i always enter the kingdom of silk with a happy heart

review : plum puddings and paper moons, glenda millard (illus. stephen michael king)

there are red-kite wishes, which are made-aloud wishes that are "usually for fun and not important at all" but then there are those wishes that are "deep and silent and don't need to be said." this story sees a deep and secret silent wish become a beautiful near-reality.

scarlet silk is fifteen. she has made friends with anik who washes the dishes at mr kadri's colour patch cafe. he tells her the story of how he came to live in their town, losing his parents in a war zone. scarlet is horrified that people can bear to have war continue and she decides to declares peace, at least in cameron's creek.

it was wonderful getting to know scarlet, the oldest rainbow silk girl, as well as the other silk girls who have always been hovering in the background through the four other kingdom of silk titles.* it's nice to cook an armenian love cake with amber (in my family we always called it an armenian wedding cake but i think it's the same thing) and to watch the entire (extended) family weave their individual magic through their everyday - but never ordinary - activities.

i would like to have attended nasty nellie's floating academy for pirates and plunderers with perry angel (who has some difficulties learning, so some days he gets lessons from nell and annie instead of at the big school in town). i was so happy to see another, secret, private side to layla's mother. i am worried about nell, who is getting old.

plum puddings and paper moons is a tale to make your heart leap with hope, and also to delight with glenda millard's superb writing. her descriptions and thoughts are perfect, and never fail to make me cry with their beautiful bittersweetness - and their simplicity.

wonderful. for all ages.

*the naming of tishkin silk, layla queen of hearts, perry angel's suitcase, all the colours of paradise

my favourite australian YA of 2009

i've been reading persnickety snark's top 5s of the year - she's put a number out over the last week or so. her most recent one i think i'm going to steal:

!top 5 aussie YA books of the year! (disclaimer: in my own opinionated opinion)

loving richard feynman by penny tangey (UQP)
catherine is 15 and she's got a mega crush. on a physicist who, in the 40s, helped to build atomic bombs. so yes, catherine is a bit different from the other people at her school. but she says: "i suppose i could be more popular if i tried harder. but i don't want to pretend to care about facile television shows, eyeliner and who in year ten is on the pill." i think catherine is a rad character, so clever and so so so funny (seriously, she could give georgia nicholson - from angus thongs - a run for her money!). this book takes the form of her letters to the scientist over the course of one year, during which she slowly reads feynman's autobiography surely you're joking, mr feynman! and during which her life starts to come apart at the seams. writing to feynman helps her cope with all the problems she faces. this book deserves a lot of attention. come and get it!


when the hipchicks went to war by pamela rushby (lothian/hachette)
i reviewed this one awhile ago here. i love historical fiction, especially ones written for teenagers and especially when they deal with different aspects of a history we know quite well, parts of a war we tend not to focus on - and when women get their stories told!

a small free kiss in the dark by glenda millard (A&U)
beautifully written, sad and moving story about skip, a young boy who runs away from his abusive foster family only to find himself a victim of war. though she doesn't specify, i get the feeling that millard has set her war in melbourne. skip and bill, the old homeless man he meets, find themselves caring for little max who was safe in the library when bombs started falling but who is still waiting for his mum to come and get him. the trio head out on foot along the tram line to an abandoned fun park where they meet the teenage mum tia and baby sixpence. glenda millard's characters are always spectacular and poignant and these are no exception. the way she approaches the war is so well done, so brutal but brilliant. and there's always hope in her voice.

beatle meets destiny by gabrielle williams (penguin)

when john "beatle" lennon meets destiny mccartney you could forgive him for thinking that it was fate...err...destiny maybe. and if it was fate then what's the harm in taking her for ice cream and for a beer. or two. and is it really so wrong to kiss her? and maybe going on a picnic together the next day? perhaps it is a bit wrong when you consider beatle's lovely and faithful girlfriend. this is a riotously fun book with a pair of very real, engaging and not always well-behaved characters and a brilliant support cast. there are twists and turns, laughs and tears, eccentric families and a great (read: bizarre) stalking storyline. it's very melbourne and all kinds of awesome.

swerve by philip gwynne (penguin)

from the author of deadly, unna and nukkin ya this is very different. hugh is a cello-playing private schoolboy from sydney with a secret obsession for muscle cars. an old hippie man with a long ponytail has been hanging out the front of his school, trying to talk to him. it turns out he's hugh's grandfather - long estranged from the family - and he's got a proposition. poppy wants hugh to drive them to uluru in his '69 monaro. hugh falls in love with the car instantly, plus he wants to get his hours up (he's still on his Ls) and not even the audition in a week's time at the conservatorium can stop him. hugh is totally out of his comfort zone with poppy and away from his posh sydney life. with poppy he has to mingle with rough types of people and is confronted by the girls he constantly refers to as 'skanks'. predictably, things don't go to plan on the road. there's the hitchhikers manifesto, which dictates they must pick up all hitchhikers: not always a great idea, there's the runaway and then the psycho... but they meet some great people at truck stops and they camp in swags off the beaten track (checking into the million star motel!) and they wrestle with the powerful car, which remains the main character in the book. this is a moving and funny novel.