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Song of a Thousand Seas

Oct6
Song of a Thousand Seas

Song of a Thousand Seas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Song of a Thousand Seas

Zana Fraillon

UQP, 2025

96pp., pbk.,  RRP $A14.99

9780702266317

Under the Rocks with the
Weeds growing tall so all of the
people with eyes trying to spy us
don’t know where to find us.

In a tank in an aquarium Houdini the octopus dwells – supposedly content in this artificial world where she is fed regularly, has puzzles and toys to challenge her amazing intelligence and an eleven-armed starfish for company.  But in reality, it is a monotonous, isolated prison sentence for this creature because running through her nine brains, three hearts and thousands of suckers on her eight arms is a yearning for the open sea of her birth and that of generations of her predecessors.  

All day long we can hear
that Sea howl prowling wild
inside our brains and every part of us is straining
to feel it taste it twirl it whirl it swirl it
inside our body
again.

And so, as she hides from the visitors who insist on tapping on the glass, demanding she put herself on display for them, Houdini dreams of escaping and making her way home – if only she could get to the drain in the washroom that takes the waste water out to sea.  Smart as she is, she often gets out of the tank at night, despite Paul her keeper ensuring it is securely latched,  but Joe the cleaner always seems to find her and return her to the tank.  But then she meets Paul’s daughter, Juno, who forms a connection with her and seems to understand her need for freedom.  But Juno finds herself in a dilemma – does she help Houdini to ultimate freedom or does she understand that if Houdini is not there, the income from the aquarium will cease?

Made even more powerful by being told in free verse in the first-person by Houdini, who sees herself as a “we”, rather than an “I” because of her nine brains, this is an unforgettable, unputdownable novel that will challenge the reader on many levels as they not only experiences the world through Houdini’s perspective gaining insight into just how clever these creatures are, but challenges them to think about the purpose and ethics of animals in captivity generally.  Extensive, comprehensive teachers’ notes offer many other avenues to explore  making what seems, on the surface, to be a simple verse novel for younger readers, into one that can be used with all ages sparking all sorts of food for thought and out-of-the-box thinking and exploration, particularly as it is loosely based on the real-life exploits of Inky who escaped from the National Aquarium of New Zealand, as well as the real Houdini at Sea Life in Sydney.  

For me, Houdini’s memories of ancient rhythms passing through her body and calling her back to her origins reminded me of our First Nations peoples connection to country and wondering how what we often term “instinct” is imprinted on a creature’s DNA.

In her author’s note and acknowledgements, Zana Fraillon explains the origins of the story as well as the research she needed to do to create it.  IMO, she has, indeed, “learned to speak octopus” and it would not surprise me to see this beautiful, entrancing, intriguing story among the award winners in the near future. If you are one to engage in a one-size-fits-all reading experience, then this is the one to choose. 

Hannah Backwards

Sep11
Hannah Backwards

Hannah Backwards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hannah Backwards

Kim Rackham

Heidi Cooper Smith

Riveted Press, 2025

96pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9781764007139

Hannah loves the familiar rhythm of her days—walking to school with her best friend Izzi, spending afternoons with Nana and Pop, and cosy weekends with her parents. She is one who prefers predictability, routines  and the regular rhythm of her life, but for those times when there is disruption that makes her anxious, she has a secret in her pocket.  Her Nana has given her a special worry stone to rub and trace its spiral to bring calm in those uncertain moments and although she doesn’t realise it, Hannah is really going to need it because big changes are coming. 

First, her beloved teacher Mr. Spicer leaves. Then, the unthinkable—Izzi is moving away. As Hannah struggles with the idea of goodbye, her worry stone is always in her hand, but it can’t stop the storm of emotions building inside her. A moment of anger threatens to shatter everything they’ve shared, and Hannah is left to find a way to make things right.

And can endings really be beginnings, like Mr Spicer says?

This is a verse novel for younger readers, many of whom will have faced similar upheavals as the certain becomes uncertain and threaten to turn their lives upside down.  Because its verse novel format is entirely in the first-person exposing all Hannah’s thoughts and emotions, it is easy for the young reader to become Hannah and relate to what is happening and understand that when you’re young and living in the here-and-now, it’s hard to see the bigger picture and the opportunities and silver linings that disruptions can open up. They will empathise with her anxiety, and feel her confusion about the future as they have experienced similar feelings, focusing on what they  are going to lose and miss rather than being able to look forwards to what could be.  It’s not that they, or Hannah, are pessimists – it’s just where they are at in their emotional development. 

This is an ideal book to read together with someone (or a class) for whom change is coming to reassure them that their feelings of grief and uncertainty are real and natural, but also helping them realise that there is life after loss and that just because a favourite friend or teacher or someone is not physically there, it is possible for the connections to continue, regardless of who makes the move – which is likely to be the theme of the sequel Izzi Upside Down coming 2026.

At a time when it seems some parents are intent on protecting their children from any sort of adversity so they don’t develop the natural resilience to setbacks that we expect, this is an opportunity to discuss the inevitable and how to deal with it, for while a worry stone can be a comfort, it can’t be a solution. Mr Spicer was right – endings can become beginnings.

For those who want to dig deeper, there is an insightful interview with the author here. 

The Riding Gallery

Jul27
The Riding Gallery

The Riding Gallery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Riding Gallery

Sally Murphy

Martina Heiduczek

Walker Books, 2024

176pp., pbk., RRP $A17.99

9781760657345

Throughout the year, Anton Weniger travels the countryside with his swing boats, shooting gallery and little merry-go-round, settling in St Kilda in Melbourne for the summer.  But Anton has a dream – to build a ride like those he experienced in his boyhood Germany. “a ride of such magic, and beauty and awe that all who sat aboard and all who witnessed would be amazed” and music that sounds like there is an orchestra inside.

But this is 1914 and war between England and Germany is imminent. Evelyn’s dad is a newspaperman and because he must be “where the news is” he is moving his family again, this time from Wodonga to St Kilda. Evelyn is not impressed by yet another move, although being close to the sea appeals, and on her last night before she is uprooted again, her mum takes her to the fairground and there she meets Mr Weniger and she is delighted to discover that his rides will be in St Kilda each summer.  Perhaps the move won’t be so bad after all.  In fact, once she meets Rory-over-the-fence, who despite being a boy, becomes her BFF and Mr Weniger arrives with his rides, St Kilda becomes a place of wonder and fun.  Until it’s not.

Because Mr Weniger is a German immigrant and suspicion and hatred run deep.  When Rory’s three older brothers join up to fight “the Hun” Evelyn’s relationship with him starts to splinter because while she enjoys the magic of the rides, even moreso when Mr Weniger’s  dream carousel comes to fruition and she is among the first to ride it, Rory sides with those who have a hatred of all Germans and all things German, made more acute when one brother comes home badly injured and the other is killed….

Based on true events, this is a verse novel told by Anton Weniger, Evelyn and Rory which explores the perspectives of each as their worlds collide and a faraway war has an impact on each of their lives, a technique which allows the reader to see inside the thoughts and feelings of each character and understand their point of view.  Each of their poems is interspersed with  “found poems”, created by “using only words and phrases that appeared in original articles from 1914-1918, which tell the story of the progress of the war itself.  

While, for younger readers, this is a poignant story that introduces the concepts of perception and position in a story and how friendships can grow and change through circumstances, for older readers, excellent  teachers notes explore the characters and their relationships, and the impact of outside influences on those, as well as the choice of format in much greater depth. 

For me, the ending was the twist because it fast-forwards 50 years when Evelyn watches her granddaughter on the very carousel that gave her so much joy – a carousel that has given my own son and granddaughters just as much joy on a regular basis as their childhoods have been spent in Canberra.  All Anton Weniger ever wanted to do was build a riding gallery that provided wonder and happiness for those that rode it.  With its “fifty two horses running four abreast carved with spectacular detail, decorated with glass jewels that sparkle in the light, two wooden elephants safe enough for the littles children, panels painted with scenes of Australia, of the world of happiness, mirrors that dazzle and reflect riders and spectators and an organ that plays such lovely music” and he would be thrilled to know that 110 years on, not only did his dream come true but it lives on.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anton Wneiger's dream lives on...

Anton Weniger’s dream lives on…

And on…

 

The Kindness Project

May15
The Kindness Project

The Kindness Project

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kindness Project

Deborah Abela

Puffin, 2024

338pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9781761340185

Nicolette’s favourite time of the day is when she visits her grandmother in “Alcatraz” – the local nursing home – each afternoon and together they complete a jigsaw, every piece fitting perfectly with its neighbour, just like Nanna and Nicolette.  Because Nicolette is a loner and a worrier and believes that her copy of the how-to-make-friends manual either got lost in the post or given to someone else.  School is a misery, for although she loves her teacher Ms Skye, she has to deal daily with DJ the bully who has always called her “knickers” and Layla, perfect, pretty but condescending and who apparently snubbed Nicolette’s birthday years ago and it still hurts.  

When a new boy with a weird name, peastick legs and oversized glasses comes to school – a boy with an amazing talent for drawing and creating stories about superheroes – tiny, tender tendrils of friendship twine them together, giving Nicolette a little bit of hope.  But then Ms Skye announces The Kindness Project and deliberately pairs the four children together, which has to be a recipe for disaster. Or is it?  

When Nicolette and Nanna bust out of Alcatraz for a day at the beach there are consequences far more wide-reaching than the police searching for them, particularly when Nicolette’s mum bans Nanna and Nicolette from seeing each other… consequences that open eyes, minds, hearts and doors for more than just the four children.

Written as a verse novel where every word is devoted to the who and their here-and-now, the choice of language is sublime and with clever use of fonts    and formatting that enhances the reader’s understanding of Nicolette’s emotions, this is one that moved me to tears as I binge-read it early one morning, and not just because of the story itself.  If we ever needed a reminder to not judge a book by its cover, to look beyond the behaviour to the circumstances driving it, for the story behind the story, then this is it.  Dealing with  issues like a grandparent with dementia, a mum with a mental illness, divorce and dealing with new parents and siblings, parents absent because of work deployments, over-the-top anxiety and feeling isolated if not abandoned,  the author has not shied away from exposing the real-life concerns that confront our students daily, and thus, the stories within the stories will resonate with many of our students – some of whom who will relate directly to the characters’ situations, others who might rethink their own words and actions.  

But it not only demands that we think about what is happening in the lives of our friends (and students) but also sheds light on the stories of those behind them.  While Nicolette may be having to come to terms with a grandmother who can no longer look after herself safely, that grandmother wasn’t always that way – she has her own backstory that guides her to guiding Nicolette; Leaf’s mum doesn’t spend every day in hospital receiving treatment for schizophrenia, DJ’s dad has made choices for altruistic reasons that a young DJ can’t yet understand. – and thus they, too have a voice in a world that seldom hears them talking.

Ms Skye sets the class The Kindness Project as a “way to change the world” and while Nicolette and her classmates are sceptical, Ms Skye assures them that “big changes come from small beginnings”.  And so it could be with this book.  One story shared could become the catalyst for so many more. 

What Snail Knows

Mar3
What Snail Knows

What Snail Knows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Snail Knows

Kathryn Apel

Mandy Foot

UQP, 2022

232pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9780702265464

“It’s just you and me, Lucy. We don’t need nobody else.” 

How many times had Lucy heard that as Dad packed up their old brown car again, and they moved to yet another caravan park and, for Lucy, a new school? It seems that since her mum died, she and her dad have been constantly on the move from place to place, school to school and if the memories themselves weren’t enough, there were the reminders at school where teachers asked students to make Mother’s Day cards or draw their family tree.  Lucy sees them as just a seed of a family, but desperately wishes there were branches like other families.   

So when she discovers Snail carrying his home on his back, a home he can tuck himself inside whenever things get tough, it seems like the ideal pet for her and so he joins them in his special box in the caravan.  And just as Snail becomes more used to his surroundings, gains confidence and tentatively comes out of his shell, so does Lucy.  Even though there are the usual adjustments to make as she starts yet another new school, gradually she starts to fit in and make friends as together the students investigate how they can help each other, their families and their communities under the sensitive and caring Miss Darling.  Does it really just have to be Lucy and her dad keeping themselves to themselves, or is there room for others as well?

This is a most poignant verse novel for young independent readers that will resonate with so many – Lucys who are the new kid, yet again, and who have already learned to build the defensive walls to protect themselves; teachers who have had new students start this year and who will have a host of reasons for starting a new school but will have “new kid” syndrome in common;  and students who are comfortable in their established friendship groups and are wary of how the dynamics will change if someone new enters…  And each will take something different away after having read it.

Written in the present tense from Lucy’s perspective each poem raises all sorts of issues that can be explored to help students understand the various perspectives and themes, while each blends into the next to build a potent story of loneliness, friendship, acceptance, and building and connecting with community. How can we each reach out to the new kid, our classmates, our families and those in the broader circle, particularly the lonely and the vulnerable, to build communities again, particularly after the isolation of the last two years?  Even without cane toads to conquer, could this rain and these floods on the East Coast, in fact, have a silver lining?

 

Mina and the Whole Wide World

Aug4
Mina and the Whole Wide World

Mina and the Whole Wide World

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mina and the Whole Wide World

Sherryl Clark

Briony Stewart

UQP, 2021

120pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9780702263231

More than anything else in the whole wide world Mina wants her own bedroom . And it’s almost ready! Just one more lick of sunny yellow paint and it’s hers.

But then Mina’s parents take in an unexpected guest, and give her room away. At first, Mina is too upset to speak. She is so devastated by her loss and she doesn’t care that this new boy, Azzami, needs a place to stay. Her loss is almost too great to bear. 

At school, the other kids call Azzami names but throughout the bullying, he stays silent.  Mina wishes he’d stand up for himself especially after she ends up in strife for hitting Oliver, the worst of the culprits.  But although Azzami doesn’t speck he draws and he as a tale to tell in his drawings,  a tale made all the more poignant when Mina goes with him to visit his very sick mother.  For the first time she really thinks about the life and loss of the quiet boy, what he has seen and escaped from, the death of his father and the illness of his mother, being the least of them, and gradually the loss of her own bedroom is put into perspective. 

This verse novel for younger readers is an important addition to the collection and a vital inclusion to any study of refugees because it gives the silent among our students a voice.  Even though Azzami himself doesn’t speak, his silence is powerful because it echoes that of so many of those we teach who have experienced trauma and fear that we will never know.  Sadly, there are those like Oliver in every class who cannot cope with difference and manifest their lack of understanding and empathy through a display of power and disdain, but there are also Minas who have a more open mind and benefit by finding friendship and tolerance and gratitude. And there are also wise teachers like Ms Smart who know when to step back and when to step up.

This is a story about finding friendship where you least expect it and making room for everyone across this “whole wide world” and the teachers notes will help guide students’ awareness, knowledge, understanding, compassion and tolerance so that the conversation about acceptance, diversity, and caring for others has a new tone.  In addition, there is much to be learned about Clark’s choice of format, vocabulary and using only Mina’s perspective as a vehicle for  a narrative that needs to be had (seemingly over and over, even though refugees have been a critical part of this country’s fabric and fibre since the end of World War II). 

Look for this among the award nominees in 2022.