Fiction Reviews

The Night Gardener – Terry Fan & Eric Fan

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This one was another hit with the kid, which is surprising as he’s not usually into stories. This book is about a gardener who sneaks out in the night and creates beautiful topiaries on his street in the spring time.  My little one really enjoyed the surprising animal shapes that the trees and shrubs became, he also enjoyed the moon illustrated on the pages as he’s super into space. The gardener eventually gets caught, but the outcome isn’t what my kid expected which kept the story interesting. Wonderfully illustrated with rich dark colours, this soothing tale is a good one to settle down with at bedtime.

Shooting stars – Brian Falkner

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I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book, but I actually loved it.  I wasn’t sure if I would be able to connect with Egan, especially after the last book I read taking place in modern day Auckland with a male lead was Into the River. But Egan was very likeable, the prime example of innocence and wonder, something with is usually reserved only for young kids, not older teenagers.  It was refreshing to see my city from the eyes of someone new to it, and someone who really doesn’t understand it. Some background, Egan has grown up in hiding in the bush with only his mother for company.  His story is about his journey to find his mother who has suddenly disappeared, while trying to avoid his famous father who was very abusive.  He travels to Auckland in search of her and experiences a first love among many firsts. The way cursing is approached in this book was adorable, as it’s quite clear Egan doesn’t actually know any, and his interpretations are great.  I would recommend this book, it is an excellent story told in journal entries which makes it an easy book to read little and often.

Sanspell (Bloodtree Chronicles #1)– Elizabeth Pulford

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This book started off well, it had a great concept, it just didn’t execute it well.  The story is meant for middle grade (ages 8-12ish) and starts out in the modern world suddenly we’re thrown head first into a world of magic and stories.  Being thrown head first is one of my favourite ways to get into a story.  Our lead Abigail is just a mostly normal girl who likes stories, her parents, as most are horrible at telling her important things that will change her life. This is where it begins to get confusing.  That is my biggest hang up with this book, the plot line was confusing.  I pushed on hoping it would become clear, but it all seemed to sort of just never got cleared up. So Abigail is sent to another world by her mother and meets her unknown aunts. She’s then sort of told that she’s a story teller or some sort, but gets put in a story..?? Like I said, it’s confusing, they tell her she’s supposed to spin the story, then she gets put in someone else’s story and it really didn’t make sense, but what she got up to in this story world was pretty interesting. I don’t think I’ll continue with this series, there wasn’t enough world building around Abigail, more like she was just thrown into another world and she didn’t understand it, so no one would. I don’t think I would recommend this one unless the child is an avid reader, the lack of a clear plot line was hard for me as an adult, I can only imagine what a turn off it would be for a kid who doesn’t enjoy reading.

The Chemist – Stephenie Meyer

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I’m becoming quite the fan of Stephenie Mayer (the Twilight series and The Host). This is a great story, filled with action, suspense and a very smart and capable woman. Our heroine Alex was awesome, strong, independent, quick thinking and capable, all of my favourite things in a female hero. The story was well thought out and had me guessing, I wasn’t really sure how it was going to go, but the ride there was smooth and engaging, nothing felt out of place or clunky and there wasn’t a moment I was thinking about something else, it was very engaging. If you’re not sure if you’re a fan of military action and shoot outs, this is a great gentle introduction told by a compelling female lead. If you don’t like strong women this is not the book for you.

Blankets – Craig Thompson

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This graphic novel was beautiful.  The story was touching and very well crafted. It’s a story of growing up, your first love and the challenges that come with being in a very religious family. We follow the author Craig as he’s growing up, this is semi-autobiographical, realistic-fiction, some parts actually happened and some are made up as they make for a better story. The art work is great, a little rough, which makes it compelling.  The book is thick, but the story was so good I couldn’t put it down and read the entire thing in an evening.  Craig’s feelings for Raina come through amazingly, you can practically feel what he feels.  This story is heart breaking, painful, beautiful and definitely worth the read. You’ll finish it in no time, it’s that good, I promise.

Into the river – Ted Dawe

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For those who don’t know, this book was up for consideration to be banned in New Zealand.  I can see why some would have thought this, but glad New Zealand was mature enough to decide not to ban it.  In fact I recently read that it’s getting a movie deal. If you read the abstract for this book it actually tells you nothing about the story. In fact I think the abstract for this book is pretty awful and useless. This story is about Te Arepa, who is called Devon for most of the book, Te Arepa is an identity he sheds pretty quickly into the book. He is incredibly smart and gets into a private boarding school where he finds a new identity amongst the city and white European New Zealand culture, where he names himself Devon, and sheds his Maori identity. That in itself speaks volumes as he now doesn’t fit in with his own people anymore and doesn’t really fit in with the rich white crowd at his school either. I’m not really sure how reflective this actually is as to what is happening with New Zealand’s Maori youth, but it doesn’t seem too far-fetched. Most of the book happens during Devon’s high school years, the friends he makes, the girls he hooks up with and the shameful and naughty things he gets up to at his boarding school in Auckland so far away from his family in the rural North.  I read this book to completion, but found it a little challenging as I can’t really identify with Devon and his completely male boarding school, I have no actual real life experience with the things he was meant to handle and that made it difficult to keep my attention.  I can see why it was considered for ban though, it alludes to paedophilia (Student-teacher relationships), sex scenes and a rape scene, so if you’re looking at reading this or suggesting someone read it I would rate this as senior read with an age restriction of 16+.

Mortal Fire – Elizabeth Knox

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If you like magic and mysterious circumstances you’ll like Mortal Fire. This is the story of Canny Mochrie and how she finds her magic.  Set in Southland (a fictional New Zealand) in 1959, Canny is a Pasifika girl and a mathematical genius who can see something Extra.  That’s how she describes the magic she can see in and on things, they are runes she can’t understand, and no one else can see them.

Canny ends up being shipped off on a trip with her step-brother Sholto over the summer, forcing her to leave the bedside of her best friend Marli who is struck in an iron lung due to Polio. She is anxious and a bit surly until she stumbles upon the magical Zarene Valley and manipulates the situation so she and Sholto must stay at the Zarene family guesthouse.  She then uses her time there to figure out the magic runes that the Zarene’s teach their children.

The plot thickens when she stumbles upon a be-spelled house which imprisons an attractive young man, Ghislain.  As she gets to know him, they fall in love, though if you ask me it is a little bit quick and forced. And as she is discovering more and more about the secrets of magic and the valley, she discovers even more about herself.

This book as some great themes: tragedy, first love, friend and family relationships, all mixed together with magic and mystery told by a pasifika-esque voice which is a rarity in itself.  I enjoyed unravelling this thread and reckon many others might too.

Miss Hazeltine’s Home for Shy and Fearful Cats – Alicia Potter – Ill: Brigitta Sif

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Just adorable. A great theme of ‘you can overcome your fears’ told with cats, with encouragement from the gentle and understanding Miss Hazeltine.  I really like the messages sent through this story.  Miss Hazeltine has set up a home for cats that don’t seem to fit in due to one fear or another, but through her gentle and un-pushing nature helps them become comfortable and confident that they can do things despite being scared. I would recommend this for the child who is having issues with being worried or anxious about doing something new or scary.

Sylvie the Second – Kaeli Baker

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Wow, talk about heavy. Yet this was an easy read despite the content as I read this in a day over a few hours.  Our story teller Sylvie is unnoticed in the middle of her crumbling family.  Her older sister Cate (Calamity Cate as Sylvie calls her) has mental health issues and is hospitalized again for trying to take her own life.  Sylvie, is fed up with always coming in last next to her sister and being completely unnoticed at school.  She dyes her hair and buys some new clothes becoming a completely different person overnight.  This gets her noticed, especially by the boy she’s really into, but also by people she really doesn’t need in her life.

She goes to a party just before school lets out for the year, this story happens over about a three month stretch, including Christmas and New Years, during New Zealand’s summer, and gets into trouble.  She’s caught the eye of the wrong guy and he ends up raping her at the party.  This leaves her confused and miserable.

Her parents are so wrapped up in their own dissolving marriage and hurt and pain of their first born in the mental ward, that they completely skim over Sylvie when she really needs them most.  The only person in her corner is her best friend Belle (of the books, Sylvie is really into alliteration) who helps her get her feet again over the summer as Sylvie struggles with the fallout of her own and others actions.

I rather enjoyed this book, despite the content and feel it gives a good account of how someone so young might deal with the issue of rape.  It also deals with everything positively as I felt Sylvie made all the best possible choices in dealing with her dilemma.