Now

By Morris Gleitzman

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If you are only familiar with Gleitzman’s Misery Guts or his other tongue in cheek stories for younger readers, this book will come as a shock. It is a serious, layered, complex and completely engaging story. It is certainly designed for the younger teen reader, though it needs to be understood by parents that some serious topics are under examination, including the terror of a massive firestorm and the harsh reality of its victims.


This is the third in his series of books that touch on the life of Felix, a ten year old boy growing up in Nazi Germany. In Now, Felix is a grandfather, and the story is told by his granddaughter who he is caring for. Part of the drama is in the question of why young Zelda’s parents are not around. As she says at one point “In our family... the parents always leave the kids... I think we should stop it”.


Zelda does her best to cope in a new school, but for some reason an older student Tonya starts to bully her. Things get more and more difficult, but Felix quickly senses what is going on... after all he is an expert in what it is like to live with bullies.


I was in tears by the end of this relatively short novel: Gleitzman shows that he can explore complex “adult” topics of the sort our growing children often encounter, while staying within the confines of the age he chosen to write for. You will want to find out more about the characters, and re-read the tale to savour the details. Suitable for Year Five and up, though parent co-reading would be sensible for those who may not be comfortable with the intense drama in parts of this.

Pattern Recognition

By William Gibson

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William Gibson actually created the now familiar word “Cyberspace”. His wrote a series of novels including Neuromancer and Count Zero that describe a dystopian future where hackers connect to that cyberspace with a cable to the brain, where corporations have overtaken states in terms of power and influence, and where artificial intelligences have sparked to life and start to influence human history. These books are not for children, containing significant levels of graphic violence and intimate sex scenes.

Gibson, in his last three books, seems to have abandoned this brooding universe and is now writing entrancing tales of the near future. Perhaps he has come to the view that the future is now jostling the present! I have read and re-read Pattern Recognition, and it is on my list of personal favourites. Gibson no longer feels the need to spice up his gripping and beautifully written tales with intense violence, sex and substance abuse. In this book we meet Cayce, whose very marketable ability is a deep sensitivity to brands and icons. She is asked to come to London to assess a proposed new logo. Her personal obsession, however, is “The Footage”... tiny fragments of perfectly realised and evocative video clips that are being slowly released via the internet. Like others she is fascinated by the mystery of who creates these, and what secrets are hidden within them.

This is almost not a Sci Fi read, though any William Gibson fan will not be disappointed. It is rich with ideas. Gibson constantly seems to trawl through the intellectual flotsam and jetsam of our world and to pick up fascinating concepts and predictions that others miss, then weaves them deep into his stories. He is a writer who can also produce heart catching metaphors and phrases.
This book would suit adults and older teens with some intellectual curiosity. It comes from a master story teller and in some will find it a less confronting read than his earlier novels.

Why Can’t Elephants Jump

and 101 other questions
compiled and edited by Mick O'Hare, New Scientist

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This book appeals on all sorts of levels. It is great for the curious, excellent for those interested in Science, valuable for the hoarders of trivia, and a good “dip in” book (i.e. one you can read in random chunks). I was only a few pages in when I recognised some familiar material. The reason is that I regularly read New Scientist, and the whole book is drawn from the back pages of that magazine... in particular the section where readers pose questions and other (well informed) readers answer them.


I was interested in the section on why Bond required martinis to be “shaken not stirred”... a number of complex theories were proposed and courageously tested. Other questions arise from natural curiosity (“Why are there no green mammals?”) or from keen and well informed observation (“why is the moon as bright as a cloud in the daytime sky when their albedos are quite different?”)


Some of the answer are whimsical and playful, but alongside these there is always an attempt at a good science based answer. In some cases readers propose a variety of explanations, and a sample of these is often given, leaving the reader of the book the job of deciding which is the most satisfactory account.


The material is fine for any age (unless you are worried by the martinis). The explanations range from the general (perhaps Middle School and up) and the reasonably technical.


review by Andrew Lack

How To Be Polite In Japanes

by Osamu Mizutani and Nobuko Mizutani
I apologise for reviewing a great book that is hard to get. Amazon offers limited and mostly second hand supplies. It was originally published by The Japan Times Ltd. Why tell you about it? Because it has left an indelible mark on my brain. OK, confession time, I have a passion for Japanese art and culture, so that would explain why I was in Kansai Airport (where I bought this).


The writers set out to do more than explain that you bow to be polite, and accept a business card with two hands, read it and hold it while you converse. Their aim is to explain the nuances of Japanese communication, verbal and non-verbal. I'm not sure that I have even seen a work so penetrating and thought provoking about Australian culture.


As an example, they have a section on "Finishing Up", and explain that it is common to have a listener finish a sentence or idea of the speaker. The listener is prompted to do this by various sentence structures and hesitations. The goal is to show that you are both engaged on the one idea, the listener respectfully showing their interest in your thoughts. There are detailed examples (in Roman script and translation).


This is probably not a book to read through from cover to cover unless you are a linguist or cultural anthropologist, but for those interested in Japan or even in broader issues of communication structures, it is wonderfully rewarding because of the insights and detail, and the fact that it reflects on language, delivery, manner, attitudes, non-verbal cues and verbal tone.

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Diaries 1969-1979 (The Python Years)

by Michael Palin

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This is not great literature, and was never intended to be. The fascinating Michael Palin has kept a diary "more or less continuously since 1969". His diaries are written largely in full sentences, so reading is not hard, but compared to (say) autobiographical or literary writing, this material has an excess of detail and a lack of flow that make reading cover to cover something of a chore.


Tear up the idea of treating this as a major work, and instead use it as a primary source reference book for the conception, growth and troubled life of the Monty Python Show and the Python Movies. I enjoyed reading about the problems of shooting the films, and about the difficulties (and final triumph) of launching the show in America.


Rather more poignant are the records of the struggles within the team to find direction, finish scripts, and manage the various ups and downs of different members, many of whom battled personal demons of one sort or another.


The book has plenty of photos covering an incredible era. Would I re-read it cover to cover? Probably not, but I'll be tempted to look up some of the better stories again.


Published by Phoenix in 2007.

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Lessons in Chocolate (Lezioni di Cioccolato)

a film directed by Claudio Cuppelini

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This enthusiastic farce won Best Comedy and Best Actress (Violante Placido) at the Monte Carlo Comedy Film Festival in 2007. Mattia (Luca Argentero) is a heartless young building contractor who is willing to cut corners to make a quick buck. He insists his Egyptian worker Kamal (Hassani Shapi) works on a roof without scaffolding. When Kamal falls off suddenly Kamal finds he has power over Mattia, and insists Mattia attends an elite chocolate maker's course in his place.

There is great play with confused identities and other general good humoured antics, but I warmed to the way in which Kamal's character is unfolded. The tensions between his own culture and those of his adopted country provide some of the better moments.

The film may be hard to catch around Sydney (I saw it thanks to an Italian evening at Avoca Theatre) but see it if you can, or have a chat to your local Video store.

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Seven Pounds

a film starring Will Smith, directed by Gabriele Muccino

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Despite engaging performances from some of the co-stars, I ultimately found this film annoying. Will Smith plays the part of a man who has come to believe he owes the world something, and chooses to pay his debt by trying to help a small group of strangers. So far so good!


As you would expect the cinematography, music and performances are all acceptable, so what could be wrong? In the final analysis, his choices (hard to be more specific without spoiling this for everyone) are controversial and ultimately self serving. He is satiating his feeling of guilt. An Indian philosopher once said the greatest charity is when you give in anonymity and without seeking to know the response of the recipient. This won't do for Will Smith's character, who becomes closely entangled with at least some of those he impacts.


This film raises a number of issues, but the core problem is that the film is about a man who takes to himself the right to make god-like decisions about his own body and life.

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An Anthropologist on Mars

by Oliver Sacks

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Ever since I found myself being transported by a discussion of soul in The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat I have eagerly sought out Oliver Sacks' writing. Even though his books have all the trappings of academic writing (footnotes, bibliography, technical asides) they read as engaging and empathetic accounts of unusual humans.


The "anthropologist" of the title is Dr. Temple Grandin (http://www.grandin.com/), an expert on cattle behaviour who also has Asperger's Syndrome. While some of the individuals described in the book have little ability to reflect on their own condition, Dr. Grandin has contributed significantly in her own writing to an understanding of the world of those living with Aspergers. In the chapter, Oliver Sacks starts with a review of the way this particular syndrome came to be defined, then describes a day spent with Dr. Grandin. As with other accounts in the book Sachs writes about those with whom he has had direct contact, and embeds his reflection and discussion in the story of that contact.


His aim through all of these stories and reflections is to enquire about the nature of the human mind, and thus inevitably into the nature of "human".


There is no single conclusion to come from the book, but it serves as an introduction for the general reader to the investigations of neurophysiology. I am left with a sense of wonder, and greater appreciation of the complexity of the brain and mind. This book is suitable for any age that can handle the complexity of ideas and poignancy of some of the stories.

Anoraks to Zitting Cisticola

A whole lot of stuff about Birdwatching
by Sean Dooley

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I have a personal passion for books you dip in to, rather than read cover to cover. Yes, I dip into dictionaries, into Fowler’s English Usage, and into my Guide to Tracking South African Animals. It was with great pleasure that I spotted this book and now commend it to you. Dipping books actually last longer than cover-to-cover books, and they can be useful when your day or evening is too full to allow yourself the luxury of stretching out for a good read.
Sean Dooley is an Australian writer and journalist. In Anoraks to Zitting Cisticola he bares his private obsession... for bird watching.

I was lucky enough to have seen The Big Twitch on television, an entertaining documentary about bird watching that Sean devised. This book has the same delightful blend of straight information and wry, self depreciating humour. He knows it is an odd obsession, with its own code of conduct, its own history of scandal and its own boulevard of stars. Sean is one of them, holding the Australian record of the most birds seen in one year.


The book is laid out as an alphabetical encyclopaedia... entries that caught my eye include “Captain Twitchpants”, Parabolic Grot” and “Armchair Ticks”. The Zitting Cisticola of the title is in fact a type of marsh warbler. Don’t think, however, that this is about ornithology. There are plenty of birds discussed, but so are the bird watchers, their clothes (anorak) and accessories (binoculars), their tribal habits and customs. If this book had been written by a mocking outsider, it would not work. As it is written by a real insider, he can entertain us with his gentle digs at the idiosyncrasies he is only too familiar with.

Recommended for Middle School and up, a different type of book but thoroughly enjoyable in its own quirky way.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid series

by Jeff Kinney

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The series began in 2004 as comics on the site http://www.funbrain.com/. This "novel in cartoons" translates well to book form. Our copies in the OLRC are always reserved and the children constantly ask for any of the books in this series.


Diary Of A Wimpy Kid consists of little episodes in clueless middle schooler Greg Heffley's life. The author, originally a game designer, shows a great sense of humor throughout. Young readers can relate to the problems Greg Heffley faces, so they laugh heartily at his mishaps.


Greg's grand schemes to become popular are all destined for failure. The reader can spot where the flaws are in Greg's half-baked plans, as well as the lesson he never quite learns. Writing down your thoughts on actual paper may be old-school in the Facebook age, sure, but it still has many benefits -- including privacy.


review by Helen Sillar

Arabian Sands

by Wilfred Thesiger

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I caught the ABC show “Talking Heads” the other night. It was riveting! An Australian woman, Paula Constant, talked about her incredible walk from London, through the Arabian deserts and (almost) through to Cairo. I was interested that her inspiration was Wilfred Thesiger. I have been reading Thesiger’s books for years, and we now have one of them in the OLRC.


Thesiger was an Oxford graduate who served with the SAS in the Western Desert in WW2. After the war he returned to Arabia and travelled extensively by foot and by camel. He dressed as an Arab and travelled without any European companions, relying solely on the tribal guides with whom he became fast friends. Arabian Sands details his wanderings through the “empty quarter” and meetings with many different Arabs, some still living the ancient tribal culture.


He is a careful observer, and his total immersion in the culture and the trust he built means there are wonderful stories about his own adventures as well as tales told around the campfires. As you can imagine, life in the “howling desert” is fraught with danger, not the least being the histories of revenge killings between certain tribes and families.


The book has some photographs, so at least the main characters he travels with are introduced. This is a gripping book for the older (Senior School and above) reader interested in travel, adventure, Arabian culture, or history.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

 by Brian Selznick

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A young boy lives alone in a secret room in a French railway station. He creeps around oiling and maintaining the many clocks, just as his uncle taught him to do. However, his passion is the gradual repair of a wonderful automaton or mechanical robot. He hopes when it finally works that it will write a message from his father. Intrigued already? There is no magic or fantasy in this chunky book, but it is full of fantastical ideas and the reader becomes very involved in the lives of a family that this boy meets, a family with its own secrets.


The story progresses in two ways. Some of it is told in a clear narrative form, but many pages consist entirely of drawings. It is neither an illustrated novel nor a graphical novel, rather moves in and out of the different genres. The illustrations are wonderful!


While we stay mostly engaged with the story of Hugo and his search for a message from his father, the author weaves in the story of Georges Méliès, a ground breaking French filmmaker. This is a very different reading experience, and would suite middle school and up. While there is a positive ending, Hugo experiences many disappointments, challenges and betrayals along the way.

Loving Richard Feynman

by Tangey Penny

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Richard Feynman was an American physicist who received a Nobel prize in 1965. Catherine is a bright school girl who especially enjoys her Maths and Science classes. Her father tells her about Richard Feynman, and gives her a poster. She starts to read anecdotes about his life in a book he published called Surely Your Joking Mr Feynman.


Catherine’s life becomes increasingly complex as she tries to sort out a crush on a boy, where she fits in with the groups at school, dealing with a very bright and confident boy who arrives at the school, and ultimately with her parents marriage problems. She decides to put her thoughts into words by writing to Feynman, even though he is dead. As she reads more of the book about him she finds that even her hero has aspects of his life she cannot admire.


This is a charming and thoughtful book that touches on a number of real situations for young people, and from the point of view of a young high achiever. It would be most suited to younger high school students but is a thought provoking and enjoyable read for older students. The book consists entirely of letters to Feynman, but the overall storytelling still works well.

I must confess that I had similar mixed reactions to the Feynman book, so I found this book especially engaging. While some things get sorted out in Catherine’s life, we leave her contemplating the great sadness in the life of one of her friends, so the book balances hope with an understanding of difficulties that deeply impact some teenagers.

The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

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Before reading this book I had heard various things about it. Some staff from other schools thought it was wonderful, but a few people warned that it was confronting. It is certainly a very intense book but I thought the themes of self sacrifice and critique of a thoughtless pleasure seeking society justified the challenging theme.


Katniss is a fourteen year old girl who lives in District 12 in a future version of this world. Her district is controlled by a powerful central city. Following an ancient rebellion of the districts against the city, each year two teenagers are picked from each district and forced to participate in an “entertainment” for the big city rather like the ancient gladiator games. The teenagers are placed into a fenced wilderness and manipulated to ensure they have to fight each other for their survival.


Katniss’ sister Prim is chosen, and Katniss decides to go herself instead of her younger sister. In the arena she simply aims to survive by running away and hiding, but is confronted by other players who seek to trap and kill her.


Rather than blurring moral boundaries, this book brings them into absolutely clear prominence. The opening of the book starts with Katniss’ sacrificing herself for her sister, and later she has to decide how to care for and protect other players who reject the bloodthirsty premise of the “Hunger Games”. We are made to think about the nature of a society that is prepared to sacrifice individuals for its hunger for entertainment, as well as the consequences of violence, revenge and trauma.


The world and the characters are complex and the story simply engrossing. The close leaves options open for further books (and indeed there are two more in the series) as it seems Katniss’ defiance of the powerful City will not go unpunished!


I would recommend this for Senior School readers. It could be appropriate for older Middle School students with parent support but the strong violence themes need to be taken into account.

Mr Rosenblum’s List

by Natasha Solomons

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Mr Rosenblum and his wife Sadie come to England as refugees just before the outbreak of World War II. They are German Jews, and English culture and customs are at first bewildering. Each reacts in a different way. Sadie strives to remember the smells, sights and emotions of her childhood and the wider family left behind. Mr Rosenblum starts a list of all the things he must learn (and do) in order to become truly English. Gradually his list is crossed off, but each step seems to remove him further and further from his wife, without changing the suspicion with which he is treated in war time England.

Eventually he decides to move to a traditional English village to pursue the last and most fantastical item on his list. There in the village he finds a very unusual English friend, but is also betrayed the very people he thought would help him. In the mean time his wife has seemingly started to loose her grip on reality... and you will have to read the book to find out more!


I was told originally that this was a “charming” story... but it is much more than that. It is certainly positive in its overall message, but tells a powerful and dramatic story, and has complex layers of meaning with at least a touch of Magic Realism. I read it in a sitting and I’ll be reading it again soon. There is nothing in the book to stop a younger student from attempting it, but the reflective nature of sections (such as Sadie’s thoughts about memory) and the complexity of the sub-texts would suggest older readers would find it more rewarding.

Trainyard

by Matt Rix

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Trainyard is a puzzle app for the iPhone and iPod touch. The hallmark of a great puzzle is a set of rules that can be expressed in a couple of lines, increasingly complex logic, and a pleasant intuitive mechanism. Trainyard ticks all the boxes.


It is not a “train simulator” like Railroad Tycoon. Rather it is a fascinating logic puzzle that requires thinking about networks, binary switching and, oddly enough, colour. The game is played out on a 7x7 grid. In each layout there will be at least one starting station. Each train has a colour. Somewhere on the grid will be a destination, also showing a colour. The aim is to lay tracks to get the right colour train into the correct destination. So far so easy.


The grid can be constrained with “rocks”. More challenging, you may find you need to include track switching. This can be set with an initial condition (eg straight ahead or diverting), but after that will “switch” each time a train passes over it. When you run the puzzle you cannot control the trains directly. All trains must get to their correct, colour coded destination.


Hard enough? Not quite, so now we introduce collisions, painters and splitters. Trains that come onto a track at the same time and same direction combine. Trains that “hit” in opposite directions will pass each other. In both cases a new colour will result. A “painter” is a block that paints a train a set colour. A splitter will take a primary colour train and make two of them, or a secondary colour train and make one of each combining colour.


Now let the fun begin! The interface is very intuitive. The trains in “run” mode can go at variable speeds so you can quickly test a setup or slowly watch a complex plan. The solutions are not always obvious, and there can be more or less efficient ways to solve a layout.


Highly recommended for all ages... check out the app store or www.trainyard.ca. Not bad for a game built in Matt Rix’s spare time!

Slide the Corner

Author: Fleur Beale

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Just because a boy is sixteen not an academic achiever does not mean he does not have other skills. Ben’s parents and siblings are brainacs. They make Ben’s life a misery. If he does not study, they don’t feed him.


Ben’s passion is motor cars. He finds an after school job with a mechanic, and he excels. Ben changes subjects at school, works enthusiastically at his after school job, and discovers a whole new world... the world of rallying. He becomes a co-driver, thanks to his sympathetic mum who signs the permission form to let him drive.


“Slide the Corner” is about achieving dreams, winning friends and influencing people until they know that accepting individual differences makes not only happy families but the a richer community.


“Petrol-heads” in Middle School and in Years 9 and 10 will enjoy this book. Fleur Beale is a New Zealand author whose understanding of teenagers’ relationships with parents assures affinity with the characters in her books.


Reviewed by Gayle Davidson

Australian Backyard Explorer

by Peter Macinnis

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Australian Backyard Exlorer is on the Children’s Book Council of Australia 2010 non-fiction shortlist.


The book looks at the science that confronted the early explorers of Australia. It provides projects and activities that help the reader investigate the problems early explorers faced. It is suitable for age eight and upwards. There are many ways to browse the information. For instance you can focus on the highlighted paragraphs. I hope it will inspire students to become Backyard Explorers themselves! The book has a helpful and positive environmental theme.


review by Helen Sillar

Last Child in the Woods

by Richard Louv

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This is the first book to bring together a new and growing body of research indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development and for the physical and emotional health of children and adults. It is a comprehensive exploration of the issue, so it has much to offer to help us reflect about family time and our environment.


We have a challenge as modern “city” folk relating to the Australian bush, and this compares closely with the author’s concerns for his woods in America. A great deal has been written recently about the problems of over-protecting children. When I was at school we had a nature table on which many interesting items could be displayed. I wonder what would happen if we allowed nature tables in classrooms again?


There are suggested actions you can take to create change in your community, school, and family and discussion points to inspire people of all ages to talk about the importance of nature in their lives. This book is primarily of interest to parents and educators.


Reviewed by Helen Sillar

To the top end : our trip across Australia

by Roland Harvey
Wish you were here! This is just one of the clichés Roland Harvey uses in this delightful travelogue of a holiday from Tassie to the very tip of the Top End.


Henry, Penny, Frankie, Mum and Dad embark on their most exciting adventure yet. Travel with them on the ferry across Bass Strait to the mainland, through Kelly country, along the Murray, into the Flinders Ranges, underground at Coober Pedy, overhead at the Olgas, overland to the Great Sandy Desert, with the fishes at the Great Barrier Reef, deep into the Daintree, out to the islands, kayaking at Kakadu and finally frolicking on the beach at the very top.


Roland Harvey is a great observer of humanity and nature. He uses watercolour to illustrate the diversity of the Australian landscape, and black ink to write for observations through Penny’s eyes. If you have never had the privilege of seeing Australia in real life, enjoying this book will whet your appetite for and Australian road trip. It is so Australian.


Shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council picture book of the year.


Reviewed by Gayle Davidson

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The Man Who Loved Only Numbers

By Paul Hoffman

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This is a haunting and fascinating biography of Paul Erdös. He was a Hungarian mathematician with an incredible output... he was interested in almost nothing else but mathematics. He moved from place to place staying with other mathematicians, payed little attention to money matters, and constantly proposed new problems to solve. He was so prolific in publishing papers (often with other authors) that there is an in-joke in Mathematics based on what is called your “Erdös number”. If you published with Erdös you get a status number of “1”. If you published with someone who published with Erdös you get a status number of “2” and so on.


Despite a number of idiosyncrasies, he was generous with his ideas and money, and was very kind to children (who he called “epsilons”). While this book does try to introduce the reader to some of his interests, including number theory and probability, it is not overloaded with technical matters. Erdös died in 1996 having published more papers than any other mathematician. This book is a warm hearted introduction to someone who lived life with a single focus, and “outsider” who contributed richly to his field and who invited collaboration with his peers.


It is a suitable read for Senior School and above. Indeed there is nothing in it to concern younger readers, except for his use (or abuse) of tablets later in his life to stay awake as much as possible (to do more Mathematics).

It’s a Book

by Lane Smith

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This might seem a simple picture book with a few words per page... but it had staff in fits of laughter! The monkey is reading a book, and the donkey can’t’ understand how a book could possibly work if it is not a computer. The humour is very dry, and plays up on our sense of unease at the arrival of ebooks and ebook readers. The illustrations are very interesting as they combine cartoon styles with a strong sense of graphic design.

This is a delightful book to read to children from four up.... but I suspect it is a book you will be showing your guests at the next dinner party as well. I liked it so much I purchased my own copy, complete with the "Its a Book" Book Bag.

The Princess and the Packet of Frozen Peas

By Tony Wilson and Sue deGennaro

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Henrik has a problem. He is a prince, and wants to find a princess to marry. He consults with his brother, who used the old standby when selecting his wife... placing one pea under 20 mattresses to see if his prospective bride was truly sensitive. Henrik’s problem is that the princess he wants to meet should be the exact opposite of his brother’s wife. What can he do to find a no fuss, sports loving outdoorsy girl?

This is a delightful angle on the old fairy story. The illustrations are whimsical but add many details and side journeys to the text. The young reader can be extended by asking them to analyse the parts of the story left for us to discover in the graphics. There is some creative use of fonts as well... each character’s name is in a particular font, as are a number of key words. Again, the bright reader can be asked to attend to the medium and think about why each font has been chosen.

I definitely approve of early readers that have elements to entertain and extend bright children (and long suffering parents).

The Meaning of Everything

The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary
By Simon Winchester

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This book sounds like a dry and dusty read... until you notice the twinkle in the eye of the bearded gentleman on the front cover. Simon Winchester some might know from “The Surgeon of Crowthorne” in which he describes the bizarre and troubled life of one of the contributors to the dictionary. The lives of the senior editors and the struggles the dictionary went through over fifty years of development make equally interesting reading. Winchester also provides a quick overview of the development of the English language with its characteristic layers of adoption and borrowings.


I learned a great deal, though I admit to a special interest having married a dictionary editor! For instance I was not aware that one JRR Tolkien was in fact one of the editors for the first edition. I found the writing a little uneven. Winchester is not above the use of arcane language... “gallimaufry” appears more than once. He is at his best when recounting the personal trials and joys of the many intriguing people involved in the project.


The OED was a groundbreaking creation of epic dimensions: this book engagingly explores the people, politics and perils of the project. It would suit upper Middle School students and above who are interested in human achievements and knowledge.

The Red Piano

Written by Andrew Leblanc, Illustrated by Barroux.

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This poignant story appears at first glance to be a young child’s early reader. It has a large format, with highly energetic and idiosyncratic drawings. Sometimes a full spread is devoted to a picture with no words. In fact the language level is quite complex... “blighted by an eerie moonlight”. The story is harrowing, though with a guardedly optimistic ending. It is part of the true story of Zhu Xiao-Mei, who is now an international concert pianist, but who was consigned to a re-education camp during Cultural Revolution.


This book would suit a younger advanced reader willing to struggle with unfamiliar words. In this case parents should be involved to work through the ideas behind the Cultural Revolution and the unkind treatment the girl receives. It would also be ideal for a parent and older primary student to share as a discussion starter about repression and individual freedom. Not surprisingly the book jacket refers to Amnesty International.


A powerful story, succinctly told.

Coraline – The Graphic Novel

by Neil Gaiman, Illustrated by P Craig Russell.

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Neil Gaiman is a fascinating writer who brings a breath of fresh air into the realm of fantasy. Books like Neverwhere and The Anansi Boys weave fantasy stories around humorously portrayed adult characters who live (at least some of the time) in the ordinary world. His novel Coraline is actually about a teen age girl, and has some of the trappings of a fantasy or ghost story.


Coraline is bored, and discovers the door that should lead into a brick wall now leads into the mirror of her house, where odd versions of her mother and father greet her. She realises that all is not well, and has to surmount a number of obstacles in order to rescue her real mother and father. Gaiman offers lots of thought provoking images and ideas: while this can be read in an hour, I felt like reading it again on the spot.


Unlike a lot of “sword and sorcery” fantasy this book is very much in praise of the real world, and values like bravery, affection between family members, and caring for others. Unlike many teenage books produced recently, Coraline’s parents are caring and sympathetically drawn.


The original novel Coraline has also been realised as a stop-motion animated film. This graphical novel does not use the images from the film, and retains all the original details of the novel that were altered in the film.


It will certainly not be to everyone’s taste, but would suit teenage (and older) readers.

Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid

by Douglas R. Hofstadter

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This weighty book was awarded a Pulizer Prize for non-fiction. It is a book that can be read in many ways. The author set out to give a layperson’s account of a very complex (and astonishingly powerful) theorem of the mathematician Gödel. He ended up writing a book that touches on programming, the theory of consciousness, self reference and ‘strange loops’ in the works of Bach, Escher and other artists. He uses an interconnected series of essays that all build towards his central idea. He also includes very entertaining discussions between characters like Achilles, an anteater, and a tortoise. If reading it cover to cover is too much of a challenge it can be treated as a book to dip into for intriguing and fascinating ideas. Unlike many other books of theory and philosophy it is packed with illustrations, graphics and graphical curios.


I commend this book to those who are curious, to those who are fascinated by philosophy and ideas, and for those who are attracted by things like “self referential sentences”... my favourite being “this sentence no verb”.

The Amazon Kindle

When I say “bookshop” do you think of an Aussie store or an American website? For many people the term is now synonymous with www.amazon.com, an innovative online bookstore. As part of their marketing, they introduced their own ebook reader in 2007. The Kindle, was released in Australia just a month ago.

I’m sure nothing can replace the feel and pleasure of a good printed book, but the Kindle is a much nicer device to use than, say, a laptop computer. It uses a “digital ink” display which does not have its own light source. It works well in bright sunshine. Because of this low power technology, the battery lasts for days. The device is about the same size as a paperback.

It has a very clever approach to downloading books. No computer is required, and no cables. Out of the box, it finds and uses the 3G mobile phone network... but the user is not required to set up an account. All of this is organised by Amazon: the cost is buried in the price of each book.

You can sit on a beach reading a novel, and if you want to buy the sequel, you just use the menu to connect to the Amazon Kindle store. Search for the book you want, agree to the price going on your credit card and the book downloads immediately. The NIV Bible took me about forty seconds to obtain. Books range from a few dollars (for “free” out of copyright books) to more normal prices. New book “specials” are around $10.

The reading experience is quite pleasant. Bookmarks are automatic, and you can add notes and mark spots. There are various other features including a quite impressive “read to me” computer based text-to-voice option.

This certainly does not spell the end of the printed book... but it does provide a viable alternative for those would rather carry a library and a bookshop with them.

Free to a Good Home

by Colin Thompson

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If the movie “The Castle” appealed to your view of what are the most important things in life, then “Free to a Good Home” will also touch your heart.


The Smith family is a little bit different. Their home is full of unusual things and their priorities are not the same as their neighbour’s. They have always felt that there is an ingredient missing in their family life, but, on a trip to the shopping mall, the children find exactly what is needed to fill this void – an old lady.


This new title by Colin Thompson is a picture book. It is beautifully illustrated and though children of all ages will love to read it, this story will also appeal to Mums and Dads.


Review by Gayle Davidson

Super Crunchers

“How anything can be predicted”
by Ian Ayres

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I have a nephew working on a PhD in data mining. This book has been a great help in my desperate attempts to at least have a clue about his speciality. It is written for the general reader, and is full of interesting stories about what is being done with large scale data sets. The world’s data warehouses are currently groaning with data picked up from our daily transactions. Storage is being discussed in terms you may not even have heard of... not gigabytes or terabytes but petabytes and exabytes.


Why do we need to know about this? Apart from curiosity (and those of us with data mining nephews), we are all aware of the astounding rise to prominence of the Google company. The world of massive data accumulation and “mining” is Google’s world. How is it possible that Google maps now shows constantly updated traffic density on Sydney’s roads... and why do they give this away free? One answer at least is that data is the new currency. Google gives away useful information to get more and more people using their services, thus providing more and more data for other uses.


I found this a most engaging read from the opening story about Aorly Ashenfelter who shocked wine connoisseurs by using data sets to predict the dollar value of particular vintages. The book is worth a solid end-to-end read but you can equally well dip into it randomly for a peek at this new world of digital wonder and ethical challenges.

The Earth from the Air 366 Days

The Earth from the Air 366 Days
by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

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I first saw this compact coffee table book while at a friend’s house for Bible Study. I was delighted with it, and was grateful soon after to be able to purchase one for the OLRC. The book opens to a new page for each day of the year. Each page shows an aerial photograph and text explaining where it came from. The photos are arresting, engrossing and challenging. Beautiful scenes of coastlines or geographical formations invite you to praise God for His creation. Pictures of sprawling slums or urban congestion lead to other types of prayers.


We currently have this book open on the circulation desk and I for one check it every day. I suspect many coffee table books look nice but are rarely opened. This is a book to savour every day of the year, and could lead a family to interesting reflections and discussions. I purchased mine from a remainders shop, but this book and other similar books from the publisher are certainly available from www.bookdepository.co.uk who currently offer international postage free.

Freak the Mighty

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
Age group : Year 5 +

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This is an unusual story of two boys who are different, not only from each other, but from the average class mate. Both of them stand out in a crowd, one for his size and one for his lack of size. The giant, Maxwell, has a learning disability and struggles to cope with being called Stupid and everyone being scared of him. He faces many difficulties. The dwarf, Kevin, is used to being called Dwarf or Freak, but faces all the challenge of his physical birth defect with optimism and applied intelligence.


Life is a struggle for each of the boys (and for their families). Working together they become a powerful team known as “Freak the Mighty”. Their friendship is life changing. Life becomes a quest, defined as “an adventure in which you have to use your imagination”.

This novel will hold your interest and the characters will remain in your memory.

Review by Gayle Davidson

The 10pm Question

The 10pm Question
by Kate de Goldi

review by Gayle Davidson

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What is ‘normal’ anyhow? If we’re brutally honest each one of us has anxieties and fears that affect our view of the world to varying degrees. Sometimes even the most normal of families have issues that they don’t like to openly discuss even within that family.

Kate de Goldi‘s book is an honest, sensitive and humourous view of family life from the perspective of a gifted and thoughtful twelve year old Frankie. All his well-established routines with his best friend Gigs are challenged with the arrival of a new girl. The reality of her family propels him to question his own normal life and admit he needs help.

The theme of youth depression makes this book more suitable for students who are confident with the abstract nature of such topics.

A talented author, Kate de Goldi, has crafted with a jewel clustered with insight, description and imagery. The quirky personality of her characters will make you laugh and cry. This book will work its way into your heart and be remembered long after you have closed the back cover.

Slice It!

Slice It is a delightful puzzle game for the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. Each puzzle presents a simple shape (perhaps a square or triangle) and asks you to slice it into a specific number of equal size pieces with a specific number of "cuts". While the openinig puzzles are easy, they can be very demanding and really challenge your insight into the relative areas of different shapes.

The interface is friendly with a "hand drawn on graph paper" look. The game works well for the touch screen: you position your finger for the start and pull straight lines over the shape. If you don't do well, you will get a report that tells you what the problem is. If you do manage to solve the puzzle you earn a "hint" point that you can spend on harder puzzles.

I downloaded the free (limited) version... the full 60 level version does not cost a lot. It is a fresh angle (I don't think I have really seen a game based on comparing areas before) and would especially suit those who love their geometry!

The game is only available from the Apple App store, but you can read about it here.

Lynda Dot Com

www.lynda.com

Hang on... a web site for a book review? Well, yes. Lynda dot com is something quite extraordinary. It is a superb non-fiction resource that includes some great material for free, and a complete library for (around) $20 a month.

I have viewed and used “tutorial” websites for many years, and found most of them deficient one way or the other. I’ve seen dodgy or poorly conceived video technology, inconsistent material, poorly laid out pages and a failure of the longevity test: a good tutorial site will be there for years and always updated. Given the range of new programs available at school now (the full Adobe Suite), you can understand how excited I was to come across a site that actually ticks all the boxes!

It is designed to provide video tutorials about software. Their current list of supported software is immense, and includes not only the current versions but historical versions that people may still be using. As well as major brands (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash) they have some much less usual material such as a guide to Moodle. For each product there will be at least one course (some have many courses). Each course has a number of separate video tutorials that run faultlessly (at least for me).

You can try before you buy... a few videos from each course are available free! You can pay for a month then cancel, thus accessing the full site for the quick update you need. The material ranges from basic introductions to very advanced topics provided by expert consultants. There are files of tutorial materials available to download so you can attempt all the steps yourself.

I recommend this site for students from around Year Nine upward, though younger students who are keen to learn will find it useful. How good is it? Well, Adobe themselves licence the Lynda.com videos to use as the tutorial programs for their high-end products like Photoshop and InDesign!