There weren’t a lot of reviews for cStand Up and Cheerhildren’s books over the past two months, but I wanted to bring special attention to a review from Brona’s Books of Loretta Re’s Stand Up and Cheer. This book is based on real life events in Albury, NSW in 1934 when a plane made an unexpected landing during a round the world race. The review highlights some of the difficulties the author had in getting the book published, which is always interesting. It also highly recommends the book – especially for lovers of air history.

“A truly great book, with a message worth saying, will transcend its setting. Stand Up and Cheer does this by emboding the universal themes of courage (physical & moral), friendship & innovation.”

While there weren’t many reviews to round up this month, we’re well and truly into award season. The shortlist for the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year Awards were released yesterday with lots of Australian women writers included.

protected-zornOlder Readers

  •  Nona & Me by Clare Atkins – reviewed here and here
  • Intruder by Christine Bongers – reviewed here
  • The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil – reviewed here
  • The Minnow by Diana Sweeney – reviewed here
  • The Protected by Claire Zorn – reviewed here

cleo stories gleesonYounger Readers

  • The Cleo Stories The  Necklace and the Present by Libby Gleeson – reviewed here
  • Figgy in the World by Tamsin Janu
  • Withering-by-Sea: a Stella Montgomery Intrigue by Judith Rossell – reviewed here

 

go-to-sleep-jessie-gleesonEarly Childhood

  •  Scary Night by Lesley Gibbes
  • Go to Sleep, Jessie! by Libby Gleeson – reviewed here
  • A House of Her Own by Jenny Hughes
  • Noni the Pony goes to the Beach by Alison Lester
Eve Pownall Award for Information Books
  • Coming of Age: Growing up Muslim in Australia edited by Demet Divaroren & Amra Pajalic
  • Mary’s Australia: How Mary Mackillop Changed Australia by Pamela Freeman
  • Tea and Sugar Christmas by Jane Jolly
  • Emu by Claire Saxby
  • Audacity: Stories of Heroic Australians in Wartime by Carlie Walker

ophelia-and-the-marvelous-boy-foxleeThe Reading’s Children’s Book Prize shortlist was also released recently. This award aims to highlight authors who are newer to junior and middle fiction. Among the shortlistees were:

  • Rivertime by Trace Balla
  • Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy by Karen Foxlee – reviewed here, here and here
  • Figgy in the World by Tamsin Janu
  • How to Save the Universe in Ten Easy Steps by Allison Rushby
  • The Mapmakers Chronicles: Race to the End of the World by AL Tait

There’s so many fabulous books on the short lists – I thoroughly recommend getting in a trying to read and review them all! You’ve got a couple of months to read them before the awards are announced – I really look forward to reading all your reviews!


 

About Me

I’ve had a strong interest in children’s fiction since Grade 1 when a fabuloMelina Dus teacher bribed me with Famous Five novels. I continued reading children’s and YA books  long after I was supposed to ‘grow up’ – something which served me very well when I became a teacher and was known all over the school as ‘the teacher with all the books’. I’m currently exploring the incredibly rich world of picture books with my toddler and blogging my book reviews over at Subversive Reader

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