape her tragic past at Whiteladies. So, no happy family stories here.

After spending some time on the Isle of Skye at the beginning of 1910 setting up the story we then travel seamlessly back and forth between there and Whiteladies where we gradually learn more about the past 18 months, Jemima’s past and reasons she wants to start over. Jemima was an interesting, complex character who longed to be the girl she was before Whiteladies yet knowing her physical and emotional scarring had changed her irrevocably.

Jemima begins work for Miss Grayson, the evil woman who should be fitted with a device that gives her an electric shock when she gets within 200 metres of a child, otherwise known in this story as the schoolmistress. This is a school where little things like light in the form of candles are rationed and punishments are doled out in abundance and recorded for posterity in The Punishment Book. Punishments may include wearing the imbecile’s cap while sitting in the stupid corner, being made to go without meals and heating, and being sent to Solitary where you may well freeze to death.

Needless to say, Miss Grayson wasn’t exactly my favourite character and throughout the book I determined her appropriate punishment would be for me to lock her in Solitary to enjoy some quality time with Annabelle, who I would have previously arranged to loan indefinitely from Lorraine and Ed Warren. While on the subject of punishments, I think Redwing may have benefited from a new friendship with Chucky.

Now that you know which characters’ names and offences should be inked into The Punishment Book for perpetuity, allow me tell you about my favourite character, Estella. Besides having the coolest name of anyone in the book which translates appropriately as star, Estella is a strong willed little girl who, despite having a history of not being believed no matter what she says, defiantly tells her truth regardless of the consequences. And believe me, for Estella there are always consequences. I definitely had a soft spot for her and would’ve adopted her in a heartbeat.

Henry was going to be my second favourite character as he was so sweet and loyal and loving, but he ended up annoying me because no one is that perfect. So, my actual second favourite character/s? The super creepy evil dolls, all named Frozen Charlotte with the exception of the lone male known as Frozen Charlie. Interestingly enough I don’t remember Charlie being psychotic but the poor guy was surrounded by some seriously unbalanced female dolls.

If you’re like me, by the halfway point, reading “Charlotte says…” will fill you with equal parts dread and morbidly fascinated anticipation that mirrors hearing Chucky’s “Wanna play?”. I loved the supernatural aspects of this book, dabbling in mediumship, automatic writing, séances, ghosts, possession and, of course, creepy dolls. I enjoyed the slow reveal of Jemima’s past and the reason why she doesn’t remember what happened the night of the fire at Whiteladies.

I spent a lot of the middle of the book arguing with myself about Jemima’s actions and lack of action – “Why doesn’t she just – she’s only 17. She’s just a kid! But couldn’t she just – remember her past. But what if she told – I told you! She’s a traumatised 17 year old! Just shut up and enjoy the book!”

I don’t usually find books creepy these days. I’ll get to the end and think to myself, ‘You think that’s scary? Come and sleep a night in my nightmares!’ Yet Charlotte Says was delightfully creepy, best read at night when the house is silent and you can hear the creaks from the house settling and the wind rustling through the trees. This book comes with a fairly significant death toll and some really disturbing and detailed descriptions of actual and fantasised about violence against animals.

I’m not usually that into books that linger in the early 20th century. Sure, I’m happy to time travel there on my way to another time period, but Alex Bell is such a talented writer that I would have happily signed up to stay longer on the Isle of Skye reading by rationed greasy, stinky, animal fat candlelight.

Having not read Frozen Charlotte first like I probably should have as it got buried under my towering TBR pile and temporarily forgotten about until I heard about Charlotte Says, I now have the excitement of knowing I get to read about what happens next with the benefit of knowing the backstory. I can’t wait!

Thank you to NetGalley, Little Tiger Group, Stripes Publishing, and a special thank you to Charlie for the opportunity to read this book. “Charlotte says you need to read this book!”

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The much-anticipated prequel to the bestselling Frozen Charlotte, a Zoella Book Club title in Autumn 2016. 

Following the death of her mother in a terrible fire, Jemima flees to the remote Isle of Skye, to take up a job at a school for girls. There she finds herself tormented by the mystery of what really happened that night.

Then Jemima receives a box of Frozen Charlotte dolls from a mystery sender and she begins to remember – a séance with the dolls, a violent argument with her step-father and the inferno that destroyed their home. And when it seems that the dolls are triggering a series of accidents at the school, Jemima realizes she must stop the demonic spirits possessing the dolls – whatever it takes.

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Quiet Girl in a Noisy World: An Introvert’s Story – Debbie Tung

Introverts of the world unite! In your home … on your couch or in bed … alone … Just the way we like it!

Debbie Tung has done a brilliant job of turning my biography into a graphic novel. Sure, she got my name wrong and I’m not married to a wonderful extrovert called Jason, but she got everything else spot on so who am I to quibble? Okay, so maybe Quiet Girl in a Noisy World wasn’t written with me specifically in mind, but it could have been! Debbie has totally nailed what being an introvert looks and feels like.

In this graphic novel, we follow Debbie through her final year of college, meeting and marrying an extrovert, navigating the workplace and surviving the nightmare of social interactions, often by using her husband as a social shield. From experiencing doubt about who she is and feeling different from the extroverts surrounding her who thrive on small talk, we see Debbie’s transformation upon learning there’s a word that describes her – introvert. Upon learning more about her tribe, Debbie learns to accept herself as she is and begins to embrace her dreams and passions rather than trying to fit into the extrovert shaped box she’s been struggling to fill.

In a world that seems to be filled with extroverts (probably because all of the introverts are at home or in hiding) introverts outside of their natural habitat can be made to feel like they’re from another planet when forced to interact with more than one person at a time and from another galaxy if even one of those people are a stranger. A stranger in the Dictionary of Introverts could be defined as ‘a person who isn’t a family member, partner or closest friend’.

Debbie is a very talented illustrator and captures the worldview of introverts so well that there will be people safely tucked away in their homes quietly murmuring, “Me, too” as they wander with hope through this graphic novel. I loved that you can just as easily enjoy this book in snippets as you can reading from cover to cover. I adored the use of a battery percentage above Debbie’s head showing how long she has to go before she needs a recharge. Should extroverts want to discover why we introverts act so weird in social situations (and let’s face it, we do!) this is the perfect way to find out because we’ll most likely be too shy to tell you face to face.

Through the wonder of internet anonymity, those who have read a couple of my book reviews most likely already know me better than some people who have been in my life for decades. I know the pain of feeling alone in a roomful of people who are happily making small talk and the comfort of not feeling lonely at all when I get to recharge by myself. My fellow introverts and I must have forgotten to register for Small Talk 101.

If you don’t know me you could be forgiven for wondering if I was born without a voice box. If you’ve managed to find your way through the labyrinth and cracked the code at the end to become a trusted friend then you may wonder if I’ll ever shut up! I guess that’s just one of the many paradoxes of introversion.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this graphic novel. I love it so much and will be rereading it whenever I need to remind myself that being an introvert can be a strength, not a character flaw.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Sweet, funny, and quietly poignant, Debbie Tung’s comics reveal the ups and downs of coming of age as an introvert.

This illustrated gift book of short comics illuminates author Debbie Tung’s experience as an introvert in an extrovert’s world. Presented in a loose narrative style that can be read front to back or dipped into at one’s leisure, the book spans three years of Debbie’s life, from the end of college to the present day. In these early years of adulthood, Debbie slowly but finally discovers there is a name for her lifelong need to be alone: she’s an introvert.

The first half of the book traces Debbie’s final year in college: socializing with peers, dating, falling in love (with an extrovert!), moving in, getting married, meeting new people, and simply trying to fit in. The second half looks at her life after graduation: finding a job, learning to live with her new husband, trying to understand social obligations when it comes to the in-laws, and navigating office life. Ultimately, Quiet Girl sends a positive, pro-introvert message: our heroine learns to embrace her introversion and finds ways to thrive in the world while fulfilling her need for quiet. 

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The Monster at Recess – Shira C. Potter

The Monster at Recess has an inviting bright and cheerful cover featuring a cute, diverse assortment of monsters that capture your imagination before you even read the blurb. Shira C. Potter has written an uplifting book that will resonate with young girls, especially those who don’t feel like they belong.

Sophie attends Grey Stone Day School. The monsters at Monstamasta Day School share the same playground as the students at Sophie’s school but have recess at a different time, as girls at Grey Stone aren’t supposed to talk to the monsters. Sophie’s school is filled with drab grey and black, and she’s envious of the various monster colours.

Sophie doesn’t fit in at her school, even after she convinces her mother to dye her naturally red hair brown to match the other girls. She is bullied, ignored and gossiped about. When Sophie meets Zaragilda, a purplish pink monster with red stars on her face, she finds a new friend and discovers that being different isn’t so bad after all.

The messages about making judgements about other people based on their looks and reputation, the constraints of conformity versus the freedom of being yourself, the damaging effects on self esteem of bullying, and having the courage to go against the grain are vital and made clear to the reader.

I appreciated the positivity and hope found in this book, and the encouragement to be yourself. One of my favourite things about this book was learning that it was the bullies who were the real monsters, not the colourful monsters the girls were taught to fear. I want this book to find its way into homes, libraries and schools, and into the hands of lots of young girls, particularly those who have experienced bullying or feel different from their peers.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Independent Book Publishers Association for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Meet misfit Sophie, too used to bullies at Grey Stone Day School. Her classmates Julia and Molly tease her to no end and her teacher, Mrs. Cook ignores the bullying.

The playground at Grey Stone has a special secret though: it’s shared with the students of a monster school!

Craving acceptance and diversity, and trying to defeat her feelings of fear towards these strange and colourful monsters, Sophie bravely steps into the unknown and meets a little monster at recess – and makes her first friend. Through her friendship with the monster, she develops stronger feelings of self-confidence and self-esteem. In addition, she learns to stand tall and to appreciate differences and she discovers that sometimes you really can turn lemons into lemonade.

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Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy #2: Disco Fever – Doug Savage

Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy: Disco Fever. Huh? Having never heard of Savage Chickens or Doug Savage before, I had to rely solely on my intrigue at the strange illustration on the cover in my decision to take a chance on this graphic novel. I am so glad I did! Although this book’s target audience is kids, don’t let that fool you! Adults will get as much, if not more, joy from this book as their kids.

Whenever the cute but obviously evil chickadee is around, bad things happen. Laser Moose, protector of the forest who shoots lasers from his eyes, and Rabbit Boy, his dancing sidekick, are on the case. Cyborgupine, Laser Moose’s cyborg-porcupine nemesis, makes use of a truckload of disco balls to attempt to defeat Laser Moose once and for all. Can Laser Moose still be a hero if he can’t use his lasers?

With Gus (a vegetarian wolf), Frank (a deer), squirrels, a fish, an eagle and a spider along for the ride, I couldn’t choose a favourite character. I liked them all! I even noticed a cameo appearance by Mechasquirrel from the first Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy book.

Doug Savage’s illustrations had me happily making a fool of myself by randomly bursting into laughter throughout the book. I particularly loved the chain reactions that evil chickadee caused. This graphic novel is the perfect example of a picture painting a thousand words. The details are important in Doug’s pictures and if you pay attention to what’s happening in the entire scene you’ll be rewarded. Something small and seemingly insignificant at the beginning of the story may well come back into play later.

As soon as I finished reading I searched for more graphic novels by Doug Savage. I found the first of this series along with plenty of Savage Chickens offerings available on my library’s digital comic book and graphic novel app. (What would I do without libraries?!) Needless to say, every single one has been downloaded ready for my amusement. Incidentally, as I’ve recently discovered my love for this publisher, I also downloaded as many Andrews McMeel Publishing titles as I had space to store and plan to go back for more once I’ve devoured this lot.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Reread 23 September 2019

Following on from my reread of Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy I’m revisiting the one that started it all for me – Disco Fever!

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Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy’s new adventures begin with a Disco Avalanche. Laser Moose has been tracking a new evil in the forest, a really cute chickadee.

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It’s a good thing Laser Moose is so suspicious because that sweet little bird manages to set off a chain reaction that results in this!

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Poor Frank encounters another one of Laser Moose’s errant laser beams so it’s time for yet another visit to the Doc.

We learn that Mechasquirrel has been working on an evil nemesis type plan for the past two months in A Moose Without Lasers. Meanwhile, Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy are still debating whether that chickadee is a super villain or not.

In Disco Fever Mechasquirrel decides to involve other forest animals in his ongoing battle with Laser Moose by taking hostages. Poor Frank! Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy have a plan, or at least the beginning of one.

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I loved this graphic novel just as much as I did during my first read! I think I appreciated all of the chain reactions and background details even more during my reread and I smiled the entire time. I’m almost positive this is going to remain my favourite Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy read.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy face a familiar foe, a terrifying new enemy, and the frightening possibility that lasers can’t solve everything in their biggest and most dangerous adventure yet.

An accident (involving a pine cone, a fish, and a truck delivering disco supplies) triggers a series of events that leads to the ultimate confrontation between Laser Moose and his nemesis Cyborgupine. And it’s a fight that Laser Moose can’t win with lasers. Especially when faced with a malevolent new enemy: a cute little chickadee.

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Feeling Worried – Kay Barnham

Illustrations – Mike Gordon

Feeling Worried is a great little picture book aimed at children from 5 to 9 years and is part of the Everyday Feelings series.

Ava helps her brother understand his maths homework that he’s been worried about all week. She advises her friend Bahar to talk to her parents because she’s worried about her parents’ divorce and which parent she’ll be living with when they separate. Ava helps the new girl at school, Mila, overcome her worry about having a different accent than the other kids in their school. Now Ava is worried about going to the dentist tomorrow. Will she ask anyone for help with her worry or keep it to herself? Can she overcome her worry?

Kay Barnham has done a great job of making a scary feeling not so scary. The message is clear in the different scenarios in the book that when you’re worried it can help if you talk to someone about it. There’s the sense in reading this book that having worries are understandable and there’s no judgement attached to them. There’s also positivity shining through the book, with the constant hope that things will be okay. Feeling Worried would make a great starting point for discussions with children about what worries them personally.

There’s a section at the back of the book with suggestions for other books relating to this topic along with a very useful section for parents and teachers. This section provides ideas for the adult to make the book interactive with the child or children they’re reading it to, with questions and activities aimed at exploring worry more.

Mike Gordon’s illustrations are also easy to ‘read’. The expressions on the faces of the people make it clear when someone is worried and when they feel better and the pictures line up well with what’s happening in the story. There’s a softness to the colours used, along with some brighter areas, that make the images calming to look at. I loved the style of the illustrations. There was a quirkiness to the pictures that really appealed to me, particularly the expression on the cat’s face and the tooth picture on the wall in the dentist’s office. The illustrations in this book remind me of Quentin Blake’s style, but in colour.

I can see this book being used for bedtime reading and also at libraries, schools and childcare centres. While I haven’t read any others in the series I would anticipate that this book along with the other books about being angry, jealous, sad, scared and shy would make a great set to help teach children to identify and deal appropriately with their feelings.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Free Spirit Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Anna is there to help her friends and her little brother with their worries, showing them how to talk it out, ask for support, and face new challenges. When she faces a visit to the dentist, though, Anna feels what it’s like to be worried herself. Will she take her own advice and help herself not worry?

Everyday Feelings Series: Young children face many strong feelings, some of which can be difficult to handle. This series uses humour and compassion to show children how to help others — and themselves — feel better when dealing with challenging emotions. Lively art illustrates the stories with charm and energy. At the end of each book, a special section for adults presents ideas for helping children deal with feelings in healthy ways, as well as a list of recommended books for further reading. Also available is a free downloadable leader’s guide for this series with additional information, discussion questions, and activities.

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Lighter Than My Shadow – Katie Green

Katie’s troubles with food began when she was a young child hiding toast in her bedroom and throwing food away. After experiencing bullying Katie’s doubts about herself really take root, especially after she compares her body to others and thinks hers is out of proportion. She begins deliberately restricting her food intake, then becomes obsessed with nutrition and calorie counting. Her father takes her to see a doctor at 17 and in the doctor’s ‘wisdom’ she suggests Katie eat ice cream. Surprise, surprise … this is not the solution. I know! Shocking, huh?!

Finally Katie is taken to hospital where she’s diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. Her parents withdraw her from school so she can be monitored at all times and she begins to see a psychologist and a dietician. Katie then uses the same perfectionism that got her into trouble in the first place as she begins to work towards recovery. Her intense need for control ensures she feels like she needs to do everything she attempts perfectly to make her feel good enough, but of course that doesn’t help.

Katie is very honest about her struggle with food and about instances of sexual assault she later experiences. Her discussions with her therapist about her anorexia, binge eating and effects of sexual assault are difficult to read but so important. Those who have experienced any combination of these issues will see themselves in Katie’s experience of healing and those who haven’t experienced them will gain valuable insight into the thought processes that accompany such painful experiences. Katie’s experience, while it certainly highlights how difficult recovery is, tells us that recovery is indeed possible.

Katie’s illustrations in this graphic novel are fantastic. I loved how well the story came to life through the pictures alone. It was clear how all of the people were feeling in each panel and the depiction of Katie’s thoughts and illness hovering over her head worked perfectly for the story. I applaud Katie for her strength and courage in not only telling her story in the first place but in sharing it with the reader.

I personally appreciated all of the “me, too” moments I felt while reading, as if Katie was speaking directly to my experience in specific sections. There was also a very significant lightbulb moment for me that I expect will help me immensely once I’ve had a chance to process the magnitude of the revelation I received. While it’s not all about me (except when it is) I’d like to personally thank Katie if she ever comes across this review because her courage in telling her truth is causing a ripple effect in my life. Thank you, Katie! I’ll be revisiting this book whenever I’m looking for wisdom, strength and understanding.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Like most kids, Katie was a picky eater. She’d sit at the table in silent protest, hide uneaten toast in her bedroom, listen to parental threats that she’d have to eat it for breakfast.

But in any life a set of circumstance can collide, and normal behavior might soon shade into something sinister, something deadly.

Lighter Than My Shadow is a hand-drawn story of struggle and recovery, a trip into the black heart of a taboo illness, an exposure of those who are so weak as to prey on the vulnerable, and an inspiration to anybody who believes in the human power to endure towards happiness.

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Ruby Wishfingers #4: King of the Castle – Deborah Kelly

Illustrations – Leigh Hedstrom

I’ve read all of the Ruby Wishfingers books that have been published so far and really enjoy the positive characters, Leigh Hedstrom’s adorable illustrations and the imaginative storylines. I confess I’ve already read Ruby Wishfingers: King of the Castle but during my first read I didn’t find it as enchanting as the previous novels.

I was interested to find out if a second read would change my mind about this one or if I’d work out what put me off the first time around. I’m glad I did as it turned out I loved this the second time around and have concluded that during my first read I must have been having one of those ‘nothing is ever good enough’ critical days where I just needed to get over myself.

Ruby inherited her Wishfingers magic from several generations ago. When she’s granted wishes she feels a tingling in her fingertips and to use them she makes a wish and blows on the tips of her fingers. Ruby is a lovely girl and usually ends up using a lot of her wishes to help other people or to fix problems that arise due to the unexpected fallout from previous wishes. She’s learned to be very careful regarding what she wishes for and remembers that it is very helpful to always have a spare wish, just in case.

Ruby is not the only Wishfingers with magic. Granny inherited some magic as well and she is helpful in providing guidance to Ruby. Also, Ruby has recently discovered that her younger brother, Jellybean, has inherited some magic of his own! In the previous book, Hide-and-Seek, Ruby loses one of her wishes and it is still missing at the beginning of this book.

When Ruby gets mad at Jellybean after wasting three of her new wishes on remedying problems he has created, she manipulates Jellybean into doing whatever she wants by declaring herself Queen Ruby and playing a game of Queen Ruby Says with him. Cousin Todd comes to visit and with Ruby still on her power trip, she begins bossing him around. Todd finds Ruby’s missing wish and decides that no one will be able to tell him what to do if he’s the King of Australia. Chaos ensues!

I definitely enjoyed this book more the second time around. I love that there are consequences for any poor decisions made, lessons are learned and children apologise for bad behaviour without having an adult tell them they have to. I look forward to reading the fifth book, Funny Money, upon its release and am interested to discover how the twist at the end of this book is explored.

Thank you very much to NetGalley, Wombat Books and Rhiza Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Ruby is back, with twelve new wishes! And one missing wish from last spring that is still floating about in the garden somewhere …

Jellybean is once again making mischief for Ruby, until she discovers the perfect way to make her little brother do exactly what she says. But Cousin Todd isn’t so keen on doing what Ruby says.

When Todd stumbles across Ruby’s missing wish he decides to teach her a lesson about being bossy, and make a few rules of his own.

Meet Australia’s new king and explore a country where school, homework, manners and peas are all banned. Discover monster trucks, giant jumping castles, furious principals and hungry crocodiles along with plenty of laughs in an all new Ruby Wishfingers adventure.

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Ventura Saga #2: The Glow of Fallen Stars – Kate Ling

DNF @ 42%

I really enjoyed The Loneliness of Distant Beings and so I was intrigued to find out what lay in store for our castaways after living their entire lives until now travelling through space with no hope of ever setting foot on land. While I’m allergic to romance I actually thought the forbidden romance between Seren and Dom in the first book was adorable.

Imagine my surprise when after the initial awe of exploring this unknown land along with Seren, Dom and their companions I wound up bored. I would’ve been happy to plod along had it not been for the extremely unbelievable development at 41%. I stopped at 42% because even though it was slow going beforehand the unnamed spoiler took me right out of the book and made me wish the author had left The Loneliness of Distant Beings as a standalone.

Having said that I’m certainly interested in The Truth of Different Skies because I love a good prequel and I’d like to find out how the events in Loneliness came to be. If I enjoy that one I’ll be revisiting this book because I’m hopeful that the prequel gives some sort of explanation that turns my unbelievable stance into an “oh, so that’s why that happened!”. If/When I make it to 100% on this one I will update this review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hachette Children’s Books, Australia for the opportunity to read this book.

Once Upon a Blurb

I longed so hard for all the things that make life life, and I never thought they’d be mine. But now … now they are. Now I have something to lose.

Seren and Dom have fled their old lives on board spaceship Ventura in order to be together. They crash-land on a beautiful, uninhabited planet, which at first seems like paradise.

There is no one to answer to … but no one to ask for help. And with each new day comes the realisation of how vulnerable they truly are.

This planet has secrets – lots of them. Uncovering them could be the key to survival, but at what cost?

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