Contributed by Karen Seeneevassen

The First Knowledges for younger readers series is a delightful and engaging reimagining of the adult First Knowledges series. The layout and illustrations are attractive and age appropriate, encouraging young readers to dip into the content of each chapter. The simple index provides easy access to information and the glossary highlights important terms and provides an explanation of these complex concepts in an easily understandable way.

Songlines, a CBCA Notable Book, opens with a welcoming introduction that invites the reader to “walk together through the oldest, biggest library of knowledge on Earth”. It continues to explain that the knowledge held in this enormous library are called Songlines. This immediately contextualises the concept for young readers. The authors encourage active reading with “Your Turn” pages, which prompts readers to participate in research or challenges that bring the information they are reading into a real-life context. This active approach to content supports an acceptance of the knowledge shared by the authors and offers an invitation for all young people to care for Country. Personal insights from the authors ensure that the information is situated in the present, while sharing traditional knowledges that cover art, history, song, science and culture.

Design & Building on Country, a more recent publication, shares some of the inventions created by First Nations Peoples. This book in the series looks at the concept of ‘Country’ and explains how Country is a place of deep knowledge and kinship. Once again, the authors share personal experience and anecdotes that makes the content easy to engage with for readers. This book encourages readers to understand and connect with Country. The authors start by explaining the Ancestral Heroes that made Country and then take the reader on a journey that shows us how we can design future where we can all belong to Country. This book has a straightforward approach which identifies the issues created by Colonial design and offers positive messages of collaboration to deliver sustainable and safe outcomes.

These books are recommended for primary school collections, however I will be including them in my senior collection as well, as they provide an accessible entry point for middle grade students to understand complex concepts in an engaging format.

Neale, M. & Kelly, L. (2023). Songlines. (Illustrations by Blak Douglas). Thames and Hudson, Australia.

Page, A. & Memmott, P. (2024). Design & Building on Country. (Illustrations by Blak Douglas). Thames and Hudson, Australia.

Title:  The Art of Wallace and Gromit Vengeance Most Fowl 

Author:   Richard Hanson

Reviewer: Natalie Lincoln

Audience:  Secondary

I have to confess to being an absolute fan of Wallace and Gromit so anything I write will be biased! The film to which the book primarily refers -  Vengeance Most Fowl - is out in cinemas and this read has surely cemented myself a seat at a screening. Who doesn’t love the return of villainous penguin, Feathers McGraw, set on revenge via a robot gnome named Norbot? The coffee table book provides deep insight into the creative genius behind the scenes of stop motion animation.

The world of claymation is explored and for all the explanations of the detail required to bring it all together, it remains for me, at least, still a form of magic. Coupled with anecdotes from creator, Nick Park, are tidbits of information, statistics and stories from a wide variety of staff who work alongside him to flesh out the joy that is Wallace and Gromit. Complementing the commentary are wonderful concept illustrations, original sketches, and on set photography. The overall feeling is one of camaraderie and cohesion, with egos set aside in the quest for the perfect way to bring to life the various characters.

Honest in its appraisal of the challenges of combining shifts in technology with keeping true to the authenticity of the original claymation ‘feel’ and the quintessential charm of the British, this book could be utilised in a number of different settings and I’m definitely looking forward to having it in my school library. The artistry would appeal to creative arts staff, the IT crew would enjoy the ingenuity of technological advancements and as an English teacher, I could see myself using it to demonstrate the depth of storyboarding that goes into creating a film (students often seem to think that you just take a camera out and film away).

Perhaps it’s my bias but this book works for both the pictures and the detail. I would love to randomly come across this somewhere and pick it up just to flick through and be reminded of when I taught Chicken Run to year 8, laughed uproariously with my mum at The Wrong Trousers, and spent many an evening viewing Shawn the Sheep on ABC Kids with my daughter just before bed time.

Title:  Stepping Sideways - Worlds of Steampunk and Dystopia

Author:   Emily Larkin & Lynne Stringer

Reviewer: Natalie Lincoln

Audience:  Stage 3/4

The short stories in Stepping Sideways ask you to do exactly that - suspend reality for a jaunt into the unfamiliar and intriguing. Filled with the troubles wrought by industrialisation, the stories are short, busy and filled with dystopic visions of what the world could become. Having said that there is a whimsy that takes the reader on a journey that mostly offers the refreshing possibility of a way out of complete despair.

‘Mechanical Magic’ (Linsey Painter) saw a mermaid working on a train, while ‘Big Top Breakout’ (Lynne Stringer) explored disappearing clowns in a darkly humorous tale. ‘Lena of the Airships’ (Andreas Katsineris-Paine) included some fantastic lines of description that had me double take and read them again. Perhaps the most dystopian was ‘Run’ (Shaye Wardrop) with its unfriendly dogs and giant crow.

This anthology offers an entry point to adventure filled reimagined worlds. Steampunk abounds and effectively permeates each of the stories. The seriousness of the decay of humanity and the planet are plain to see but an innocence is retained that would allow junior secondary students to dabble in apocalyptic fiction without being completely overwhelmed by the crush of complete dystopia.

Title: Skin

Author: Deborah Kelly

Reviewer: Rhonda Bruce

Audience:  Secondary

Fourteen-year-old Lexie has just won the regional competition for public speaking and is going to the State Finals. When a tiny freckle on her check turns out to be a rare form of melanoma, Lexie has surgery and is left with a large scar. As her confidence disappears, Lexie begins to avoid her friends and wants to drop out of the State Finals. But when she gets to know classmate Moira, better, Lexie grows in understanding that what is on the inside is more important than what is on the outside. 

Title:  The Hidden Life of Trees

Author:  Peter Wohlleben

Reviewer: Natalie Lincoln

Audience:  Secondary (Science)

I love trees and I loved everything about the secret life I was shown in Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees. This spectacular graphic adaptation utilising comic style illustrations blends biography and science to generate a call to arms for a reconsideration of the role trees play in our world.

Cycling through the seasons, the reader is afforded Wohlleben’s personal journey as a forester and scientist and the lessons he learned along the way in his appreciation and respect for not just tress, but all of the natural world. Cleverly, he draws the parallel between humans and tress to demonstrate that we are really not all that much different – we each have important connections to family and the broader community that make us thrive. He espouses the interconnectedness of all living things, from the smallest microorganisms to the tallest trees, in the hope that humans can arrive at a better place to revere and care for the environment we have spent so long plundering.

Wohlleben’s love of nature, and fear for its demise, shines through in a narrative that explains the intelligence of trees – their ability to ‘move’, the protection they offer their children and how they know to control predatory numbers by strategic seed dropping. It’s all there and it all sings to my nature loving heart. As a graphic adaptation this would surely appeal to the science classroom and would be a lovely way to blend language across the curriculum.

The last few pages bring me to tears with the passionate reasoning of the importance of trees. I really don’t have the words to describe how important this book and its messages are. Wohlleben refers to the philosopher, Descartes, who perhaps sums it up best – animals are not machines and humans are not lords and masters of nature.

Title:  Ghost of the Neon God 

Author: T.R. Napper

Reviewer: Natalie Lincoln

Audience:  Adult

Before I go any further, I’m going to say I super enjoyed reading T.R. Napper’s Ghost of the Neon God. Also, before I go any further, I’m going to say that unless your school doesn’t mind a liberal smattering of ‘f’ and ‘c’ expletives, then don’t bother reading any further!

Unfortunately for petty criminal, Jackson Nguyen, when he steals the shoes of a woman begging for his help, it leads to crossing paths with all of the wrong kinds of people. In a gritty, fast paced chase from city Melbourne across the Australian outback, Jackson, along with unwitting ride share partner, Sally, must contend with corrupt cops and an AI figure that has taken up residence in his brain.

A lot happens in a short space in this novella. When I found my breath again after finishing reading, words that sprung to mind were ‘unapologetic’, ‘punchy’ and ‘brutal’. For a relatively short story, big questions are asked about government surveillance and corporate influence. Possibly the most moral and ethical character is, ironically, the AI firmly entrenched in Jackson’s head, Oondiri. Between them, interesting questions are raised about the ‘rights’ of AI and a future world where treaty exists to protect their privacy, equality and expression.

Maybe not for the school library shelf, or for teaching – chain smoking Jackson doesn’t mind a number of choice swear words. However, as a quick read, I thought, as an adult, that it was great!

Title: The Lovely and the Lost

Author: Jennifer Lyn Barnes

Reviewer: Rhonda Bruce

Audience:  Secondary

      "Confined space. Stale air. Predator. I thought of my encounter with the mountain lion the day before. If I could handle that, I could handle this." (P229)     

Kira remembers vividly the moment Cady Bennett and her K9 search and rescue dog found her, living alone in the wild with no memories from her earlier life. Adopted  into the family, Kira still has trouble with humans but not with dogs. When Cady's estranged dad appears and asks for Cady's help in finding a child missing 75000 acres of wilderness, Cady packs up her K9 team including Kira and Jude, Cady's son, and heads to the mountains.  Kira vows to find the child and bring her home. As the search escalates, Kira and her friends must uncover long-buried secrets to save the missing girl's life.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Title: Marramarra: Indigenous Artists Making History Visible

A collaboration by Brook Garru Andrew and Jessica Neath

Reviewer: Karen Seeneevassen 

Audience:  Secondary

This beautifully presented book was a pleasure to review. The interesting layout and form presents the content in an interesting as well as accessible way. The international approach links First Nations Peoples and Cultures in a global context.

The text encompasses culture in a myriad of forms including; language, literature, essays, poetry, photography, visual art and installations. It also includes remembrances, rather than memoir, which is an engaging contextualisation of the art forms. Transcripts of conversations support these reminiscences. These important stories showcase the significant activists and artists who advocate for the need to understand the place of First Nations Voices. A constant theme of these stories is sovereignty in Art.

Historical incidents, including Australia’s Frontier Wars, are referenced, along with other important stories internationally. These historical references seek to focus on what has been lost, but they also consider what may come. The underlying essence of the book is a hope for cultural revitalisation. This is an invaluable resource for any library collection, covering subjects which include; art, literature, history, geography and most importantly, culture. I highly recommend it.

Title: The Tempus Imperium

Author: Juliet A. Paine

Reviewer: Natalie Lincoln

Audience:  Secondary

Charlie Lamp is an ordinary seventeen year old transitioning between high school and university. Until she’s not. The murder of her much loved grandmother brings with it the knowledge of the  Temporal Sinistrum, a secret organization of time travellers and the rules one must follow to not destroy the chronology of time as we know it.

Poised on the brink of adulthood, Charlie is authentically Australian, and highly relatable. She is self-aware, intelligent and well equipped to cope with the new reality thrust upon her. This is no small feat given the loss of her grandmother and the simultaneous demise of her relationship with her long time boyfriend. She appears far more sensible than the more adult sinistrum agents and though I believed the narrative to be all wrapped up, the final chapter left me thinking that there must be another instalment to come.

As someone who grew up in the era of the film Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (young folk, go watch this if you haven’t – it’s a classic!), the movement between time periods reminded me of their epic journey to differing time periods. Not so comedic though, Charlie must deal with the consequences of time travel methodology – the creation of syneghasts, shadowy creatures intent on destruction.

Though written about an almost adult, the writing is not overly sophisticated. Entirely readable however, the realism is nicely juxtaposed with fantasy and steampunk elements. As a teacher librarian, I was quite tickled by Charlies self-deprecating immersion into a world where she was forced to search the ‘old’ way and her acknowledgement of the skill involved in catalogue searching rather than Google. As a teacher librarian, I could also see how this novel could be used across the curriculums of particularly science and history, with much talk of both past and future time periods as well as physics concepts such as time continuums.

Serious and humorous. Realistic and fantastical. I personally would pitch The Tempus Imperium to junior high school years, though having said that, as an ‘old’ person, I totally enjoyed Charlie and her time travelling exploits.

Title: When Among Crows

Author: Veronica Roth

Reviewer: Rhonda Bruce

Audience:  Stage 5/6

"I know that the fern flower unravels most curses," he says. "But it can only be touched by mortal hands." Klara's eyes stay locked on the fern flower. "How did you get that?" she says, her voice rough. "I was tested," he replies. (P29)

Dymitr is on a mission to break a curse. Ala is a fear-eating zmora that will kill her. Niko is a powerful and very attractive male strzyga who feeds on rage. One night in modern-day Chicago, Dymitr seeks help from Ala to find the legendary witch, Baba Jaga in exchange for the fern flower that will remove her family's curse. Ala agrees - but they only have 36 hours...

Suggested reading for the Stage 5 and 6 English Syllabus, covering texts with a wide range of social and gender perspectives, popular and youth cultures.