Contemporary, Diverse, Social Issues
Published March 1st 2017
448 Pages
Thank you to Walker Books Australia
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★★★★
Sixteen year old Starr Carter moves between two worlds, the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, Khalil’s death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Starr’s best friend at school suggests he may have had it coming. When it becomes clear the police have little interest in investigating the incident, protesters take to the streets and Starr's neighborhood becomes a war zone. What everyone wants to know is, what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
Keep your hands visible. No sudden moves. Only speak when spoken to.
Sixteen year old Starr Carter lives in Garden Heights, a neighbourhood with a strong black community, thriving among the Kings and Queens of the streets. Starr now kneels beside Khail's lifeless body, blood staining her hands from the police offer that fired three bullets into her childhood friend, racially profiled for being a black teen confronted by a white police officer, his weapon now aimed at the young teen as she grieves for her friend.
Garden Heights erupts, the injustice of another young black man slain on the street at the hands of a white police officer and the frustration of community voices being ignored. While the media portrays the police officer as a family man protecting the community, Khalil is depicted as a criminal. Khalil was unarmed. Khalil was innocent. His death cannot be justified.
While the community calls for justice, the police begin enforced Marshall Law, placing a curfew on the black community as gunshots sound across the night and protesters ensure their voices heard. The cries of justice, of equality and to ensure black citizens are being protected by a country often separated by race.
My Thoughts
Starr is a beautiful young woman, passionate, intelligent with a wonderful sense of community. Born into the public housing system and at ten years of age, Starr witnessed a child's life stolen while playing in the street, her parents insisting Starr attend a predominately Caucasian school along with step brother Seven in order to ensure their daughters safety. Starr's parents are wonderful. her father a local business owner after spending time in prison, a former King of Garden Heights in the gang community. Starr's mother is a local nurse, wonderfully maternal and both parents pillars of the community and a rarity in young adult.
The Hate U Give is a compelling narrative that explores firearm legislation, racism, police brutality, racial profiling, homicide, organised protesting and rioting. I found the narrative confronting, not as a Caucasian reader but as an Australian. A mother who grieves her only child who's life was stolen by gun violence isn't a Hollywood narrative, The Hate U Give will provide readers with perspective and the harm of perpetuating stereotypes.
I always said that if I saw it happen to somebody, I would have the loudest voice, making sure the world knew what went down.Now I am that person, and I'm too afraid to speak.
An interesting aspect is the concept that African Americans are pressured by white society to conform both directly and indirectly. As Starr attends a school where the majority of the student body is Caucasian and as only one of two students within her peers who is African American, feels the need to conceal her cultural identity, perhaps a result of the white lens viewing African Americans as being inferior. In that regard, I felt as though the narrative was also inclusive of white readers, to connect to a fictional character in order to place the onus on white society for being exclusive.
Hailey was a character who used casual racism against her peers and in particular, friends Starr and Maya, who is of Chinese heritage. Her comments are deeply offensive and it touches on one particular scene in which Starr is speculating as to why her friend Hailey unfollowed her on social media after posting graphic images of a young black man who was slain. It is later revealed by mutual friend Maya as to why, but it highlights the nature of uncomfortable white communities when confronted by African American injustice. In particular, white America.
The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everyone
The narrative also acknowledges African American societal references, such as musical influences, activists Huey Newton and Bobby Seale and the Black Panthers, a revolutionary black nationalist and socialist organisation who fought for black rights against society and the United States government.
The Hate U Give is a powerful and compelling narrative about the racism that divides communities and racial profiling that results in black lives being lost to police officers who have vowed to protect the community. Around the world, awareness spread. Not of the black teens and adults being murdered by white police officers but the white lens coverage focused on the riots that proceeded this horrific injustice. Television media being relayed from the streets were quick to condemn the angry and justified protests, but it was through various social media avenues is where the genuine and unbiased, unprejudiced reports were being shared. By those protesting. The Hate U Give allows readers an opportunity to delve into the lives behind the headlines and why the #blacklivesmatter movement demands attention.
Compelling. Confronting. Influential.
To my brilliant ladies Tika, Brittni, Ari and Blessie who guide me, never tire of my white girl questions and place me in the box of shame.
The Hate U Give is a powerful and compelling narrative about the racism that divides communities and racial profiling that results in black lives being lost to police officers who have vowed to protect the community. Around the world, awareness spread. Not of the black teens and adults being murdered by white police officers but the white lens coverage focused on the riots that proceeded this horrific injustice. Television media being relayed from the streets were quick to condemn the angry and justified protests, but it was through various social media avenues is where the genuine and unbiased, unprejudiced reports were being shared. By those protesting. The Hate U Give allows readers an opportunity to delve into the lives behind the headlines and why the #blacklivesmatter movement demands attention.
Compelling. Confronting. Influential.
To my brilliant ladies Tika, Brittni, Ari and Blessie who guide me, never tire of my white girl questions and place me in the box of shame.
Strange The Dreamer Book One
Written by Laini Taylor
Fantasy, Magic, Romance
Publishing March 28th 2017
544 Pages
Thank you to Hachette Australia
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★★★★★
The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around, and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he's been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance to lose his dream forever.
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?
The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries, including the blue skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo's dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?
Lazlo is a lover of words and the dreamer of dreams. Abandoned as an infant, Lazlo spends his days as a junior librarian by immersing himself in the history of Weep, a mystical Unseen City that has borne legends and heroes. It's been fifteen years since the God's we're banished and now the Godslayer has arrived in Zosma, seeking alchemists, scholars and the great minds of the Pavilion of Thought. Lazlo has breathed Weep for seven long, illuminating years and is about to embark on a arduous journey across the country to solve the mysteries of The Unseen City.
Sarai is a survivor, only an infant when her world was decimated and left suspended within the Unseen City. Unlike her fellow surviving Godspawn, Sarai's gift allows her to explore the city and interact while Weep falls under the slumber of night. When the Muse of Nightmares eases into the unconscious mind of Lazlo Strange, what she encounters will leave her breathless.
My Thoughts
Abandoned Lazlo Strange was utterly delightful, a charmingly innocent and kind hearted young man who is consumed with the mystery of The Unseen City. Spending his days as a junior librarian, Lazlo breathes history, foregoing his adolescence for the inked pages of a land lost to time. Demure and intelligent, Lazlo is determined to accompany the scholars and alchemists to uncover the secrets of Weep, a half yearly journey and coming of age for the charismatic librarian. Surrounded by warrior escorts, Lazlo shares his journey with Thyon Nero, an entitled young man praised for his fraudulent alchemy. Lazlo and Thyon are rivals, while Lazlo has a warm and gentle disposition, Thyon is guarded and sees Lazlo as a nemesis, questioning the librarian's motives. As a secondary character, Thyon was wonderfully developed which allows readers to engage with his character beyond his bravado.
Sarai is a young woman trapped within the mausoleum anchored to the sky above Weep. Also orphaned as a child, the massacre that slain her family resulted in a world suspended in time. Sarai's character is enchanting. Each evening retiring to her room to explore the city, a silent scream releasing her vaporescent moths into the night to perch on the brows of sleeping residents. Sarai's slain mother is the Goddess of Despair, both young men and women of the Unseen City were taken and brought to the citadel, kept as companions against their will and creating a new generation of Godspawn. Sparrow who tends to nature, Feral who can control the weather, Ruby and the malevolent Minya, who captures the souls of the dead and uses them for her amusement. Minya was an interesting character. Although suspended in the body of a child, Minya is a militant leader who commands respect. Although she wants to protect the citadel, Minya is a warmonger and prepares her ghostly souls to slay the humans who threaten their existence. Including Lazlo. The connection between Sarai and Lazlo was lovely. The Muse of Nightmares and The Dreamer, Sarai has never experienced vivid visions of her city as seen through Lazlo's imagination and is enamoured. Their connection was gentle, tender yet incredibly passionate.
Strange The Dreamer is lyrical, consuming and atmospheric. Laini Taylor has transcended young adult fantasy. Beautifully. Immaculately. Ethereally.
Strange The Dreamer is lyrical, consuming and atmospheric. Laini Taylor has transcended young adult fantasy. Beautifully. Immaculately. Ethereally.
Written by Adam Silvera
Contemporary, LGBT, Diverse
Published February 2017
304 Pages
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Australia
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★★★★☆
You’re still alive in alternate universes, Theo, but I live in the real world where this morning you’re having an open casket funeral. I know you’re out there, listening. And you should know I’m really pissed because you swore you would never die and yet here we are. It hurts even more because this isn’t the first promise you’ve broken.Griffin and Theo shared their lives with one another. Childhood friends, they've been one another's confidant, neither realising they were both falling in love. No matter in which direction their lives would follow, Griffin and Theo would navigate back towards one another. Until Theo died, leaving behind broken promises and heartache.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder afflicted seventeen year old, Griffin, has just lost his first love, his best friend, ex boyfriend and the boy he believed to be his ultimate life partner, in a drowning accident. In a desperate attempt to hold onto every last piece of the past, a broken Griffin forges a friendship with Theo’s new college boyfriend, Jackson. And Griffin will stop at nothing to learn every detail of Theo’s new college life, and ultimate death. But as the grieving pair grows closer, readers will question Griffin's own version of the truth, both in terms of what he’s willing to hide, and what true love ultimately means...
My Thoughts
Griffin was a wonderful young man, gentle, intelligent and consumed by Theo. While Theo is animated, sensual and navigating his relationship parameters with Griffin. The nonlinear narrative begins with Griffin attending the funeral, being confronted with Jackson, Theo's college boyfriend and the history his dear Theo left behind.
If I'm going to have any chance of getting through today, tomorrow, and all of the days that follow, I think I need to go back to the start, where we were two boys bonding over jigsaw puzzles and falling in love.
Theo is incredibly intelligent but ultimately flawed despite the insistence of Griffin. Shortly after Theo and Griffin begin their relationship, Theo is offered early acceptance into a Californian college and with reluctance, leaving Griffin and their relationship behind. At college, Theo has lived an existence that is only shared through phone calls that have become less frequent as Theo and Jackson explore a new relationship. Throughout the nonlinear storyline, Griffin sees Theo's new relationship as insignificant, with little wonder as Theo seemed to manipulate Griffin's emotions, sharing the turbulence of his new relationship knowing Griffin was hopeful the two would reunite.
Griffin never received closure, so when Theo passed due to the tragic drowning accident, he reluctantly agrees to spent time with a grieving Jackson to understand aspects of Theo's life he no longer shared. Theo and Griffin's mutual friend Wade mourned alone and attempted to reach out to Griffin, consumed by grief to notice. Wade lived within Theo's shadow but after their separation, became a necessary voice of reason in Griffin's life.
Griffin lives with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, anxious over uneven numbers and favouring one side over the other. Theo, Jackson and Wade all interacted with Griffin on a varied scale. While Theo seemingly helped ease Griffin's anxiety, he believed these were simply quirks that added to Griffin's appeal. Jackson was incredibly intuitive both through his observations and relationship with Theo, his kind and gentle nature put Griffin at ease. While Wade had adopted the same approach as Jackson, but continued to challenge Griffin.
While the main focus is on the same sex relationships of Griffin and Theo, Theo and Jackson, the tentative friendship between Griffin and Jackson was therapeutic for both characters. His friendship with Wade and the wonderful relationship between Griffin's parents was a lovely touch. Diverse without using character diversity as the main narrative. Same sex relationships, bisexuality, anxiety disorders, a parent who is in a wheelchair and incredibly sex positive. It was beautiful.
Adam Silvera is exceptional. History Is All You Left Me is a heartbreaking narrative about the relationships that ignite passion and influence our lives. Tender, exquisite and breathtaking.
Untitled Series Book One
Written by Jeff Giles
Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Published February 2nd 2017
368 Pages
Thank you to Bloomsbury Australia
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★★★
It’s been a shattering year for seventeen year old Zoe, who’s still reeling from her father's shockingly sudden death in a caving accident and her neighbors’ mysterious disappearance from their own home. Then on a terrifying sub zero, blizzardy night in Montana, she and her brother are brutally attacked in a cabin in the woods, only to be rescued by a mysterious bounty hunter they call X.Zoe continues to mourn the loss of her father, losing his life after a tragic caving accident where his body has never been recovered. Her widowed mother providing for her children, having left the two siblings safe in their mountain cabin while gathering supplies in town for the approaching blizzard.
X is no ordinary bounty hunter. He is from a hell called the Lowlands, sent to claim the soul of Zoe’s evil attacker and others like him. X is forbidden from revealing himself to anyone other than his prey, but he casts aside the Lowlands’ rules for Zoe. As they learn more about their colliding worlds, they begin to question the past, their fate, and their future.
As the blanket of white swept over the mountain, he appeared as a beacon of light, prepared to purge the world of our sins. As he prepared to capture a soul, the young, nameless man never expected to find Zoe and brother Jonah fearing for their lives. He isn't worthy of a name where he is summoned by the depths of the Lowlands, collecting souls from those who were never brought to justice. Until he bequests Stan's freedom.
The Lords of the Lowlands do not look kindly upon clemency and as Zoe and the Bounty Hunter begin to explore their attraction to one another, this unknown variable will be forced to decide. His life of brutality and servitude or Zoe's existence.
My Thoughts
Seventeen year old Zoe is still grieving for her father, who died as a result of a tragic caving accident. I wasn't particularly a fan of Zoe's character. Although seemingly pleasant, I found her to be overly egocentric, perhaps mistaking her moxie for bluntness. Her relationship with younger brother Jonah was gentle but her use of language to describe Jonah was appalling. Spastic, which she explains how her mother won't allow her to use that particular term and an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder maniac, using dumb or psychotic to address other characters, which is partly why I found her character unappealing. I was appalled by the blatant animal abuse. I feel it was unnecessary and the inhumanity of this particular character could have been demonstrated without the use of cruelty to animals. Being an advanced reading copy, these terms may have be erased before release.
Simply known as X, X was a wonderful character. Genuinely lovely but deliciously dark. X is a prisoner of the Lowlands, beaten and tortured until he can prove his worth by collecting the souls of heinous criminals who've escaped justice. Having never experienced kindness or affection, he's enamored by Zoe and after mere days, the young strangers have fallen in love. It's nauseating but thankfully both are separated swiftly. I enjoyed the hero and survivor connection between X and Zoe but the romantic aspects of their relationship felt incredibly forced.
The concept was captivating but the animal cruelty scene was excessive and unnecessary. The Edge of Everything was a blend of paranormal romance, wildly imaginative and conceptually brilliant but ultimately left me hesitant whether to continue the series.
Contains spoilers. See my review for All Fall Down and See How They Run
Embassy Row Book Three
Written by Ally Carter
Mystery, Contemporary
Published February 2017
336 Pages
Thank you to Scholastic Australia
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★★☆
The princess is dead. Long live the princess.
Centuries ago, the royal family of Adria was killed… Or so everyone thought. Now Grace Blakely knows the truth. There was one survivor, and that survivor’s blood runs through her veins. This simple fact could cause a revolution, which is why some people will stop at nothing to keep it from coming to light.
There is only one way for Grace to save herself, save her family, and save the boy she loves. She must outmaneuver her foes, cut through the web of lies that has surrounded her for years, and go back to the source of all her troubles, despite the risk.
If she wins, she will inherit a throne. And if she loses, she will inherit the fate of all the dead princesses who came before her.
The royal bloodline ended the night the castle was besieged, a family slain and an interim King reigning over the citizens of Adria. Grace's mother believed in children's fairytales, the night the royal family had perished, a samaritan protecting baby princess Amelia from the brutal revolution, the royal bloodline surviving.
My Thoughts
Take The Key and Lock Her Up begins mere moments after the revelations of See How They Run, Jamie is injured, Alexei a fugitive and Grace is determined to carry her mother's legacy, finding evidence of the lost princess.
Grace Blakely is a descendant of baby Amelia, a centuries old mystery that the government and Society of Ardia are determined to protect. Since moving into the embassy to live with her grandfather, Grace has been embroiled in controversy. Grace is relentless in her search to uncover her mother's findings, needing evidence as leverage against Adria and the royal family who occupy the throne. I admire Grace's tenacity as a character and enjoyed her relationship with her brother and love interest Alexei, who are now fleeing Adria with the assistance of Dominic.
While in previous installments, the murder mystery aspect added drama and intrigue, the focus is now placed upon on Grace, while the narration of friends and embassy residents were left unresolved. Grace is a character who has struggled with her mental health, placed within a health facility leaving her distressed. Her anguish and post traumatic stress disorder is now absent, apart from the occasional inner monologue reminiscing the death of her mother. Unfortunately, the storyline felt entirely repetitive. One aspect I found fascinating about the series were the ancient and secretive society of women, political puppeteers that seemed a convenient device of justification for the lawless Embassy Row, where adults in authoritarian positions maim and murder. Unfortunately it wasn't fully explored.
Suspension of disbelief was virtually impossible. Although entertaining, I wasn't immersed or as engaged as I've been with the previous installments but was surprised by the ending and a little disheartened by the vigilante justice imposed. The Embassy Row series has been wonderfully entertaining, secrecy and intrigue creating a narrative that will enthrall and delight readers but unfortunately the finale left me feeling disappointed.
Written by Doris Pilkington Nugi Garimara
Biographical, Historical, Australia
136 Pages
Thank you to UQP
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★★★★
The remarkable true story of three young girls who cross the harsh Australian desert on foot to return to their home.
Following an Australian government edict in 1931, black aboriginal children and children of mixed marriages were gathered up by whites and taken to settlements to be assimilated. In Rabbit Proof Fence, award winning author Doris Pilkington traces the captivating story of her mother, Molly, one of three young girls uprooted from her community in Southwestern Australia and taken to the Moore River Native Settlement.
At the settlement, Molly and her relatives Gracie and Daisy were forbidden to speak their native language, forced to abandon their aboriginal heritage, and taught to be culturally white. After regular stays in solitary confinement, the three girls scared and homesick planned and executed a daring escape from the grim camp, with its harsh life of padlocks, barred windows, and hard cold beds.
The girls headed for the nearby rabbit proof fence that stretched over 1,000 miles through the desert toward their home. Their journey lasted over a month, and they survived on everything from emus to feral cats, while narrowly avoiding the police, professional trackers, and hostile white settlers. Their story is a truly moving tale of defiance and resilience.
In the nineteen thirties, three young girls were taken from their Indigenous families in Jigalong, removed by the descendants of white European settlers on behalf of the Australian Government. Fifteen year old Molly is a muda muda, a child born from her Indigenous mother and white English father, a man who tends to the maintenance of the rabbit proof fence that stretches across the land. Often tormented by Indigenous children, the Australian government believe that children born of white fathers can be assimilated into white communities, toiling the land and provided an education.
Molly, eleven year old Gracie and nine year old Daisy, all born to white father's are removed from their community only to begin the long, arduous and liberating nine week journey from the oppressive Moore River Native Settlement back to the Jigalong community. Where they belong.
Molly, eleven year old Gracie and nine year old Daisy, all born to white father's are removed from their community only to begin the long, arduous and liberating nine week journey from the oppressive Moore River Native Settlement back to the Jigalong community. Where they belong.
My Thoughts
Australia has a turbulent and atrocious history of the treatment of our traditional land owners, the Indigenous communities that have endured at the mercy of white European settlement. The late Doris Pilkington has created a narration of her mother's story, born to an Indigenous mother and white English father, deprived of her community when removed from her land to be placed into government custody along with her younger sister and cousin. Throughout the introduction, the author discusses the history of white settlement, communities slaughtered and indigenous women taken and used as sexual servants. Isolated from their communities, the government introduced a policy allowing land to be claimed by white, European farming families. Land that belonged to Indigenous Australians.
The Moore River Native Settlement is a regimented encampment, housing Indigenous children born to white fathers, taken from their communities under the belief that partially white children are superior and can therefore become disciplined servants for white families. Molly is a free spirited young lady and along with Gracie and Daisy, is determined to return to her elders and Jigalong community, the distance spanning over a thousand miles by following the Rabbit Proof fence. The Rabbit Proof Fence was constructed in the early nineteen hundreds to subdue the migration of rabbits into Western Australia from the eastern states and now becomes a beacon of hope and home.
Throughout the narrative, transcripts and newspaper articles are included about the girls disappearance, only further verifying that the young Indigenous girls are little more than a commodity. Although the journey is harrowing and confronting, the terrain is breathtaking as the girls navigate the parched spiritual land. One of the loveliest aspects about Follow The Rabbit Proof Fence is the sense of family throughout our Indigenous communities and the respect for elders that is instilled in their children.
Follow The Rabbit Proof Fence is an integral aspect of Australian history, placing the importance upon the continuing treatment of our Indigenous communities and the destruction brought by white European settlement. A horrific historical narrative that is beautifully written and illustrates the strength and determination of three remarkable young girls.
Follow The Rabbit Proof Fence is an integral aspect of Australian history, placing the importance upon the continuing treatment of our Indigenous communities and the destruction brought by white European settlement. A horrific historical narrative that is beautifully written and illustrates the strength and determination of three remarkable young girls.
Frostblood Saga Book One
Written by Elly Blake
Published January 10th 2017
384 Pages
Thank you to Hachette Australia
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★★★★☆
In a land governed by the cruel Frostblood ruling class, seventeen year old Ruby is a Fireblood who has spent most of her life hiding her ability to manipulate heat and light - until the day the soldiers come to raid her village and kill her mother. Ruby vows revenge on the tyrannous Frost King responsible for the massacre of her people.
But Ruby's powers are unpredictable... And so are the feelings she has for Arcus, the scarred, mysterious Frostblood warrior who shares her goal to kill the Frost King, albeit for his own reasons. When Ruby is captured by the Frost King's men, she's taken right into the heart of the enemy. Now she only has one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who took everything from her and in doing so, she must unleash the powers she's spent her whole life withholding.
For generations, Firebloods have been coveted throughout the kingdom, the Frost King lineage decimating villages in their search for a Fireblood to fulfill the prophecy. Ruby is a Fireblood, her power unharnessed since her grandmother passed, her mother a simple healer who is determined to protect her only child. Until the soldiers pillage the small settlement and Ruby is captured attempting to flee.
Abused and tormented, Ruby is imprisoned and awaiting her fate when she is freed and taken to the Abbey. Under the watchful eye of the monastery and Arcus, a lone Frostblood warrior as infuriating as he is handsome, Ruby is determined to avenge the destruction and senseless killings of impoverished villages and the genocide of the Fireblood lineage.
My Thoughts
Frostblood was enchanting and delightful, reminiscent of wondrous fairytales and captivating fables.
Seventeen year old Ruby is a Fireblood in a kingdom under the tyrannical command of the Frost King, where villages are tormented and burnt to the ground in the search for Firebloods. Ruby can create fire in a kingdom of ice and frost, making her a commodity. Ruby's narrative was compelling. Although she's aware of her ability to create fire, Ruby defies her mother's wishes and practices perfecting her craft each day under the guise of the forest canopy. She's feisty and blinded by revenge as the Frost King's guard burns her village to the ground and takes her captive only to be freed.
Arcus is a character veiled in secrecy, hostile and detached as he begins to assist Ruby in cultivating her abilities. The tentative friendship was charming and incredibly entertaining as the two used thinly veiled insults to conceal their growing attraction.
The romance was absolutely lovely, gentle and gathers a gradual momentum. Both Arcus and Ruby are tenacious and I loved their enchanting courtship amidst the insults and mockery.
You don’t know the effect your words have on me, Lady Firebrand. It took years to build up this ice. You will melt it and then I will be broken.
Blinded by revenge, both Ruby and Arcus share a common ambition, to abolish the Frost King and protect the monastery but the King has plans for the liberated Fireblood.
I was enamored by the world Elly Blake envisioned, beautiful and captivating. I was pleasantly delighted by Frostfire. An admirable an enthralling debut that held me captive until the final page.
Written by Craig Silvey
Contemporary, #LoveOzYA, Mystery
Published March 31st 2009
394 Pages
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Purchased
Published by Allen & Unwin Australia
★★★★☆
Late on a hot summer night in the tail end of 1965, Charlie Bucktin, a precocious and bookish boy of thirteen, is startled by an urgent knock on the window of his sleep out. His visitor is Jasper Jones, an outcast in the regional mining town of Corrigan. Rebellious, mixed race and solitary, Jasper is a distant figure of danger and intrigue for Charlie. So when Jasper begs for his help, Charlie eagerly steals into the night by his side, terribly afraid but desperate to impress.
Jasper takes him through town and to his secret glade in the bush, and it's here that Charlie bears witness to Jasper's horrible discovery. With his secret like a brick in his belly, Charlie is pushed and pulled by a town closing in on itself in fear and suspicion as he locks horns with his tempestuous mother, falls nervously in love and battles to keep a lid on his zealous best friend, Jeffrey Lu.
And in vainly attempting to restore the parts that have been shaken loose, Charlie learns to discern the truth from the myth, and why white lies creep like a curse. In the simmering summer where everything changes, Charlie learns why the truth of things is so hard to know, and even harder to hold in his heart.
In the town of Corrigan, a knocking breaks the silence of night. Town pariah Jasper Jones is outside Charlie's window, frantic, desperate and with a secret that will devastate the community. Thirteen year old Charlie knows Jasper only by reputation, his father's alcoholism and rebellious notoriety, racism thinly disguised as small town prejudice due to Jasper's Indigenous mother.
While navigating Jasper's circumstances, Charlie begins to observe the injustices of Corrigan. The racial torment his best friend Jeffrey Lu endures as he is determined to play cricket for the small community, why his mother is so abrasive and unnecessarily stern, Eliza, the town recluse Mad Jack Lionel and Jasper, a boy who under devastating circumstances, has taught Charlie to live.
My Thoughts
Jasper Jones is an honest portrayal of the nineteen sixties in small town Australia, confronting, compelling and captivating.
The Community of Corrigan is a charming town, they're passionate about their sporting prowess, upholding the law and being pleasant to their neighbours. As long as your neighbours are white. On a warm Australian summer night, fourteen year old Charlie Bucktin walked through Corrigan with sixteen year old Jasper Jones, his innocence and naivety abandoned to the night.
How strange and abandoned and unsettled I am. Like a snowdome paper weight that's been shaken. There's a blizzard in my bubble. Everything in my world that was steady and sure and sturdy has been shaken out of place, and it's now drifting and swirling back down in a confetti of debris.
Jasper Jones is a quiet, intelligent, part Indigenous Australian young man in a predominantly white town. He's treated as an outcast and the harbinger of disorder, culpable for crime and leading their youth astray. Since losing his mother, his alcoholic father had abandoned the family home and his son, leaving the sixteen year old to fend for himself. Jasper's discovery is sickening, incredibly confronting and violent but imperative to the narrative.
Charlie is young and charmingly naive. His mother is verbally abusive and acidic, frustrated at her life cemented in small town Australia. His father, a local teacher and a strong advocate for the written word. Charlie's father is a kind and gentle soul, withstanding the vitriolic attitude of his wife. His love of words has encouraged Charlie to read and aspire to become an author himself.
The town of Corrigan is fueled by racial tension and exclusion during the Vietnam war era, experienced by Charlie's best friend Jeffrey Lu and his family, having migrated by Vietnam. Jeffrey was a wonderful friend to Charlie, supportive and endlessly amusing. The racism and cruelty that the Lu family faces was deplorable. The casual bullying by the local cricket team that Jeffrey was so desperately seeking inclusion, the physical and racial verbal abuse by teens and complacent adults was nothing short of disgusting. Jeffrey was inspirational, determined to prove his sporting worth despite his small stature.
Although the community mentality has begun to progress, Jasper Jones is confronting, especially for those who have experienced violence, racism or prejudice, although Charlie's white narrative tends to obscure the explicit nature for the teen audience. An important fictional narrative of Australian history.
It was phenomenal.
Charlie is young and charmingly naive. His mother is verbally abusive and acidic, frustrated at her life cemented in small town Australia. His father, a local teacher and a strong advocate for the written word. Charlie's father is a kind and gentle soul, withstanding the vitriolic attitude of his wife. His love of words has encouraged Charlie to read and aspire to become an author himself.
The town of Corrigan is fueled by racial tension and exclusion during the Vietnam war era, experienced by Charlie's best friend Jeffrey Lu and his family, having migrated by Vietnam. Jeffrey was a wonderful friend to Charlie, supportive and endlessly amusing. The racism and cruelty that the Lu family faces was deplorable. The casual bullying by the local cricket team that Jeffrey was so desperately seeking inclusion, the physical and racial verbal abuse by teens and complacent adults was nothing short of disgusting. Jeffrey was inspirational, determined to prove his sporting worth despite his small stature.
Although the community mentality has begun to progress, Jasper Jones is confronting, especially for those who have experienced violence, racism or prejudice, although Charlie's white narrative tends to obscure the explicit nature for the teen audience. An important fictional narrative of Australian history.
It was phenomenal.
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