Anonymity Jones by James Roy

anonAnonymity is not happy. Her sister is off exploring Europe, her dad is going through a mid-life crisis, and her mum has a strange new boyfriend. And no-one (not even the other three musketeers) understands why she is worried about all this.

The problems all started, it seems, when her parents had a blazing row which culminated in their separation – enter John, Corinne’s boyfriend, after Anonymity’s dad left home in disgrace. Anonymity is not comfortable with ‘try-hard’ John, but her mother is in denial and her friends are pre-occupied by other interests like new boyfriends.

James Roy has a talent for writing from the point of view of young people – and, as an observant father of adolescent daughters, has created realistic female characters. 

He knows about shopping, the dream of the European holiday, the fantasies about the ‘perfect’ boyfriend, and the reality of the times when friends let you down – just when you really need them. He also captures the awkward positions that teens sometimes find themselves in; the times when they are powerless to speak up, afraid they are perceiving things differently to reality. Because of this, he has the reader of this tale questioning the motives of some of the characters, and worrying about the situations Anonymity faces in these awkward times.

Anonymity wants her life back – back to the times when her parents were together and happy. But as her friends explain – times change, and “sometimes you just have to take what you get, and be happy for that.” Whether Anonymity accepts this idea, and how she deals with the things life throws at her, reflect a lot of things we can all identify with. This is the power of a good book – one which get the reader involved, one which is believable and one with believable characters.

The places Anonymity finds herself in, as a consequence of what life throws at her, are well worth considering – how they might have been avoided, prevented or warned against. Makes you wonder why James called her ‘Anonymity’ in the first place?

What do you think?

Loving Richard Feyman by Penny Tangey

lovingrfCatherine claims she isn’t your average teenager – after all, she’s not shy about stating her love for science and her abilities in maths. And her favourite pinup poster is of a Nobel Prize winning physicist, Richard Feyman. In fact, she is one of those students who actually chooses to wear her school uniform on a mufti-day! She doesn’t care – or does she?

So begins the story, centring on the school life of 15 year old Catherine, as she negotiates the trials and tribulations of year 10 at Kyneton Secondary College. Written as a daily letter to her scientist hero, Loving Richard Feynman is a clever blend of historic fact and adolescent musings. The facts are about Richard Feynman’s scientific life and the musings are all about friendship, family and managing day-to-day relationships. Catherine uses her writing to Richard to make sense of her experiences, and to think ‘out loud’ about her feelings – even though they are expressed to a dead physicist.

Though the novel focuses on only a few months, it is a critical time for Catherine.  We get a sense that she does have the normal angst and worries of a teenager which most high school students (and those who remember high school) can identify with; things like being socially awkward, being picked on or snubbed by the ‘in’ group, insecurity in your own abilities and dealing with those changing hormones.

How she copes with these things and new friendships is told in an easy-going manner, making this a great story to recommend to a wide audience. (One reveiwer on Penny Tangey’s home page actually said: As a female physicist, I want to urge Physics teachers everywhere to read this book and then lend it to their English teacher colleagues.)

I agree because Loving Richard Feyman does provide a realistic story and an entertaining read, while it has us questioning Catherine’s (and our own) expectations of life in a perfect world.

To Kill a Mockingbird 50th Anniversary

MockingbirdfirstJuly 11 2010 (today)  is the 50th Anniversary of the publication of this beloved American classic.

To Kill a Mockingbird has sold more than sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, has been translated into more than forty languages and, of course, has been studied in schools for decades.

Its great success, however, meant that Harper Lee did not continue her career as a writer. According to her sister this was because: “She said she couldn’t top what she’s done,” remarked Alice Finch Lee. “She said, ‘I haven’t anywhere to go but down.'”  

Harper Lee is well known as one of the most reclusive authors ever, refusing to give interviews about her book for many, many years, and even refusing to write an introduction for new imprints of TKAMB.

That does not mean there isn’t any comment by others on the book – over time much has been written about this classic. And now, there are many web sites dedicated to this anniversary, including lots of different ways people can celebrate this amazing novel. One in particular, http://tokillamockingbird50year.com/ has a calendar of events starting from may this year.

Another site displays Best Tributes to To Kill a Mockingbird on Its 50th Anniversary, including a link to this video clip.

There are critics of TKAMB, however, as indicated at the beginning of Mockingbird hits false note, a recent article by Richard King in the Australian. (Well worth a read for those studying this classic.) Has he changed his mind by the end of the article?

Celebrate by reading it again, or enjoy it for the first time if you haven’t already read this classic!

Image source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mockingbirdfirst.JPG

Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James

maliceCan you imagine how good it would be to have a bidding war over the release of your first novel, (which had previously been rejected by several publishing houses), and to have advances on your manuscript past $1 million? Well, this has been the case for Rebecca James, author of  ‘Beautiful Malice’ – a gritty psychological thriller ready for the YA market, and a good read for adults too.

The story revolves around Katherine/Katie, and the friendships which evolve since her move to Sydney, after tragic circumstances impact her ‘perfect family life’ in Melbourne. In a time-slip tale, we gradually learn about the events which have lead to the move – events which still play on the conscience of Katherine, as the older sister surviving the situation which claimed her sister’s life.

Katherine’s insular existence is challenged when Alice befriends her at her new school. Gradually, Alice’s charms win Katherine over in an unlikely friendship, and Katherine lives, almost vicariously for a while, through Alice’s bold, random and narcissistic ways. As Alice’s actions become bolder and crueller, Katherine questions her friendship and begins to form alliances with victims of Alice’s taunts instead. And this builds to a vicious, though predictable, finale.

The hype surrounding this publication may make us extra critical and expect lots from the book – but it is a good read and has received lots of good reviews (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7720252-beautiful-malice).

It would be interesting to hear from teen readers – especially when one considers the amount of time Katherine doesn’t spend in school (though she is an HSC student). And some of the things she does would, hopefully, be atypical for the average student. (Would you leave a party in a car full of strangers, when your sister has clearly been drugged by the car’s occupants (4 males)? Are parents really that hard to call?)

Perhaps these are the reservations for including this thriller in the school library? I do like the style, and the story is quite clever. Should tales like this be included in school libraries? Do we censor too much? Comments welcome.

Australian Book Industry Awards 2010

ABIA-Logo-2010There was a mix of the familiar and the new in the recent ABIA (Australian Book Industry Awards) in Sydney this year, as several well-known authors were acknowledged alongside a few newbies.

In the Younger Children category, one of our all-time favourites, Jackie French and illustrator Bruce Whatley won – with Baby Wombat’s Week – a story Jackie says was based on the real life story of her son’s friendship with a wombat when he was a young boy (and we all know how Jackie’s life has been vastly impacted by rogue wombats in, and near, her home). Myfanwy Jones and Spiri Tsintziras won Book of the Year for Older Children for Parlour Games for Modern Families.

While Jackie French has 132 books under her belt, the new(er) comer to these awards is  Craig Silvey whose second novel, Jasper Jones, has won the acclaimed The Book of the Year and Literary Fiction Book of the Year at these awards. In his short career, Silvey’s writing has already received many accolades and Jasper Jones  has been honoured at least 4 times in the last year.

For more details on the awards, see: http://www.fancygoods.com.au/weekly-book-newsletter/2010/07/01/abia-award-winners/ you can also download the awards list for 2010 and the shortlist from which it was judged at: http://www.publishers.asn.au/awards.cfm?doc_id=27 to see if you agree with the judges.