Nona and Me by Clare Atkins

Title: Nona and Me
Author: Clare Atkins

Release Date: 24th September 2014

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

Rosie and Nona are sisters. Yapas.

They are also best friends. It doesn’t matter that Rosie is white and Nona is Aboriginal: their family connections tie them together for life.

Born just five days apart in a remote corner of the Northern Territory, the girls are inseperable, until Nona moves away at the age of nine. By the time she returns, they’re in Year 10 and things have changed. Rosie has lost interest in the community, preferring to hang out in the nearby mining town, where she goes to school with the glamorous Selena, and Selena’s gorgeous older brother Nick.

When a political announcement highlights divisions between the Aboriginal community and the mining town, Rosie is put in a difficult position: will she be forced to choose between her first love and her oldest friend?

In A Nutshell:

A story about family in all its forms, friendship, growing up and finding yourself.

My Review:

Set in the Northern Territory of Australia during the 2007 Intervention by the Howard Government, through to the election of Kevin Rudd and his ‘Sorry’ speech, Nona and Me is an incredibly important and special book.

The story follows Rosie who, for the most part, has distanced herself from her Indigenous family after her ‘sister’ Nona, left the community six years earlier. Trying to fit in with Selena and her older brother Nick, who have moved to town from Sydney, has led Rosie to ignore her upbringing. When Nona re-emerges in the middle of year 10, Rosie is forced to re-examine what exactly the word ‘family’ means to her and what she is prepared to risk losing for the cost of ‘fitting in’.

With tensions building in the community due to a government intervention, the death of someone in her adoptive family causes Rosie to reintegrate herself and partake in traditional ceremonies. In the process, she re-evaluates what, and who, is important to her.

A story about family in all its forms, friendship, growing up and finding yourself.

Nona and Me is a positive book that helps to combat the generally bad press that is showered over the Indigenous communities in Australia. While our protagonist, Rosie, is not of Aboriginal descent, she has grown up living in an Indigenous community in which she and her parents have been ‘adopted’ by one of the families. The novel shows Rosie’s perspective from being both inside and outside the community as she’s torn between two worlds, trying to figure out where she belongs. Included throughout the text are flashbacks of Rosie and Nona’s childhood, which helps provide a backstory, as well as contrast, to the novel’s present-day events. 

Nona and Me helps dispel stereotypes and emphasizes the importance of family and community. Just because a way of life might be different from the one you lead, doesn’t make it wrong. We are a world of many cultures and each individual is influenced by their surroundings. It is our differences that make us unique, and also bring us together. 

I was caught ‘off guard’ as to how much of a page-turner Nona and Me would be. In the blink of an eye, I was almost finished. It was surprisingly captivating and I'd love to see this become required reading or go on a recommended reading list in all high schools.

Thank you to Black Inc. for providing this review copy.

Me Since You by Laura Wiess

Title: Me Since You
Author: Laura Wiess

Release Date: 18th February 2014

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:
Are there any answers when someone you love makes a tragic choice?

Before and After. That’s how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old—a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.

If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger’s shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother — and herself — from the endless replay of heartache and grief.

Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?

In A Nutshell:

Me Since You is a raw and honest portrayal of grief and depression. It is the story of a family’s struggle to hold it all together when their life has been ripped apart and the special people who stick around hoping to eventually see a smile or ray of sunshine shine through once again.

My Review:
When a book so perfectly reflects real life emotions, how can you fault it? Me Since You will take hold of your heart and squeeze it until you feel as though you can no longer breathe. Just like the characters, you will cry until you didn't think it was possible to cry anymore. And then you’ll cry some more.

Me Since You is one of the most emotionally draining books I have ever read yet it is so beautiful and real in how it portrays depression and grief and everything that comes with the territory. After a heartbreaking tragedy strikes Rowen’s small town, the events that follow directly change the course of her and her family’s life. There are snide comments and vicious opinions, a town reeling from the devastating effects of suicide, the spiralling depression that engulfs Rowen’s father, and the anger and resentment felt through not understanding mental health issues. There’s the wishing that everything can just go back to the way it was, the confusion, the hurt, the pain, and the hole that is left when someone is suddenly gone.

The novel carefully examines how families, immediate and extended, are effected and how everyone grieves differently. Friendships can crumble or grow stronger depending on how individuals react and understand the process when everything in life changes and there is no easy answer as to how or when to move on. There is also a strong element recognising the healing power of animals and the love and bond between humans and four-legged friends. While I do not have personal experience in the types of tragedy Rowen lives, I do know something about grief and while this book will demand that you have a box of tissues next to you, for at least half the book, it will leave you a better, more understanding person for reading it.

Me Since You is a raw and honest portrayal of grief and depression. It is the story of a family’s struggle to hold it all together when their life has been ripped apart and the special people who stick around hoping to eventually see a smile or ray of sunshine shine through once again.

The First Third by Will Kostakis

Title: The First Third
Author: Will Kostakis

Release Date: 24th July 2013

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:
Life is made up of three parts: in the first third, you're embarrassed by your family; in the second, you make a family of your own; and in the end, you just embarrass the family you've made.

That's how Billy's grandmother explains it, anyway. She's given him her bucket list (cue embarrassment), and now, it's his job to glue their family back together.

No pressure or anything.

Fixing his family's not going to be easy and Billy's not ready for change. But as he soon discovers, the first third has to end some time. And then what?

It's a Greek tragedy waiting to happen.

In A Nutshell:
The First Third is about what makes a family a family, the bonds of friendship and what it means to have people who care about you in your life. Sad, funny and heart-warming, The First Third is about as ‘real life’ as you can get and arguably a male point-of-view equivalent to Melina Marchetta’s Looking For Alibrandi.

My Review:
The First Third centres around Billy Tsolkis and his family: older brother Simon, younger brother Peter, mum Kath and grandmother 'Yiayia' Filyo. After Yiayia lands in hospital, she charges Billy with completing her bucket list for her. Number one, find his mother a husband. Number two, make Simon move back to Sydney and find him a girlfriend. Number three, fix Peter. Yaiyai fears that once she dies, the glue that holds their family together will also disappear. Here she sets in motion a hilarious but often heartbreaking sequence of events as Billy attempts to reconnect with his self-distancing brothers and find his mother a guy that won't stand her up. And if he's Greek, all the better.

With the help of his best friend Lucas, affectionately called ‘Sticks’, and Hayley, a girl Yiayia attempts to set Billy up with, Billy has to somehow put his family back together, and maybe find himself a girlfriend who won’t runaway screaming.

Unfortunately it is easier said than done. From his mother asking him to proof read her sexts, schooling her on the acceptable amount of times she can text a guy in a row before scaring him off, as well as attempting to communicate and find common ground with his brothers, the tasks Yiayia has set are difficult. Peter refuses to acknowledge that Billy exists and spends every waking hour at the gym and Simon avoids his phone calls as he ‘lives it up’ in Brisbane.

The First Third is about what makes a family a family, the bonds of friendship and what it means to have people who care about you in your life. Just because certain people may not be around, such as the brothers’ absentee father, doesn't mean there aren't suitable substitutes who pop up at unexpected times and warm your heart. My favourite character would have to be Sticks. His foray into finding a guy who won’t look at him like a “freak” speaks to everyone who is just looking for someone to like them for them.

I loved Yiayia's comparisons of lasagne to moussaka (not what you think!), Billy helping his mum get ready for dates, Billy jumping on stage and performing a comedy act to avoid getting ID checked after sneaking into a bar, and all the bits and pieces that Sticks and Billy collect from their lifetime of adventures. These are all part of what makes the first third of Billy’s life exciting, sad, funny and heart-warming. The First Third is about as ‘real life’ as you can get and arguably a male point-of-view equivalent to Melina Marchetta’s Looking For Alibrandi.

As a side note, Yiayia also reminded me of my grandma, who is unwell and has been working to ‘sort everyone out’ or at least make sure they are on the right path before she is no longer able to do so.

The Sky So Heavy by Claire Zorn

Title: The Sky So Heavy
Author: Claire Zorn
 

Release Date: 24th July 2013

My Rating: 5/5
 

Blurb:

For Fin, it's just like any other day - racing for the school bus, bluffing his way through class, and trying to remain cool in front of the most sophisticated girl in his universe, Lucy. Only it's not like any other day because, on the other side of the world, nuclear missiles are being detonated.

From an exciting new voice in Australian YA literature, Claire Zorn, comes a haunting novel, The Sky So Heavy - a mesmerising story inspired by the continued debate over Australia's treatment of asylum-seekers and how a line through a map can determine your fate.

In A Nutshell:

This gripping story of utter desperation and survival is full of suspense as our characters face a near apocalyptic future. Faced with situations no one, let along children, should have to endure, they question where to draw the line when fighting for survival and how far you would go to protect the ones you love. Claire Zorn and her debut novel, The Sky So Heavy, are exciting new additions to the Aussie YA community.

My Review:

The Sky So Heavy is the debut novel by Australian author Claire Zorn. Zorn has created a chilling story of survival set in Australia’s Blue Mountains after another country ‘tests’ nuclear missiles and essentially sends the world back into the dark ages.

Our main character is seventeen year old Fin. Along with his younger brother Max, the boys battle the freezing cold and dwindling supplies after their dad disappears on the first night. As the months go by, they come to the realisation that those not from the city (Sydney), or who do not possess ‘valuable’ skills (such as doctors) are being left to die. The brothers, forced to fend for themselves to survive, team up with new friend Noll and Fin’s school friend Lucy, and attempt to make their way towards the city in search of Fin and Max’s mother. But staying alive and getting into the barricaded city will be harder than any of them expected.

As Fin tries to hold it all together and stay positive for their little group, their new reality means hypothermia, dehydration and starvation become very real possibilities. And if those don't kill them, someone will probably try. The kindness of strangers often surprises them when at the same time, people they have known their whole lives try to kill them for supplies. With the population becoming more desperate and violence escalating in correlation to how hungry people are, Fin, Noll and Lucy question what is right and wrong. Who do they trust? And where do they draw the line in order to survive and protect the ones they love?

This gripping story of utter desperation and survival is full of suspense as our characters face a near apocalyptic future. Yet throughout their struggle, Fin, Max, Noll and Lucy continue to hold on to hope that they will find somewhere they can rebuild their lives.

Claire Zorn and her first novel, The Sky So Heavy, are exciting new additions to the Aussie YA community.

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Title: The Diviners
Author: Libba Bray

Release Date: 1st September 2012

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

1920s New York. A teen clairvoyant. An old evil. It has begun...

Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old home town and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City - and she is pos-i-tute-ly thrilled! New York is the city of speak-easies, rent parties, shopping and movie palaces, and soon enough Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfeld girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult - also known as 'The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies'.

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of it. Even Evie's new pals - hoofers, numbers runners and activists, but all swell kids - are drawn into the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer - if he doesn't catch her first...

In A Nutshell:
The Diviners is an intricately woven story of superstition, old magic, religious zealots and race relations. It also portrays the different ways love and family can take shape, how meaningful those relationships become, and what people would do for the ones they love. Although the novel is a about a serial killer, there are many other aspects to it and you’ll find that amongst the suspense and superstition, there is an exploration of what drives cults and religions, but this is also balanced out at the same time with fun, light-hearted frivolity. I loved it!

My Review:

I "pos-i-tute-ly" loved The Diviners. Libba Bray’s storytelling abilities continue to blow my mind. The first chapter is amazing and sets the scene for the rest of the book. We are thrown right into the belly of the beast which is Manhattan in the 20’s and we get an insight into all the different boroughs of NYC and how it was then.

Right from the beginning we know the murderer is Naughty John, but we follow the characters as they are introduced to us and as their lives become affected by Naughty John’s actions. John is a fantastic and truly creepy villain and you never know who he is going to go after next, sometimes it’s a stranger, other times it is one of the characters already known to us. Each chapter I was worried one of my favourites was about to be killed. I dare say I wouldn’t read parts of this at night when you are home alone cos you may just get a little too creeped out!

There are lots of characters to keep track of but this isn’t hard as they are all given plenty of page-time as their lives and secrets are discovered. Our main character Evie likes to have a good time and sometimes forgets to think before she acts. Arriving in the Big Apple from Ohio with her clairvoyant abilities a secret, her pending new lifestyle has her brimming with excitement. She’s sassy and at times selfish, but she has a good heart and if you don’t like her at the beginning, she will definitely grow on you. Staying with her Uncle Will, Evie joins forces with her New York pen pal Mable, who lives in her uncle’s building. Mabel is often the voice of reason but her complaints sometimes fall on deaf ears, particularly when Evie gets together with the theatrically divine Theta and Henry. Together, Manhattan is their playground.

Evie’s Uncle Will, curator of the occult museum, has a few secrets of his own, as does his assistant, Jericho, and the pickpocket Sam Lloyd, who wrangled his way into Evie’s life and won’t entirely disappear. There’s also the charming Memphis, a poet with a lot on his shoulders, his brother Isaiah whose unusual talent catches the interest of the mysterious Miss Walker and Blind Bill. There’s trumpet player Gabe and attention seeker Daisy, Will’s old friend Detective Malloy and annoying reporter T.S Woodhouse. Let’s not forget Evie and Will’s old neighbours, Miss Adelaide and Miss Lillian, spinster sisters who appear to be losing their marbles. Pretty much everyone has something to hide and as many of the characters meet and their story-arcs cross over, these secrets are slowly revealed.

It is obvious how much research went into The Diviners and it was well worth it as there is so much detail to every scene. The reader is able to fully immerse themselves in the story, feeling as though they are right there with Evie, or in the same room as Naughty John (not always a good thing!), or sitting in the cemetery with Memphis. The story feels so authentic and I could really picture what the 1920’s was like in New York City. The setting is woven so well into the story that readers won’t feel as though they are having descriptive details thrown at them, you just become enthralled with what is going on.

I spent much of the novel reading it as though Libba herself was narrating it after she read aloud at Reading Matters last year. It made it so much fun imagining her theatrically voicing Evie and Theta and the 1920’s slang really helped set the atmosphere.

If you’ve seen The Diviners sitting on a bookshelf, you've probably noticed that it is quite a brick of a book. At 578 pages, my arms did occasionally get sore, but the length was by no means a detriment to the novel. If anything, I am glad it was so long as I didn’t want it to finish. I’m pleased to know there will be a sequel out in late 2014 but until then, make sure you savour all 578 pages!

The Diviners is an intricately woven story of superstition, old magic, religious zealots and race relations. It also portrays the different ways love and family can take shape, how meaningful those relationships become, and what people would do for the ones they love. Although the novel is a about a serial killer, there are many other aspects to it and you’ll find that amongst the suspense and superstition, there is an exploration of what drives cults and religions, but this is also balanced out at the same time with fun, light-hearted frivolity. The Diviners also only scratches the surface of a bigger picture, one which I am sure will be unravelled in the sequel.

This is Libba Bray’s signature storytelling at its best!

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

Title: The Impossible Knife of Memory

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Release Date: 2nd January 2014

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

For the past five years Hayley Kincain and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq.

Now they are back in town where he grew up so Hayley can go to a proper school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.

Will being back home help Andy's PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over?

In a Nutshell:

From the first page, The Impossible Knife of Memory took hold and wouldn't let go. It's a novel full of emotion, respect, pain and love. Beautifully articulated from Hayley's perspective but with snippets of Andy's memories dispersed throughout, it clenched my heart and left me at pains to think of what so many people are, and will continue, to go through. It's an exploration of a father and daughter attempting to piece themselves back together and the life events that lead them to realise that accepting or asking for help is not a measure of failure.

My Review:

The Impossible Knife of Memory reflects the often forgotten casualties of war; the servicemen and women who return from their tours with injuries invisible to the eye. Not only does Laurie Halse Anderson respectfully, carefully and thoughtfully explore the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on a veteran, she also looks at the way in which their loved ones are effected and this is done through the point of view of seventeen-year-old Hayley.

Not to give too much of the story away, here's a little about Hayley's situation: Hayley's dad, Captain Andy Kincain, served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan for much of her childhood, leaving her to be raised by her Grandmother after her mother died when Hayley was only five months old. After her grandmother died, Hayley was brought up by Andy's 'Base Bunny', Trish, the closest thing to a mother Hayley had ever known. Due to suffering multiple injuries, her dad returned, injured in more ways than just physically. The relationship between Trish and her dad fell apart eventuating with Trish walking out on them both. Ever since, Hayley and her dad have moved from town to town with Andy home-schooling her. 

After an 'incident', Andy decides it's time to put down proper roots and returns to his hometown so Hayley can complete her final year of high school, much to Hayley's disdain. Adjusting to a new school is hard enough, but when you've never been to a high school, things are somewhat harder, regardless of the situation at home. She is frustrated by the system and the 'zombies' around her and doesn't give much stock to her guidance counsellor's efforts to get her to think about college. Hayley has never really given her future a thought given her position with her dad and while her friends dream of ways to escape their town, Hayley has never felt she's had the luxury of planning her future.

"My earbuds were in, but I wasn't playing music. I needed to hear the world but didn't want the world to know I was listening"

Hayley has very few memories of her childhood, having blocked most of them in an effort to forget and protect herself from further hurt. You can't miss what you don't remember but even the memories she does have are unreliable. The abandonment she felt after Trish left has turned into anger and coupled with her dad's psychological state, she suffers from anxiety, scared of what condition she may find her father in and her constant concerns for his safety. She is often left playing the parent, cleaning up after him as he numbs his pain and escapes his memories with alcohol and drugs. Her loyalty to her father and her belief that the two of them can make it work keeps her from letting those around her into the complexity of her life. The sudden and unwanted return of Trish adds to the unpredictability of Hayley and Andy's lives.

Hayley's friendship with Gracie and the inklings of a possible romance with Finn keep her floating above water, although she isn't the only one with a somewhat complicated home-life. Her friends are suffering through financial strain, a sibling's addiction problem, a messy divorce, and self-medication. But regardless of their problems, they provide each other with glimmers of hope and happiness.

From the first page, The Impossible Knife of Memory took hold and wouldn't let go. It's a novel full of emotion, respect, pain and love. Beautifully articulated from Hayley's perspective but with snippets of Andy's memories dispersed throughout, it clenched my heart and left me at pains to think of what so many people are, and will continue, to go through. It's an exploration of a father and daughter attempting to piece themselves back together and the life events that lead them to realise that accepting or asking for help is not a measure of failure.

Thankyou to Text Publishing for this review copy.

Girl Defective by Simmone Howell

Title: Girl Defective
Author: Simmone Howell

Release Date: 1st March 2013

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

We, the Martin family, were like inverse superheroes, marked by our defects. Dad was addicted to beer and bootlegs. Gully had "social difficulties" that manifested in his wearing a pig snout mask 24-7. I was surface clean but underneath a weird hormonal stew was simmering...

It's summer in St Kilda. Fifteen-year-old Sky is looking forward to great records and nefarious activities with Nancy, her older, wilder friend. Her brother – Super Agent Gully – is on a mission to unmask the degenerate who bricked the shop window. Bill the Patriarch seems content to drink while the shop slides into bankruptcy. A poster of a mysterious girl and her connection to Luke, the tragi-hot new employee sends Sky on an exploration into the dark heart of the suburb. Love is strange. Family Rules. In between there are teenage messes, rock star spawn, violent fangirls, creepy old guys and accidents waiting to happen. If the world truly is going to hell in a hand-basket then at least the soundtrack is kicking. Sky Martin is Girl Defective: funny, real and dark at the edges.

In A Nutshell:

Mysteries and music in Melbourne. Enough said.

My Review:

I think the mark of a good book is one where you keep thinking about it long after you have finished it. I read this ages ago and I still find my mind wandering back to it.

I really loved Girl Defective. In the interests of full disclosure, I didn’t think I would. I didn’t enjoy Everything Beautiful which everyone else seemed to, and so I didn’t have high hopes for Girl Defective. But, I liked the premise so I thought I would give it a go and I’m so glad I did. It just proves that you can’t judge an author on one book alone. Some stories will speak to you, some won’t. Girl Defective was un-put-down-able.

Sky Martin lives with her wannabe detective younger brother Gully and their record obsessed Dad above his beloved record store. Their mother, who went through a ‘bird faze’ naming them Seagull and Skylark, walked out on them three years ago to ‘find herself’. She now lives in Japan and works on her creative outlets, which currently involves performance art while covered in tampons.

At 15, Sky is a bit of a loner. She’s lost in the world, searching for her place and her own identity. She spends her days either at school in the computer lab vandalising her mother’s website, at the record store, watching over Gully who has taken to wearing a pig-snout mask and pretending to be a secret agent, and arguing with her dad who refuses to move with the times in order to save the store. Her only friend is 19-year-old Nancy who is a bit wild and carefree, somewhat unreliable and the complete opposite of Sky. But she makes Sky feel alive and Sky holds onto their unlikely friendship like a lifeline.  

“Sometimes I thought if it wasn’t for music I wouldn’t be able to cry or laugh or feel giddy or wild.” 

Set over the course of six weeks, the lives of the Martin family takes a little detour down the seedier streets of St Kilda as Gully tries to investigate who threw a brick through their shop window, Nancy becomes obsessed with rock star Otis, and Sky’s dad, Bill, hires new-comer Luke to help out at the store. While Sky is originally grumpy about Luke employment, she can’t help but be intrigued by him, watching him over the top of her Record Collector magazine. Luke is quiet and sad and we learn very early on that he is in town to try and piece together the last months of his sister’s life, a life that seems remarkably similar to Nancy’s.

With Luke searching for answers about Mia’s death, Sky becomes fascinated by the life that Mia appears to have led and does a little investigating of her own while pondering her feelings for both Nancy and Luke. Her character evolves through the story and by the end of it I was so proud and happy for her with the way things eventuated, with the risks she takes and the realisations she comes to.

I loved both Gully and Bill. Gully is eccentric and quirky and I love him to bits. I think it is implied he has Asperger’s but I’m not knowledgeable enough about the condition to say for sure. Bill’s dedication to records and his refusal to stock CDs or sell online, let alone stock anything released after 1995, is endearing, even if he is running his business into the ground.

Last but not least, I love mysteries and novels that incorporate music. The Martin family are music snobs but we love them anyway. I really enjoyed the music references, even if I only knew half the bands mentioned, but I could still appreciate the love and dedication they had towards their favourites. 

“I like watching people’s faces when they listen to music. I like how it’s private. Even at a gig if you’re all hearing the same thing, you’re really all hearing something different.”

Thank you to Macmillan for this review copy.