MIRROR – JEANNIE BAKER
This innovative picture book is comprised of two stories designed to be read simultaneously – one from the left & one from the right.
Page by page, we experience a day in the lives of two boys – one from inner city Sydney and the other from a small village in Morocco. These worlds couldn’t be further apart, yet we see a simple truth. We see that even with very different backgrounds & experiences, all families are essentially the same. We are the mirror of each other. Jeannie Baker’s distinctive use of mixed media to create detailed & elaborate collages is stunning & unique. A selection of artwork from the book is touring around Australia & is currently on display at the Museum of Sydney.
CRUISER – MIKE CARLTON
The Vichy French and finally the Imperial Japanese Navy.
353 men lost their lives fighting the Japanese advance towards Australia after the HMAS Perth sunk. Another 328 men were taken into Japanese captivity, most to become slave labourers on the Burma-Thai railwayon which many died a horrible death. Sadly less than a third of her crew survived to return home at war’s end.
Cruiser is their story and the story of those who waited behind at home for them.
INHERITANCE – NICHOLAS SHAKESPEARE
The ultimate in ‘what if’ stories- what would you do if you inherited 17 million pounds?
The main character Andy, unwittingly walks into the wrong funeral, and walks out 17 million pounds richer, just for showing up. This is the premise for what soon changes
Andy’s world. At first it hard to develop any empathy for the main character, but eventually Andy redeems himself by trying to find out why such a bizarre result from attending a funeral occured in the first place. Andy spans the British and Australian
continents in his search, and in the process, the character develops moral integrity that may have been lacking earlier. When it comes to dealing with the dark conflicts of the heart, Shakespeare does a great job at captivating the reader. This is a fantastic read.
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