Month: September 2010

Jasper Jones – a ‘Mockingbird’?

Linda J

jasper-jones-a-novel“There are drums in my head. Doom doom doom. It’s so difficult to breathe in this little clearing. Something has shifted. A bubble has burst. I want out. I feel faint. I’ve got to be away from this. I want to be back home, but that seems very far away… It’s too late… I am involved.”

When Charlie answers an urgent knocking at his bedroom window, and follows Jasper Jones into the night, he certainly wasn’t expecting how this decision was going to have a major impact on his life. Jasper, socially rejected, desperately seeks out Charlie – the only one in the town of Corrigan he can trust.

But what horrific discovery did they make that night? Was their course of action really the one that they had to take? What was it about the town of Corrigan that made it so difficult for them to turn to others?

After the experiences of this night, Charlie finds Corrigan even more claustrophobic, as the small-minded community casts suspicions on the usual targets. Families become overprotective and guarded. Within his family, tensions rise. He becomes super-sensitive to the way people treat one another, and super-alert to the way different people react to the tragic news as it leaks out.

Through Charlie’s eyes, we learn about his friends’ lives, and observe the differences in the way they deal with what life dishes out to them. We laugh at the antics and comradery of mates, Jeremy and Charlie. We despair at the way Jeremy is bullied, and cheer his strength of character. Similarly, we can care about, but not pity, Jasper as he meets the extreme challenges of life in a small-minded community, tainted by his family background. And Charlie struggles to see why things should be this way, while he also deals with his own personal rollercoasters of life and love.

Jasper Jones has been touted as an ‘Australian “To Kill a Mockingbird”‘. It deals with issues of sterotyping, racism and closed minds. It does so, with real characters, teenagers dealing with all the angst of adolescence. It’s an interesting tale from a talented writer with a few surprise turns, and well worth a read. Recommended for the YA market, say 15+ – especially those tackling ‘To Kill a  Mockingbird’, which it uses as a framework to reflect the Australian teenage experience.

Recognition for Silvey

There has been great praise for Craig Silvey’s book, and there have been several awards for JJ and Silvey, including:

  • Winner of the Indie Book of the Year – 2009 
  • Winner of the 2010 Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year, Book of the Year.
  • Shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award – 2010
  • Shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Prize for Fiction- 2010
  • Shortlisted for the Kathleen Mitchell Award – see judges’ comments on Jasper Jones here.
  • Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist Awards – 2005 – at the age of 22 – details here.

(N.B. The most recent cover (shown here) is a great improvement on the first cover  issue.)

Happy Birthday, Roald Dahl!

Linda J

dahlSeptember 13 is a time to remember one of the most inventive children’s authors, Roald Dahl. (Dahl was born on September 13, 1916.)

Though the current generation of children will think more about Johnny Depp starring in ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, there have been many more who have grown up reading about  ‘Matilda’, ‘the BFG’ and practising speaking ‘gobblefunk’ (a language invented by Dahl). In a wonderful world of escapism, Dahl captured the imagination of many young readers, and remains available to avid readers today.

Did you ever…

Did you ever wonder if Matilda would escape her monotonous homelife? Or how would she overcome the awful Trunchbull?

What about ‘the Witches’? Did you see them in your mind in the same way as they were portayed in the movie, ‘the Witches’? Could you handle the descriptions of them better as a book description, than what you saw in a film? (I wouldn’t let my young children watch the movie even though they’d read the book…)

Did you ever want to take off away from your troubles? Well, James does in the form of a giant peach! This is the imagination of Roald Dahl – as he delves into issues of being an unwanted orphan, who is desperate friends. Thus, James has to discover friends instead, in a band of rag-tag anthropomorphic insects; insects transformed by the magic of the green crystals which have grown his peach to giant proportions.

james_peach

Such are the worlds created by Dahl. Where almost nothing is impossible, and almost all his stories are told from the perspective of a child – and often with some moral to the tale. Gluttony and greed are frowned upon, as is the mistreatment of children. Surprisingly though, some of his books have been censored and/or banned –  ‘the Witches’, ‘James and the Giant Peach’, and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ to name a few.

Banned books!

The first was banned because it gave children an unrealistic or false idea of the way the world works. (Surprise, surprise! it did focus on a witches convention!) ‘James’ was in trouble because he disobeyed his abusive aunts and escaped in a ‘too magical’ peach. And ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ struck trouble, even  before publication, because the original Oompa Loompas were created as black pygmies, who worked only for chocolate and no pay. Thankfully, Dahl bowed to censorship, and changed the offensive racist elements.

As noted by those who have witnessed Dahl’ s popularity: 

“The very controversy caused by Roald Dahl’s works for early adolescents has drawn millions of teens to his books and, subsequently, encouraged them to enjoy reading. These young people found in Roald Dahl something that they could not find anywhere else: an author with a view of society that was essentially identical to their own–distrustful of authority figures and firm in the belief that good will triumph.” Sharon E. Royer in the Alan Review

Maybe we should let students know how Dahl was censored and banned and wait for the rush? Come and visit the display set up for his birthday, take the quiz challenge and read the trivia fact sheet – all thanks to RandomHouse as they too celebrate for 2010. How much do you know about Roald Dahl?

Really… ‘It’s a Book’!

Linda J

bookThanks to our rep. from the Children’s Bookshop at Beecroft, we have discovered a great new picture book called ‘It’s a Book’.

This book, by Lane Smith, makes a quirky comment on the digital age through some quirky characters – a tech-savvy jackass/donkey and a book-loving ape. It’s all about comparing the old with the new, the expectations and habits we now have, and the demands that the digital generation face.

‘It’s a Book’ is a book which has already generated some discussion, but not because of its message as a promoter of the merits of books. It does remind us that books need no charging, don’t have bells and whistles, and can be quite relaxing to dip into. It even mentions the library as a place to find more books (if someone hogs the one you were wanting to read yourself…). All interesting comments in this digital age.

The controversy, however, seems to be about a term used at the end of the book. Whether you take offence, I think, might be dependent on your family, cultural or country-of-origin background. And even then, you would be wise to think about the author’s intentions, what he had already established in the book, and certain terms as they are used in the context of the book. Overall, it is meant to be a comment on the fate of books in this digital age.

Funnily enough, ‘It’s a Book’ has used a digital book trailer in its promotion (see below), which is a bit of a back-flip on the idea of promoting books themselves, but the two technologies can obviously go hand-in-hand.

‘It’s a Book’ is suitable at many different reading levels, and I can imagine young (Junior School) students talking about it, just as much as students studying at senior levels. For more about Lane Smith and his books, (he is an illustrator as well) see his web site.

What do you think?

Does it have the power to get people talking? does it speak to you? Or is it the type of book which really just ‘preaches to the converted’ i.e. book lovers? does it have a valuable message for all? (all constructive comments welcome – click on comments tab)

After Twilight – Shiver!

Linda J

For some time, following the success of the ‘Twilight’ series, a massive number of Twilight-themed books appeared. Even now, bookshops and chain stores are laden with vampire love stories of various qualities. Now is the time to herald a new wave of  books – this time based on werewolves. (For those who are ‘Team Jacob’ perhaps?)

One well-written example of this is ‘the Wolves of Mercy Falls’ series by Maggie Stiefvater. Beginning with ‘Shiver’, the tales focus on the relationships which develop between humans, and those in their community who morph into wolves when the weather cools down – as winters do harshly in the fictional town of Mercy Falls (likened to forested areas just south of the Canadian border).

Grace has had a fascination of the wolves which live in the woods near her home for as long as she can remember. This is in spite of being snatched off a tyre swing and being dragged into the woods as a young child. For her, there was some unexplained attraction to these wild animals, and to one wolf in particular.

We meet Sam, listening to his thoughts about the sensations he feels, tastes and smells, and become aware of his acute instincts towards Grace. These are heightened when he is able to take refuge in her home – a place rarely frequented by her busy, preoccupied parents. This allows them to time to learn about each other and the forces impacting their lives.

A major complication for their relationship is the fact that Sam has, for many years, changed into a wolf as wintry weather approaches. This is the normal cycle – he can only be human for a short time each year – and this time is shortening each year.

Maggie Stiefvater has created some interesting voices in her tale (the first of 3) and gives differing perspectives – from the points of view of the wolves, the wolf pack and the human communities of Mercy Falls, as they exist side by side. You can almost smell the musky scent of the wolves, feel the crispness of the woods, fear the chill as winter approaches, and sense the anxiety of Grace and Sam as their time together appears to be running out.

On her blog, Maggie writes –

“As an artist and musician, I can’t work in a vacuum when I write—music and art is always in the back of my head in one way or another. Here on this page you’ll find the stop-motion animated book trailers I made for Shiver and Linger, playlists of some of the music I listened to while writing the book, and the music I wrote for the series. Plus, some links to some real wolf howls because that’s just cool.”

To read this, after reading her book, helps you to see how she has worked to evoke your senses, and to appreciate how her ideas have grown from perceptive ‘all-senses’ observations. The link above also gives you access to some quirky little book trailers she has created, with music she composed especially for the process.

‘Linger’ is the next book, with the final book ‘Forever’ due out next year. (N.B. The film rights have been bought and a screenplay has been written, but whether the series makes it to the screen is yet to be determined.)

Till then / before then, read the books!!!