The Rig by Joe Ducie

Title: The Rig

Author: Joe Ducie

Release Date: 5th September 2013

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

Fifteen-year-old Will Drake has made a career of breaking out from high-security prisons. His talents have landed him at The Rig, a specialist juvenile holding facility in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. No one can escape from The Rig. No one except for Drake...

After making some escape plans and meeting the first real friends of his life, Drake quickly realises that all is not as it seems on The Rig. The Warden is obsessed with the mysterious Crystal-X - a blue, glowing substance that appears to give superpowers to the teens exposed to it. Drake, Tristan and Irene are banking on a bid for freedom - but can they survive long enough to make it?

In A Nutshell:

The Rig is an action packed, suspenseful novel with a male protagonist. Set in a slightly dystopian future with a science fiction element lurking beneath the surface, The Rig is one for fans of the Cherub series, ACID or any other action adventure featuring secret government agencies.

My Review:

Set in 2025, Alliance Systems and their elite soldiers, Crystal Force, maintain and guard The Rig, a floating prison in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. As the "most secure rehabilitation centre” for juvenile offenders, the inmates follow strict rules, guided by their GPS electromagnetic prison cuffs, and work off their stay. For Will, instantly hated by the Warden, this means cleaning out the sewage pipes and tunnels daily.

Will has escaped three prisons already and while he is originally full of bravado when he arrives at The Rig, once he experiences its inner workings, he's not so sure there is a way off the prison. Not unlike a maze, The Rig, housed on a disused oil platform, has a sinister science fiction element lurking beneath the surface, and as Will discovers, his fellow inmates are being used as guinea pigs. Now, more than ever, Will needs to escape and find his way back to land, even if it means leaving his new friends, friends he’s not all that sure he wants in the first place, behind. But between the guards and the other prisoners, not to mention some mysterious disappearances, Will Drake will need to figure something out quickly if he wants to get off the rig alive.

I found it fun trying to figure out how Will would attempt to escape as well as uncovering more details about the other prisoners, particularly Tristan his cell mate, who has a few surprising tricks of his own. Tristan’s character is from Perth, Australia (my hometown) and this is mentioned a few times. It’s always nice to have our little old city mentioned in novels (usually done by authors who live here, like in this case). It was also nerve-racking to see how far Will would push the guards and how much pain he could take from the various incidents that occurred. Some of the characters also remind us that in a corrupt system, sometimes it is necessary to break the law if it’s for the right reasons and that not all ‘criminals’ are evil (please note I in no way condone breaking the law. We do not live in a dystopian society…yet).

The Rig is an action packed, suspenseful novel with a male protagonist for fans of the Cherub series, ACID or any other action adventure featuring secret government agencies set in a slightly dystopian future.

You can find The Rig on Amazon, The Book Depository, or other online retailers.

Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts - Blog Tour Review and Giveaway!

Title: Zac & Mia
Author: A.J. Betts
 

Release Date: 24th July 2013

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

The last person Zac expects in the room next door is a girl like Mia, angry and feisty with questionable taste in music. In the real world, he wouldn’t—couldn’t—be friends with her. In hospital different rules apply, and what begins as a knock on the wall leads to a note—then a friendship neither of them sees coming.

You need courage to be in hospital; different courage to be back in the real world. In one of these worlds Zac needs Mia. And in the other Mia needs Zac. Or maybe they both need each other, always.

In A Nutshell:

Zac and Mia is a heartfelt, emotional, uplifting and raw novel about cancer, friendship and hope. It is an amazing story and I hope you’ll love it as much as I do.

My Review:

Upon finishing Zac and Mia, words failed me. I can’t think of a book more deserving to win the Text Prize. Set in Western Australia, the novel is the story of Zac and Mia, two seventeen year olds with different types of cancer. The story, told in their alternating perspectives, illustrates two very different journeys that these kids must face at such a young age.

It is honest and raw and doesn’t hold back on the brutality of cancer, sharing what Zac and Mia experience: the chemo, losing their hair, the isolation (both physically and mentally), boredom, medications, the debilitating effects, statistics, overbearing parents, stages of denial, feelings of hopelessness and a desire not to be pitied.

But the story is also heartfelt, emotional and uplifting. It is not a miserable ‘sick-lit’ about two teenagers dying. It is a story about Zac and Mia, who, under horrible circumstances, meet and form a bond that can only be created when experiencing something significant together.

It is a story about how people react and handle the challenges they are faced with. A story of hope and not giving up. It is recognising and appreciating life and the simple things that others take for granted. It is about helping one another and offering support in any way, shape or form and being there even when they push you away. It is finding someone who understands you and coming to terms with your own reality. It is recognising that your life has changed but you don’t have to be defined by the cancer.

Please read Zac and Mia. You will not regret it.

I wash my hands, amused by the reflection in the mirror.

My head is bald, lumpy and asymmetrical, but my eyebrows are thicker than before.

I appear to be morphing into one of those creepy guys from Guess Who.
– Zac page 18

Also by A.J. Betts
Shutterspeed
Wavelength 

 

To celebrate the release of Zac and Mia, the third book by Australian author A.J. Betts and winner of the 2012 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing, I am participating in a blog tour along with a bunch of other lovely bloggers. You can see the other tour stops here. Thanks to Text Publishing, I have a copy of Zac and Mia to give away!

To enter, you must be a follower of this blog and live in Australia. Please fill out the form below. Entries close 27th August 2013 and the winner will be contacted via email.

**Update**
This competition is now closed. The winner has been contacted via email.
Thank you to all who entered :)

The Mimosa Tree by Antonella Preto

Title: The Mimosa Tree
Author: Antonella Preto

Release Date: 1st April 2013

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

It’s the summer of 1987 and Mira is beginning her first year at uni. She’s got a radical new haircut, and an all-black wardrobe — she should be having the time of her life.

But it’s hard to get excited about anything when you’re being smothered by your crazy Italian family, enrolled in a course you’re not interested in, and expecting nuclear warfare at any moment.

Even a new best friend and the magnetic boy from art class can’t wipe away the image of a looming mushroom cloud. And Mira’s right. Her world is about to explode, but it’s not the skies she should be checking.

In A Nutshell:

The Mimosa Tree is a story about grief, growing up and the importance of family. Cancer is a strong element of the novel but the story connects because it is surrounded by the everyday happenings of life. The novel will have you laughing, crying and seething in frustration but as you will see, it is how people react and cope in difficult situations that define who they are and who they will become.

My Review:
The Mimosa Tree is a snapshot of the life of seventeen year-old Mira who is an only child growing up in a traditional Italian family in Australia. It’s 1987 and Mira has finally left high school behind. Entering university, she hopes for bigger and better things, for real friends with the same passions and interests as her. But it’s hard to make friends when she dismisses those who don’t appear to be like her and with a stifling and bossy extended family who have an opinion on every facet of her life.

Adjusting to the university workload and an irritating but persistent new friend helps keep Mira somewhat sane from her meddling aunt Via. But, when her mother’s cancer returns, Mira’s life is turned further upside down. With the illness kept a secret from those not in the family, Mira takes her grief and frustrations out on unsuspecting people, such as her new friend Felicia. Mira keeps everything bottled up, becoming isolated because she only really has her exasperating aunts to talk to, which is not ideal.

Mira’s aunt Via angered me so much that I almost put the book down a few times. She was just so incredibly frustrating and pushy and I would go mad if someone like her was always meddling in my life. But, I do understand why she is the way she is and that it is just her way of showing she cares.

I loved Mira. I don’t think a lot of people would probably feel the same way. She’s negative, grumpy and judges people too quickly, but it’s all about protecting herself from getting hurt. It’s a coping mechanism and since she has never had any real friends, it’s hard for her to accept people, particularly when she has a particular image in her head of what new friends might be like. She is an honest character and I love Antonella Preto for writing her.

Mira really frustrated me at times because she doesn’t do anything around the house to help her mother out. This really bugged me because I viewed her as a selfish, spoilt child and couldn’t understand why she didn’t help out more. Then I realised that that isn’t the way the Italian home works. That is the wife’s job, to take care of everything around the house. At least, this is my impression of how it was 25 years ago.

People deal with grief in their own ways and existing relationships are often altered, some for better, some for worse. What Mira discovers is that while family is incredibly important, they are not always enough and sometimes you need the support of people outside the situation to help you cope.

The Mimosa Tree is a story about grief, growing up and the importance of family. Cancer is a strong element of the novel but the story connects because it is surrounded by the everyday happenings of life. For Mira, the difficult transition from high school to university, becoming an adult and learning how to cope with a very sick mother is different to the way in which her father and aunts react. The novel will have you laughing, crying and seething in frustration but as you will see, it is how people react and cope in difficult situations that define who they are and who they will become.

Guitar Highway Rose by Brigid Lowry

Title: Guitar Highway Rose

Author: Brigid Lowry

Release Date: September 1997.

Reprinted 2004, 2006

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

Rosie is restless. She wants a nose-ring, and more... she wants to do something. Asher is the new boy in her class. He has dreadlocks, a guitar and a bad case of the gypsy blues. And he just wants to get away.

Sometimes we know we shouldn't and that's exactly why we do.

In A Nutshell:

Guitar Highway Rose is a novel about growing up. It’s about the family dynamic, in a variety of forms such as mothers and daughters, husbands and wives. It’s about teenage acts of rebellion and the restlessness felt at being in that limbo age of adolescents. And it’s about hope.

My Review:

I thought I would finally attempt to review one of my all-time favourite novels, Guitar Highway Rose. Even though I have re-read it countless times, I’ve never written a review for it, preferring to take comfort in an old favourite and forget trying to put my feelings into words, something I often find harder to do with favourites.

So, how to sum up a book that pretty much made me the reader I am today? Without the likes of this, and Margaret Clark, John Marsden, Jaclyn Moriarty’s Feeling Sorry for Celia, and Glyn Parry’s Scooterboy, I don’t know where my reading abilities or habits would be.

Guitar Highway Rose is set in Western Australia (where I live), and more specifically, the beach suburb Swanbourne, and carefree, hippy Fremantle. And because this is also somewhat of a road trip book, some of the coastal towns north of Perth such as Kalbarri and Geraldton also feature.

Rosie is fifteen. She wants a nose-ring and dreadlocks and is somewhat of a hippy. She’s always fighting with her mum and feels stuck in her life, like she is just drifting through it. Asher has just moved to Perth and he couldn’t be feeling more stifled and annoyed if he tried. He misses Byron Bay (that’s near Sydney for those of you who don’t know – Perth is on the opposite side of Australia) and his friends. And his dad. After pairing up for a poetry assignment, in which Asher suggests studying Jim Morrison, the two find they are somewhat kindred spirits.

While Rosie and Asher are our main characters, the people they are closest to are also key players in telling the story. We get a complete picture of what is going on in everyone’s lives, and how they influence the decisions that Rosie and Asher make. It is uncommon to show multiple, unequal perspectives but Lowry manages to avoid confusing the reader. This is done by the whole story being told in pieces, with little subtitles so you know where and what everyone is thinking or doing when an event affects them, giving the reader a complete insight. Rosie and Asher’s families, Rosie’s best friend Pip, and their English teacher Mr E, help in representing the scattered lives of the everyday family. It also interestingly swaps between first person and third person narrative. Also, when Asher is thinking, the text is without any punctuation which represents the frantic, restlessness that he feels since his life got turned upside down.

Guitar Highway Rose (1997) Pg.20

There are favourite quotes and songs and little anecdotes included throughout the story to put the events in context and give insight into the personalities of each character.

Guitar Highway Rose (1997) Pg.41

Guitar Highway Rose (1997) Pg.24

Seeing as the novel was written 15 years ago, it’s fair to say there are some cultural references that might not be recognised by today’s readers. For instance, Rosie and Asher often refer to their ‘key cards’. This is what a debit card used to be called. There are cassette tapes rather than CDs and their music idols are Bob Marley, The Doors, and The Smashing Pumpkins. If you don’t know who any of them are, then I fear for the musical livelihood of future generations!

In short, Guitar Highway Rose is a novel about growing up. It’s about the family dynamic, in a variety of forms such as mothers and daughters, husbands and wives. It’s about teenage acts of rebellion and the restlessness felt at being in that limbo age of adolescents. And it’s about hope.

Every couple of years I re-read Guitar Highway Rose. I have a first edition copy (1997) that I bought, when I was 12 (1999) AND it is personally signed to me by Brigid Lowry herself. The cover has changed three times with new reprints and I have to say that even though I love the original cover, I really like the new covers too, and this is rare.

Author Interview: AJ Betts

Originally from Queensland, Aussie YA author Amanda (AJ) Betts has lived in Perth for the last eight years and is avid cyclist. She has written two novels which means I frequently bump into her at writers events around Perth. ShutterSpeed (2008), and Wavelength (2010), which was shortlisted for the West Australian Premier's Prize in 2011, are both published by Fremantle Press. Amanda won the Text Prize in 2012 for her new novel, Zac and Mia, which will be published August 2013.

Please welcome Amanda (AJ) Betts!

I was the kind of kid who... would spend hours in the garden looking for insects.  

My mother always told me... to wear undies.

The biggest lesson I learnt at school was... don't try to please everyone (actually, I'm still learning that one...)

My first big crush was... shame, I can't say! He was sweet and brought me unexpected gifts.  

I earnt my first pay cheque... waitressing at my parents' cafe on school holidays.

I really hate it when... a driver abuses while I'm cycling.

I’m very good at… coming up with excuses.  

I’m frightened of… regret.

When I’m in the shower I sing… loudly! And brilliantly. Apologies to the neighbours.  

My road to publication was… scenic and winding, with lots of interesting foliage. I enjoyed the ride.

The last book I read was… 'The Big Picture' by David Suzuki.

I would love to meet… someone from the future.  

When I get the munchies I eat… anything that makes a satisfying crunch sound.

I’m currently working on… a speculative fiction set 300 years in the future off the coast of Tasmania.

I hope I never… give up.

Life is… a comedy. A surprise. A joy. 

Thanks for being a part of Aussie Author Month, Amanda!

Amanda on Goodreads

Amanda's website

My review of ShutterSpeed

My review of Wavelength

Aussie Author Month Giveaway: Creepy and Maud by Dianne Touchell

As part of my Aussie Author Month, I have some signed books to give away! 

 

Up for grabs today is Creepy and Maud by Dianne Touchell!

 

 

I am in love with the girl next door. Our windows are almost opposite each other's, over the side fence.

I call her Maud. That's not her real name but that's what I call her. She's sort of shortish and curvy. Titian hair. No freckles. A dark, smudgy birthmark on the back of her left calf. A nose piercing her dad knows about and a bellybutton piercing I assume he doesn't. All right, so I have spent a bit of time looking in there.

Am I sounding creepy? Love is sort of creepy. When you fall in love, you presuppose all sorts of things about the person. You superimpose all kinds of ideals and fantasies on them. You create all manner of unrealistic, untenable, unsatisfiable criteria for that person, automatically guaranteeing their failure and your heartbreak. And what do we call it? Romance. Now, that's creepy.

 

 What I Said:

"Creepy and Maud is an off-beat novel with peculiar characters who view the world from a distance. The story is told in first person, swapping between the two title characters, although not evenly. The text is often blunt, but lyrically interesting, and matches the quiry and slightly odd characters who are just trying to make a connection with someone who understands them."

 

Click here to read the full review.

To enter:

- Fill out the form below

- You must be a follower of this blog

- The giveaway is international

- Entires close 30th April 2013

- Extra entires available for those who share the giveaway on their blog, facebook and/or twitter

ShutterSpeed by AJ Betts

Title: ShutterSpeed
Author: A.J. Betts

Release Date: 1st July 2008

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

Living alone with his silent father and the shadow cast by his long-dead mother, Dustin waits, wanting only to slip under the radar and survive what’s left of high school and through his work at the photo lab. Then one Sunday, a single photo gets stuck in the processor and it changes everything: the bike in the picture is decent—a Ducati Monster 620, cherry red—and the woman, Terri Pavish, beside it is striking too. What begins then as an innocent curiosity in her photography, her freedom, her speed, becomes something else and the past swings full-circle to haunt him.

In A Nutshell:

ShutterSpeed is the story of a teenage boy looking for answers but who gets caught up in a frantic obsession that forces him to take a step back and pay attention to the realities of his life. Personal boundaries, mental health and adolescent friendships are highlighted in this psychological teenage drama set in Western Australia.

My Review:

At its core, ShutterSpeed is a novel about a boy who is haunted by the death of his mother, and who is trying to escape reality but instead really needs to take a closer look at what is going on around him. Instead of getting caught up in fantasies in his head, he needs to look at what makes life worth living.

When Dustin becomes captivated by a woman in a photograph, he becomes unpredictable, to the point of developing stalker-ish tendencies. He feeds on the adrenalin that spikes when he catches a glimpse of her and he eventually becomes frantic when his private world becomes entwined with his public persona.

Realistic teenage situations are put to the test as Dustin struggles with the direction his friendship group is taking and the complicated times when boy/girl friendships are threatened by enhanced feelings. The relationship between Dustin and his father is also an interesting study of two broken men who don’t know how to communicate properly. Personal boundaries and mental health issues are also highlighted in this psychological teenage drama.

The preface of ShutterSpeed was perhaps one of my favourite passages from this debut novel by AJ Betts. In those first two pages, it took me right back to my high school days in the photography lab, developing film, worrying that I had done the chemical measurements incorrectly and that it would ruin the precious images I had captured. It reminded me of the thrill of unwinding the developed film and looking over the negative strip. It led me to question whether I made the right decision not to accept an offer to study photography after year 12.

I think that is the power of a well-written novel, to resonate with its reader so much so, that the said reader questions a decision they made eight years ago. The other joy for me was the setting. ShutterSpeed is set in Western Australia (where I live) and more specifically the Fremantle and Cottesloe areas. I could actually picture the direct routes that Dustin takes on his way home on his bike, the movie theatre he goes to, the beach where he and Jasmine take photos and the parrots that make a racket (I swear you cannot hear yourself speak if you turn up at Cottesloe beach at 5:30pm due to those bloody parrots!). I could even identify the news reports that Dustin and his father watch on TV using the throwaway comments from the chapter. It is so nice to read stories set in familiar locations. 

When you start seeing the world through a viewfinder you realise everything is made up of parts. Surprising parts. The little things matter, Dustin. Don’t forget the little things.

Author Interview: Deb Fitzpatrick

Deb Fitzpatrick is a West Australian author who I have had the pleasure of meeting a number of times. Her debut novel, 90 Packets of Instant Noodles, is a refreshing story about 16-year-old Joel, who is sent to live in a bush shack for 90 days after making some poor life choices. It is a story about peer pressure, but also about how sometimes, it's not too late to change your ways.

90 Packets was named a Notable Book for Older Readers by the Children’s Book Council of Australia in 2011, as was her second novel, Have Your Seen Ally Queen? in 2012. Deb's third book, The Amazing Spencer Gray, is her first middle grade story and will be out May 2013.

Please welcome Deb Fitzpatrick to The Tales Compendium for Aussie Author Month!

I was the kind of kid who… talked in class so much I was often told off. I was also the kind of kid whose hand went up hard and fast to be the first to answer the teacher's questions. Also the kind of kid who just missed out on the netball team – every time.
 

My mother always told me… "Money doesn't make you happy."
 

The biggest lesson I learnt at school was… that I could write.

My first big crush was… on the fish 'n' chips guy in Kalbarri when I was about 14. I think I wrote him a love letter when I got home to Perth. Poor guy.

I earnt my first pay cheque… at my local newsagency, where I worked on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings in high school. It was a family business and they really looked after me.

I really hate it when… There are so many ways I could finish this sentence it disturbs me! But I'll just choose one: when people tailgate. It's an accident waiting to happen, for nothing.

I’m very good at… talking too much.

The hardest thing I’ve ever done… was spend four years living in a shack with no phone and no internet connection in the cloud forest in Costa Rica while my husband did his PhD research there. The first two years nearly killed me; the last two made me.
 

I’m frightened of… someone doing something bad to one of my kids.
 

When I’m in the shower I sing… a lot. My kids beg me to stop.
 

My road to publication was… being shortlisted for the 2006 TAG Hungerford Award. I didn't win, but it opened up so many doors for me. I'm forever grateful.
 

The last book I read was… "The House of Fiction" by Susan Swingler, about Elizabeth Jolley's family.
 

I would love to meet… Tim Winton, and have a bottle of good wine with him over a very long chat.
 

When I get the munchies I eat… cheese and biscuits.
 

I’m currently working on… a YA novel.
 

I hope I never… become a snob, or get too big for my boots, or lose my mind, or stop writing.

Life is… incredible – and scary, if you think about it for too long. And way, way too short.

Thankyou so much for being part of Aussie Author Month, Deb!

Deb's Website

Deb on Goodreads

My review of 90 Packets of Instant Noodles

My review of Have You Seen Ally Queen?