Simply put, I loved this book. Being a history student with an interest in WW2 probably helped but seeing WW2 through the eyes of a Chinese-Australian woman in Melbourne was something i'd never seen. I have to admit this made me realise how little I knew about China during and after the war apart from the Japanese invasion so this book was eye-opening.
Little Paradise is about Mirabel, a Chinese-Australian girl who begins the story as a student and grows to become a woman who will risk her life searching for her lover in war ravaged China. It's a fabulous story and Mirabel, her family, friends and lover JJ are three dimensional characters who have flaws and strengths and their interactions make for compelling reading. All of this made for a book that was nearly impossible to put down.
Considering the main focus of my reading is to find new and differing perspectives this was a great novel that I will be making sure to include in teaching and future classrooms that i'm a part of.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
About A Girl - Joanne Horniman
I chose this as my first book to read in the Australian Women Writers Challenge. Mostly because I know i'll be doing a high school placement again this year so i'm looking for YA novels that have different perspectives that I can take into schools.
About A Girl is the story of Anna, the girl who thinks she's unlovable and Flynn the girl she meets and falls for. It's a nice "coming out" story and a good quick read for the more adult members of the YA readership. I can see why it was commended by the Children's Book Council Awards because it is a well written and strong story. It's not a particularly happy story but the characters are well drawn and developed and the plot feels real.
In terms of new voices for teens I think this is the first Australian lesbian YA novel I have read and I enjoyed it a lot. Next up will be Alexis Wright's Carpentaria (for a major shift) and Gabrielle Wang's Little Paradise.
About A Girl is the story of Anna, the girl who thinks she's unlovable and Flynn the girl she meets and falls for. It's a nice "coming out" story and a good quick read for the more adult members of the YA readership. I can see why it was commended by the Children's Book Council Awards because it is a well written and strong story. It's not a particularly happy story but the characters are well drawn and developed and the plot feels real.
In terms of new voices for teens I think this is the first Australian lesbian YA novel I have read and I enjoyed it a lot. Next up will be Alexis Wright's Carpentaria (for a major shift) and Gabrielle Wang's Little Paradise.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The Hunger Games trilogy
So between uni and work this fell by the wayside over the last 10 months but since Summer is nearly here and i'm down to two subjects plus work over summer I figured I should log back in.
After seeing the trailer for The Hunger Games i've been curious about what the series. It's always looked interesting but I think I wrote it off as too much like Twilight since the hype was similar. But I can happily say that I misjudged the series. It was enjoyable and the plot was interesting. The story begins in a distant dystopian future where there is "The Capitol" who controls all and the 12 districts who are left slaving for The Capitol. Each year to remind the districts of their place they choose a boy and a girl from each district who get entered into "The Hunger Games" wherein they get sent into a special battleground and fight to the death until one person is left standing (and yes it's very Series 7 or Battle Royale). The book follows Katniss Everdeen who becomes the "tribute" from District 12 - the poorest and most pitied district while she fights first in the Hunger Games and then later in a rebellion against The Capitol. And being a Young Adult series there is of course a love triangle with Katniss' childhood friend Gale, and Peeta who goes into the Games with her; two guys who I really see very little difference in. It's the other characters that I really liked though - Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta's mentor for the Games, a previous winner who has spent the last 20 years drinking away his memories of his Games and Cinna, Katniss' stylist who must make her popular to the viewers. The characters may not be all that deep but they are fun and well portrayed and unlike Twilight I didn't want to punch the majority of the characters for a lot of the time.
The series may not be perfect but it was fun and a great adventure story that reminded me of Scott Westerfeld's "Pretties" series.
After seeing the trailer for The Hunger Games i've been curious about what the series. It's always looked interesting but I think I wrote it off as too much like Twilight since the hype was similar. But I can happily say that I misjudged the series. It was enjoyable and the plot was interesting. The story begins in a distant dystopian future where there is "The Capitol" who controls all and the 12 districts who are left slaving for The Capitol. Each year to remind the districts of their place they choose a boy and a girl from each district who get entered into "The Hunger Games" wherein they get sent into a special battleground and fight to the death until one person is left standing (and yes it's very Series 7 or Battle Royale). The book follows Katniss Everdeen who becomes the "tribute" from District 12 - the poorest and most pitied district while she fights first in the Hunger Games and then later in a rebellion against The Capitol. And being a Young Adult series there is of course a love triangle with Katniss' childhood friend Gale, and Peeta who goes into the Games with her; two guys who I really see very little difference in. It's the other characters that I really liked though - Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta's mentor for the Games, a previous winner who has spent the last 20 years drinking away his memories of his Games and Cinna, Katniss' stylist who must make her popular to the viewers. The characters may not be all that deep but they are fun and well portrayed and unlike Twilight I didn't want to punch the majority of the characters for a lot of the time.
The series may not be perfect but it was fun and a great adventure story that reminded me of Scott Westerfeld's "Pretties" series.
Friday, January 14, 2011
The Brush-Off - Shane Maloney
The Brush Off is one of the books from my literature and film comparison course... i'm sticking with the Australian theme until my books get here from Amazon and beginning with this the secon of Shane Maloney's Murray Whelan books. Murray Whelan is a political shit kicker. He's the "minder and general dogsbody" to the newly named Arts Minister. Problem is he knows absolutely nothing about "the arts". He expects it to be gallery openings and crazy artists till a body turns up in the moat at the front of the National Gallery in Melbourne. He's thrown into a world of fakes, high finance and conspiracies filled with illigitemate children and secrets. All while he's fighting for his own job which may be lost due to his lack of interest in "the arts" and trying to enjoy a weekend visit from his ten year old son.
I have to say I possibly missed some of the very Victorian political humour based on the fact I grew up in New South Wales (and was actually only born in the 80's and this book is set in 89 - I think). While it was written in '96 Maloney has been able to throw in a bunch of throw away lines that are hilarious given the knowledge of what's to come. But a lot of that is commentary on the state of Victorian politics so I've missed a bunch of very regional jokes. That said some of the random commentary about FW DeKlirk being elected in South Africa and how will that change anything is hilarious.
The characters are great. Murray is a brilliant character to focus a book on. He's clever, in over his head, completely in it for whatever he can get and fun. His quiet weekend with his son has been completely thrown in turmoil but he may get a new girlfriend an a more solid job out of it so he goes with it. He's scrambling but he's also doing it well... in many ways he's a slightly less polished Josh Lyman (West Wing tends to be my go to for politics references). Agnelli is a bumbling idiot of a minister (and I can see why they cast Mick Molloy for him in the film adaptations that i'll be looking at). Eastlake is a smooth and clever money man who is of course corrupt and eventually murderous. The women go from femme fatale archetypes to office bitches an back to clever and interesting women who Murray keeps falling for. The introduction of Claire who is lovely and actually helps with a near disaster for Murray is great and the support murray gets from his close friend (and mother of disaster Tarquin) Faye is awesome - she's just as likely to whack him over the head and call him an idiot as she is to help him clean up his real an metaphorical messes. Lastly there's Mick "Spider" Webb. Someone Murray has known and avoided since a childhood misdemeanor who he assumes is in the middle of the crimes - he is but in actuality he's the detective investigating it.
This is one of those very Australian books with a very dry sense of humour. I'd never read any of Maloney's books but i think i'll be picking up some more at the second hand bookshop over the weekend. It's funny, it's tightly written and from the look of the cast on the DVD the adaptation is gonna be brilliant.
I have to say I possibly missed some of the very Victorian political humour based on the fact I grew up in New South Wales (and was actually only born in the 80's and this book is set in 89 - I think). While it was written in '96 Maloney has been able to throw in a bunch of throw away lines that are hilarious given the knowledge of what's to come. But a lot of that is commentary on the state of Victorian politics so I've missed a bunch of very regional jokes. That said some of the random commentary about FW DeKlirk being elected in South Africa and how will that change anything is hilarious.
The characters are great. Murray is a brilliant character to focus a book on. He's clever, in over his head, completely in it for whatever he can get and fun. His quiet weekend with his son has been completely thrown in turmoil but he may get a new girlfriend an a more solid job out of it so he goes with it. He's scrambling but he's also doing it well... in many ways he's a slightly less polished Josh Lyman (West Wing tends to be my go to for politics references). Agnelli is a bumbling idiot of a minister (and I can see why they cast Mick Molloy for him in the film adaptations that i'll be looking at). Eastlake is a smooth and clever money man who is of course corrupt and eventually murderous. The women go from femme fatale archetypes to office bitches an back to clever and interesting women who Murray keeps falling for. The introduction of Claire who is lovely and actually helps with a near disaster for Murray is great and the support murray gets from his close friend (and mother of disaster Tarquin) Faye is awesome - she's just as likely to whack him over the head and call him an idiot as she is to help him clean up his real an metaphorical messes. Lastly there's Mick "Spider" Webb. Someone Murray has known and avoided since a childhood misdemeanor who he assumes is in the middle of the crimes - he is but in actuality he's the detective investigating it.
This is one of those very Australian books with a very dry sense of humour. I'd never read any of Maloney's books but i think i'll be picking up some more at the second hand bookshop over the weekend. It's funny, it's tightly written and from the look of the cast on the DVD the adaptation is gonna be brilliant.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Twyborn Affair - Patrick White
Been awhile since updating this... firstly cause Christmas made me busy, secondly cause Australian fiction is long and hard going and i gave up on one other book part way through before switching to this one.
Patrick White's Twyborn Affair was an interesting book about a series of very interesting characters. Eddie Twyborn is described on the back of the book as being bisexual and androgynous. I read him as a gay transvestite who occaisionally slept with women but preferred the company of men. Eddie is the child of Judge Edward Twyborn and his wife Eadie. Eadie in particular is written in a similar way to Eddie, she married the judge because it was the proper thing to do but is also seen to "enjoy the company of women". Eddie appears in three guises the first Eudoxia, then Eddie and lastly Eadith. Each section of the book (there are no chapters) focuses on each way that the character presents themself.
Eudoxia is "married" to Angelos but who captivates the interest of Joan Golson, the wife of an Australian businessman who we later find out has been having a long term affair with Eddie/Eudoxia's mother Eadie. This section is set in 1914 just as war is about to be declared and set around a villa and hotel in France. As the war comes closer the characters face questions about whether Joan and her husband Boyd should return to AUstralia and whether Eudoxia will stay with the elderly Angelos or leave him for a more interesting relationship with Joan. It's not till the end of the part that it is revealed that Eudoxia is actually a young man not woman although to some readers it would be much easier to spot that coming (as it is to see the early hints of the relationship between Eadie an Joan).
The second section is about Eddie returning home after World War 1. He stays with his parents reconnecting with his former life till he escapes again moving to a sheep farm as a jackaroo. Here White examines the differences between city and country life and the differences between the people who live in each place. Out of the city Eddie embarks on an affair with Marcia who is the wife of the owner of the sheep station. Marcia is also an acquaintance of Eadie who she dislikes for being "a frowzy lesbian". Throughout this period Eddie is often disgusted with himself not for having an affair with a married woman but for having an affair with a woman. He doesn't understand his sexual urges towards her and eventually leaves not due to this but to his secret life as a "queer" being discovered by the sheep stations manager who rapes him.
The last section features Eadith living in pre World War 2 London and working as a madam at a high end brothel. Again she falls in love but at this point she doesn't want to admit that she is a transvestite so she keeps the man she loves at arms length preferring to send him to her girls when he wants sex. Eadie also turns up in London and they finally make peace with Eadie accepting her child as Eadith saying "I always wanted a daughter".
It's a thought provoking book and it only took four days to get through so it's all a bit of a blur but I enjoyed it and found the story to be powerful and involving. I shudder to think what some of my classmates who are very sheltered country kids are going to think and how they will react to some very frank sexual language. It's a good book an I really did enjoy it but it'll be one that will cause a lot of interesting discussions in class.
Patrick White's Twyborn Affair was an interesting book about a series of very interesting characters. Eddie Twyborn is described on the back of the book as being bisexual and androgynous. I read him as a gay transvestite who occaisionally slept with women but preferred the company of men. Eddie is the child of Judge Edward Twyborn and his wife Eadie. Eadie in particular is written in a similar way to Eddie, she married the judge because it was the proper thing to do but is also seen to "enjoy the company of women". Eddie appears in three guises the first Eudoxia, then Eddie and lastly Eadith. Each section of the book (there are no chapters) focuses on each way that the character presents themself.
Eudoxia is "married" to Angelos but who captivates the interest of Joan Golson, the wife of an Australian businessman who we later find out has been having a long term affair with Eddie/Eudoxia's mother Eadie. This section is set in 1914 just as war is about to be declared and set around a villa and hotel in France. As the war comes closer the characters face questions about whether Joan and her husband Boyd should return to AUstralia and whether Eudoxia will stay with the elderly Angelos or leave him for a more interesting relationship with Joan. It's not till the end of the part that it is revealed that Eudoxia is actually a young man not woman although to some readers it would be much easier to spot that coming (as it is to see the early hints of the relationship between Eadie an Joan).
The second section is about Eddie returning home after World War 1. He stays with his parents reconnecting with his former life till he escapes again moving to a sheep farm as a jackaroo. Here White examines the differences between city and country life and the differences between the people who live in each place. Out of the city Eddie embarks on an affair with Marcia who is the wife of the owner of the sheep station. Marcia is also an acquaintance of Eadie who she dislikes for being "a frowzy lesbian". Throughout this period Eddie is often disgusted with himself not for having an affair with a married woman but for having an affair with a woman. He doesn't understand his sexual urges towards her and eventually leaves not due to this but to his secret life as a "queer" being discovered by the sheep stations manager who rapes him.
The last section features Eadith living in pre World War 2 London and working as a madam at a high end brothel. Again she falls in love but at this point she doesn't want to admit that she is a transvestite so she keeps the man she loves at arms length preferring to send him to her girls when he wants sex. Eadie also turns up in London and they finally make peace with Eadie accepting her child as Eadith saying "I always wanted a daughter".
It's a thought provoking book and it only took four days to get through so it's all a bit of a blur but I enjoyed it and found the story to be powerful and involving. I shudder to think what some of my classmates who are very sheltered country kids are going to think and how they will react to some very frank sexual language. It's a good book an I really did enjoy it but it'll be one that will cause a lot of interesting discussions in class.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier
Of all the books on the list of books to study in the childrens literature course this one struck me as "the boy book" (which is not a complaint as such but there may be a complaint over the general lit course coming). Female characters are there as sex objects, nothing more and I'm pretty sure they speak less than 5 words thoughout the story.
It's a book that I have never read before. It was the second option in high school when my all girls class had to read "boys books" our teacher assigned this one or the Lord of the Flies. I got Flies and from what I heard from the others in the class they sounded like they wanted Flies rather than Chocolate War so I didn't bother looking into it.
The Chocolate War is the story of an all boys Catholic high school complete with sadistic priests, secret societies and hazing rituals that get out of control quickly. Each year students of Trinity need to sell a quota of fund-raising else they get into trouble from their teachers and the secret society. It is the story of one boys rebellion against the system that treats him and his freshman classmates unfairly. Jerry Renault is assigned by the "Vigils" to spend 10 days refusing the quota of chocolates that he's supposed to sell. On the eleventh day he's supposed to agree to sell. But he refuses on principle. At that point the rest of the boys at the school turn on him. From the grudging respect he is initially given from the rest of the school boys to when he pushes to far and they turn on him and things turn even worse for Jerry.
Caught in the mess of his own making is Archie the head of "The Vigils" who initially assigns him the task of refusing the chocolates and then has to deal with the consequences when students begin to pull out of the sale and follow Jerry's lead. Archie is held responsible by Father Leon. The acting head of the school who is cruel, and hard on the boys. He is almost sadistic in nature and takes pleasure in picking out boys to humiliate and bully each day.
Jerry's actions illuminate the corruption that underlies everything in the school. It is insidious and running through every aspect of school life.
The ending of the story is sudden and horrific. I'd be interested in reading the sequel to see how it goes but it leaves you wondering if Jerry is going to survive the ordeal he has faced.
It's a book that I have never read before. It was the second option in high school when my all girls class had to read "boys books" our teacher assigned this one or the Lord of the Flies. I got Flies and from what I heard from the others in the class they sounded like they wanted Flies rather than Chocolate War so I didn't bother looking into it.
The Chocolate War is the story of an all boys Catholic high school complete with sadistic priests, secret societies and hazing rituals that get out of control quickly. Each year students of Trinity need to sell a quota of fund-raising else they get into trouble from their teachers and the secret society. It is the story of one boys rebellion against the system that treats him and his freshman classmates unfairly. Jerry Renault is assigned by the "Vigils" to spend 10 days refusing the quota of chocolates that he's supposed to sell. On the eleventh day he's supposed to agree to sell. But he refuses on principle. At that point the rest of the boys at the school turn on him. From the grudging respect he is initially given from the rest of the school boys to when he pushes to far and they turn on him and things turn even worse for Jerry.
Caught in the mess of his own making is Archie the head of "The Vigils" who initially assigns him the task of refusing the chocolates and then has to deal with the consequences when students begin to pull out of the sale and follow Jerry's lead. Archie is held responsible by Father Leon. The acting head of the school who is cruel, and hard on the boys. He is almost sadistic in nature and takes pleasure in picking out boys to humiliate and bully each day.
Jerry's actions illuminate the corruption that underlies everything in the school. It is insidious and running through every aspect of school life.
The ending of the story is sudden and horrific. I'd be interested in reading the sequel to see how it goes but it leaves you wondering if Jerry is going to survive the ordeal he has faced.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry - Mildred D. Taylor
When the course structure was first released the lit students looked into what books we got to study over the 4 years of learning to be a High School English teacher. Sdly the initial list was disapointing to nearly the entire class who looked into it mainly because the books were by dead, white, old men. First years subjects were Classic English Literature so it consisted of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne and Milton. Contemporary Children's Literature was next and in that one we got several female writers and based on the structure of the time our one indigenous author Doris Pilkington when we studied Beyond the Rabbit Proof Fence.
Now that i've seen the newer list of childrens books there is actually one more by a non-white author. And that is this book. I'm sure I studied this book in high school but none of it came back to me as I was reading it so it seemed like a fresh book to me. It was powerful, brilliant and sad. It is the story of Cassie, a 9 year old black girl living in Mississippi in the 1930's. Racism and prejudice are still well ingrained in the South and with the exception of young Jeremy who tries to befriend Cassie and her brothers and Mr Jamieson who supports the African American community as best he can there is nothing positive to say about the white characters.
Cassie and her family on the other hand are wonderful. Her mother is strong willed and proud of her family and her position as teacher at the local school for black children, her grandmother is warm and supportive - working their land and giving advice to the children and trying to shelter them from the world at the same time as trying to show them how to get by in it with as little trouble as possible. Cassie's father is often away trying to make money so that the family can keep their land but when he is at home he is a powerful and well respected man of his community. His parents bought the land they are living on the first 200 acres outright and the next 200 is mortgaged so he's always worried about taxes and the bills involved in keeping his land but he does not want to ever lose it. The connection to the land is important to the whole family who are proud to have something that is their own. Considering David's father and mother were born into slavery this is an important symbol for them.
The racial conflicts are constant. The book opens with a "burning" and there are references to "night men" and lynchings throughout the story. When Cassie's Uncle Hammer returns in a big car that is his own her grandmother worries that it will anger the white community who cannot afford such things and instead bring them down to hurt him and "put him back in his place". Hammer's temper is often spoken of and when trouble brews up the most he is quickly told to leave town rather than stay and exacerbate the problems even more.
The other books I have read for the childrens course have all been aimed at the under 10 age group. This is definitely for older readers and I found it both enjoyable and interesting. It's beautifully written and a book that I would have no problems teaching a high school class out of.
Now that i've seen the newer list of childrens books there is actually one more by a non-white author. And that is this book. I'm sure I studied this book in high school but none of it came back to me as I was reading it so it seemed like a fresh book to me. It was powerful, brilliant and sad. It is the story of Cassie, a 9 year old black girl living in Mississippi in the 1930's. Racism and prejudice are still well ingrained in the South and with the exception of young Jeremy who tries to befriend Cassie and her brothers and Mr Jamieson who supports the African American community as best he can there is nothing positive to say about the white characters.
Cassie and her family on the other hand are wonderful. Her mother is strong willed and proud of her family and her position as teacher at the local school for black children, her grandmother is warm and supportive - working their land and giving advice to the children and trying to shelter them from the world at the same time as trying to show them how to get by in it with as little trouble as possible. Cassie's father is often away trying to make money so that the family can keep their land but when he is at home he is a powerful and well respected man of his community. His parents bought the land they are living on the first 200 acres outright and the next 200 is mortgaged so he's always worried about taxes and the bills involved in keeping his land but he does not want to ever lose it. The connection to the land is important to the whole family who are proud to have something that is their own. Considering David's father and mother were born into slavery this is an important symbol for them.
The racial conflicts are constant. The book opens with a "burning" and there are references to "night men" and lynchings throughout the story. When Cassie's Uncle Hammer returns in a big car that is his own her grandmother worries that it will anger the white community who cannot afford such things and instead bring them down to hurt him and "put him back in his place". Hammer's temper is often spoken of and when trouble brews up the most he is quickly told to leave town rather than stay and exacerbate the problems even more.
The other books I have read for the childrens course have all been aimed at the under 10 age group. This is definitely for older readers and I found it both enjoyable and interesting. It's beautifully written and a book that I would have no problems teaching a high school class out of.
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