Beauty and the Bin by Joanne O'Connell

 2021

Laura Larskie is proud of her parents and ashamed of them at the same time. They are well on their way to saving the planet. They grow their own food – hydroponically because they weren’t allowed an allotment. They have fruit, vegetables and herbs gowning all over the house. Her parents’ latest venture is raiding supermarket bins for perfectly good food that is being thrown away. Whilst Laure agrees with her parents’ values she knows her peers will find them eccentric. It is all very embarrassing. She doesn’t invite her friends to the house as she is ashamed of it. She never has any money to buy anything new.

Students at her school are invited to become entrepreneurs.  She teams up with sophisticated Year 9 Charley to produce a range of beauty projects that can be made from what you find in the kitchen - or in Lara’s case, in the bins at the back of the supermarket.

There are moments that make you chuckle. But there are also some graver notes. Joanne O’Connell helps to increase the readers’ awareness of the damage we are doing through our over uses of plastic and how the fashion industry exploits workers.

There are also some glimpses of a tender family life.  Laura is particularly close to her younger sister Fern who helps her to make the products. The family members all support each other. 

The ending is upbeat and there are also some delicious recipes for beauty products that you can try at home.

This book is labelled as suitable for 9-11. Lower secondary students would also enjoy it.

South & North, East & West by Michael Rosen

               

 

2007

Michael Rosen has collected folk tales here and retold them in his great story-teller voice.  There are twenty-five stories in total and they come from all around the world.  Each story is illustrated by a different artist. This particular edition of the book supports Oxfam.    

It’s a little hard to identify the reader exactly. The stories resemble those for younger children but the text is tightly packed and on most pages in two columns which suggests an older reader. It uses a sophisticated adult font and is blocked.

The stories would work well read aloud but the “reader” ought to see the delightful illustrations.

There is a blurb for story at the beginning of the book.  These often tell us where the story comes from and how it was collected as well as enticing us to the theme.   Each story anyway as you make your way through the book is labelled with its origin.

At the end of the book there is some information about how Oxfam works. This and the blurbs at the beginning of the book are perhaps aimed at adults rather than the young reader.      

Find a copy here

 

Fairfield Amish Romance: 15 Story Amish Romance by Diane Burkholder, Elanor Miller, Susan Vail and Isabell Weaver

 Grab your copy by clicking on the image

2016  

These are very gentle, heart-warming romances.  They also give some insight into the Amish way of life.  For many readers the stories will be too simplistic. For some they will come as escapism and reassurance. There is also a suggestion that life is predestined by an omniscient God though the way the stories unfold suggest rather a God  who had ideas for us but who leaves us to choose  whether  or not to go along with his suggestions.    

There are a lot of grammatical and punctuation errors in the text but not so many that they detract from the progression of the stories.  Neither does some loose writing or that fact that in one story two characters’ names are confused. The stories retain their value anyway as they show us an alternative way of life.  

The chapters within each story are short and the stories themselves are not too long.

This comes as a Kindle book only. The Amish may have a simple way of life but they are quite enterprising. A newsletter and other books are offered at the end of the book.  

The Silver Chair

 

2009, first published 1953

Jill and Eustace attend an experimental school where they are bullied and are not learning a lot.  They escape through an open door in a wall and find themselves in Narnia.  Aslan, the Christ-like talking lion,  meets them and gives them their mission:  they are to find the lost Prince Rilian.

Eustace has been to Narnia before and is shocked that the king he had known as a young man has become old.  Our world and Narnia exist on different time scales.

They are lulled into a false sense of security when they visit the castle of the gentle giants – and just manage to escape before they are eaten for dinner.

They must have their wits about them and remember the four signs which Jill almost forgets at one point as she has stopped reciting them to herself each evening.  

Do they have free will or is everything predestined? Aslan has to prompt them so is he really orchestrating everything?   

They succeed and when they get back to their own world there is a delightful joke for any adult reading the book: the head teacher is dismissed and joins the inspectorate but she is not very good at that and has to go into politics.

The language is a little old-fashioned but that reflects the time it was written. The Prince can seem pompous at times. The book is It is quite long for this reader – 272 pages though it uses a large font. There are a few line drawings – artist’s impressions of some of the characters.    

Lamplighter Book 2 by D M Cornish

2010, first published 2008  

Roassmünd Bookchild graduates early form the Lamplighter Academy. Strange things have been happening there, not least of which that a girl joins the academy.  Roassamünd is three times attacked by monsters and three times overcomes them.

The story resolves suddenly but is left open for a continuation.

The world D.M Cornish invents is strange and complex but very well thought out. At the end there is an entire glossary and many charts and lists that show how everything works there. There is some invitation for fascination and fan ficti0n.

Each chapter begins with a definition.

The characters are well drawn and rounded.  The protagonist invites our empathy.  

The language is complex and though the content will suit fluent readers the high register of the text may make this book more suitable for older readers.  There are some interesting plays on words and many invented expressions.  

There are several drawings throughout the book of the players in the story.  This may detract from the picture we form in our heads. Oddly they match very well what I have imagined.

This is a long text. It will challenge all readers.   

Find your copy here  

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