reviews 14+Secondary/Adult continued


the author’s younger self. Each section is illustrated in monochrome by Nash. The significance of this book is that it is written by authors of colour for the benefit of their younger selves and for other young people who may share


their experiences. Members


of minorities, whether defined by ethnicity, sexuality or any other criterion, will find themselves targets of comments from people who have no conception of the life their targets live. The central concept of this book is social erasure. People identified by certain characteristics are isolated from public awareness and from the mainstream of social life itself. An observer, however benign, may not realise


the depth of this isolation


unless and until reading about it from those who know it as a daily reality. In one instance and one only this


reviewer felt that the book slipped into a didactic tone, when discussing drugs. The lapse is readily understandable, since the situation described is indeed fraught and a didactic tone too easily adopted. The book issues a significant challenge. Why don’t other minorities such as disabled people take a similar opportunity? RB


Catching Teller Crow HHHH


Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina, Penguin Random House, 192pp, 978 0 241 38007 9, £7.99 pbk


Fifteen-year-old Beth Teller is trying to help her father in his investigation into a mysterious fire and possible murder. She is worried about him as he seems depressed. The reason for dad’s


Under a Dancing Star HHHH


Laura Wood, Scholastic, 356pp, 978-1407192406, £7.99 pbk


Taking its inspiration from Much Ado About Nothing,


Laura Wood’s YA preoccupation and sadness


soon becomes clear, Beth has died in a car accident and he is grieving. She is visible to her dad as a ghost and can communicate with him, although no one else can see or hear. This is a story which explores grief, saying goodbye and the importance of family support, but other layers emerge as well. Set in small town Australia, exploration of the crime uncovers very dark stories of abuse linked to a local children’s home. The story is told in two voices, that


of Beth Teller and Isobel Catching both


Aboriginal teenagers. Beth


writes in prose and Isabel in free verse. Isabel’s nightmarish memories as a possible witness to the crimes gradually reveal dark secrets. Written by a brother and sister


team of Aboriginal writers this is a very unusual book. It is a thriller, murder mystery and ghost story with elements of racism and abuse. The plight of


novel is a heady exploration of first love and self-discovery set mostly in the grounds of a gorgeous Italian villa in the mid-1930s. Our narrator, Bea, has been sent to stay there with her uncle after a disastrous dinner party at which she shocks a prospective husband and his parents by describing – in some detail – the sexual habits of the glow-worm. It’s not something young ladies of her class are meant to know about, let alone discuss over the dinner table. Bea however, is far


from typical.


She has a passion for science and is thoroughly stifled by her family and their genteel small-mindedness. The stay with her uncle provides a life-changing encounter with a set of Bohemian young artists and during her summer in Europe Bea turns into an adult, very much like one of her beloved butterflies, shucking off her drab, constricting English frocks for


brightly coloured silk dresses


and even – most liberating of all – trousers. She also embarks upon her first ever love affair – in the interests of


science of course – with the aboriginal communities


after colonisation is suggested yet balanced in pride and celebration in their strength, culture and beliefs. Despite the hard-hitting themes


there is an element of hope within the narrative, you can overcome even the worst of experiences and find happiness again, ‘joy eats sadness.’ A challenging, moving and thought provoking read. SMc


gorgeous if equally headstrong Ben. Anyone familiar with the source will know that sparks will fly. Bea’s sexual awakening is described as playfully as her new wardrobe, but with the same attention to detail, and the same vivid sense of carefree rapture. It all makes for delightful reading though Bea’s new found


joy is


tempered by the intrusion of real life and her uncle’s admiration for Mussolini. Bea returns to England without Ben, though readers will be glad to know that this will not be the end of their affair. Wood is clearly happier negotiating the


unpredictability of


courtship than the gathering clouds of war and the final chapters feel slightly rushed and unfinished. This doesn’t


detract in the slightest however from what is a thoroughly charming and entertaining love story with captivating


central characters. LS The Starlight Watchmaker


HHHH


Lauren James, Barrington Stoke, 136pp, 978-78112-895-4, £7.99 pbk


Hugo is a watchmaker, but not quite like


any watchmaker the reader


has met before. He works at an academy on a planet far from Earth. The purpose of the academy is to train future leaders from many alien civilisations. Hugo is impoverished and lowly regarded. He is allowed to remain on the academy campus after his master’s departure only because he does a worthwhile job making and repairing watches. Hugo


away from the dark underbelly of the fashion industry. It is instead a searing exposé of the world of haute couture. Of course modelling can be a very glamorous career, especially for a working class girl for whom other opportunities may be scarce. But there is a price to be paid for the glitz and glamour. The costs of this glittering career are explored in this novel. Dawson’s


book


claim on our readers,


glamorous including has a


attention. this


models


serious Most


reviewer,


know little about the inner workings of the fashion industry. When we see


having a


wonderful time in the world’s most attractive resorts, it never occurs to us that sacrifices may be demanded for this reward. In


this powerful book there are meets Dorian, a green-


skinned alien from a very elite planet. Dorian is severely distressed. He has an examination coming in a few days. His time travel watch, essential for the exam, is broken. He issues an imperious demand to Hugo to repair his watch. Hugo opens the watch, only to make a disturbing discovery. The watch is powered by quantum energy. The unit that generates this energy is simply missing. The watch cannot be repaired. Hugo


explains that without its


energy generator the watch is not just useless but also dangerous. Dorian believes he knows what has happened. The unit has been stolen by Lady De Winter. This female alien has interesting gifts. She is made of rock and she can split fragments of herself off when she wishes. Dorian and Hugo find and confront Lady De Winter. But they are in for a surprise. Her watch is also lacking its power source. Together the three of them must address this question. Who is stealing these power units and how can they be recovered? This book is a parable. At the start


of their relationship Dorian and Hugo are simply master and servant. But as the book progresses and their shared difficulties emerge, they become friends. The underlying moral precept is that once formal distinctions are set aside, different people with different abilities and limitations can create friendships


and provide mutually


valued practical as ance. This reviewer found one weakness


in this otherwise excellent book. When the resolution comes it is valid and convincing. But it is delivered in too hasty a manner. It could have been more powerful if it was presented at a more considered pace. RB


Meat Market HHHHH


Juno Dawson, Quercus Children’s Books, 401pp, 978-1-786-54038-6, pbk


‘Jana Novak is the sixteen year old daughter of Serbian immigrant parents and has grown up on a South London council estate. While she is at Thorpe Park, a model agency scouts her. She decides to take up a modelling Dawson’s book tells the


scenes of sexual abuse and a discussion of its consequences both for the perpetrator and the victim. These episodes have a purpose that goes beyond mere narrative interest. It is a worthy social aim for any author to teach young women that they have a right to sovereignty over their own bodies and decisive power over what happens to them. Reports from the cinema industry in recent years give a graphic and sinister view of what can happen when the lessons of individual self-determination are forgotten. RB


My So-Called Bollywood Life HHH


Nisha Sharma, Stripes Publishing, 332pp,978-78895-146-3, £7.99 pbk


Winnie Mehta is a Bollywood film addict, educated in the genre by her father. Her greatest ambition is to study South Asian Film Theory at New York University’s prestigious film school and she is doing everything she can to make her application look first class. This includes co-chairing her college’s film festival with her ex-boyfriend, whose relationship with her was to lead to marriage, if her family’s astrologer’s prediction was to be believed. Then complications pile on


complications as another ex-boyfriend appears on the scene, her dreams re- enact parts of old Bollywood movies which are eerily relevant to her own problems, Winnie loses the co-chair of the festival and all this against a continuous background of references to Bollywood films. Although this is ostensibly a


romance, it is also for readers who are interested in and knowledgeable about South Asian films. There is a section at the back of the book explaining the movies in general and providing suggestions for further viewing. This theme has equal footing with


the


romantic elements and, indeed, often illuminates and comments on them. There is a good deal of illustration of Hindu family life, too and this is an appealing part of the novel, introducing some


larger-than-life story


of Jana’s career in a first person narrative. The book does not shy


women and


information about the rituals which are staged within the home. There is, of course, a happy ending-


which book in love with Bollywood could have it any other way? VR


Books for Keeps No.237 July 2019 31


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