Date Read: 2/06/09 – 3/06/09
By Sandy Fussell
Publ: Walker, Newtown,NSW, 2008 203p
Summary: Iluak and the people of his village are moving across the Arctic for the Summer to hunt whales. Iluak spends his time waiting for Nana’sprophecy to come true. His grandmother is the village shaman. The prophecy says he will meeting the bear because he has something the bear wants and the bear has something Iluak needs. Iluak survives a drop into an icy seal hole and makes his first Caribou kill, but it is the coming of the Northmen which is the ultimate test.
Comment: This is a great way to learn about the culture of the Arctic peoples. The wonderful descriptions of the whale hunt and their nomadic movement with the constant need to build new housing. Highlights the concept of only killing to survive and the deep connection to nature and its impact on teir day to day lives. The plot is beautifully threaded through the eents with us anticipating the meeting of Iluak and the bear. Great secondary characters. Finn his best friend of few words but deep thinking, Iluaks’ sister Miki and the boyhood rival, Tuaq, the new shaman.
Rating: 8/10
Mrs B
July 21st, 2009
Date Read: 20/7/08
Author: Sherryl Clark
Publ. Puffin, Camberwell,VIC, 2007
Themes: Family, Divorce/Separation, Adolescence
Summary: Written by sixth grade Dawn in verse accompanied by lots of doodling, we see into the world of style queens, growing up, fitting in and family. Dawn lays out for us the change in her family: the deteriorating relationship, separation and then coming to terms with the new family structure.
Comment: Great, quick, easy to read, but still it packs a punch. Shows a sixth grader dealing with a family in meltdown. The goody, goody style queen gets it in the end, very satisfying.
Rating 6 ½ /10
Mrs B
July 17th, 2009
Date Read: 6/6/08-10/6/08
Title: Love Like Water
Author: Meme McDonald
Publ.: Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest NSW, 2007
Themes: Love, Relationships, Belonging, Black and White Australia
Summary: Cathy leaves her home in cattle country to join her city school friend Margie in Alice Springs. They share a house with Sarah who’s always right. Cathy gets a job as a barmaid in the Spinifex Bar with Max as her boss. Jay works in radio, moving from place to place just to survive. The journey from ‘Home’ and family to really knowing themselves and their place in the world is full of corrugations, potholes and side tracks. Unlikely as the relationship might at first appear, Jay and Cathy see beneath the social masks they wear. Fear, prejudice, anger and misunderstandings all play a part in the tentative relationship.
Comment: The differences and similarities in people are exposed through the central Australian landscape. The concepts of connections with the land and the place of family are strong throughout. Cathy and Jay highlight the human needs in all of us for close relationships and being seen as ourselves not others assumptions about us. The battle for Aboriginal Australians to feel proud, not feel they’ve sold themselves out, to not be seen as all the same, is stark and yet gently conveyed. I found it hard to put the book down from about one third the way through. The ending is not trite. Some aspects of the story and the sexual descriptions might not be suitable for younger readers. A real growing up story.
Rating 9+/10
July 16th, 2008
