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[CCBC-Net] Favorites of the Year -- Two Aussie books
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From: MShuttleworth at slv.vic.gov.au <MShuttleworth>
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 08:38:52 +1100
Two from Australia that I thought you might like to know about. There have been many, many others--YA is alive and kicking in Australia--but these are two that have stayed with me.
Bill Condon No Worries (University of Queensland Press) While No Worries may have some familiar YA elements, Condon?s version of the work-parents-girlfriend triangle in the life of a young man is fresh, affecting and crisply unsentimental. Dropping out of school, Brian joins the world of working men, but has the bigger challenges with his bipolar mother, feckless dad and a girl called Emma. In Brian, Condon creates a young man who has all the stoicism of a Raymond Carver figure. Bill Condon should be saluted as one of those authors gutsy to create stories in which the main character doesn?t always get what they want.
Morris Gleitzman Once (Penguin) If you thought you knew Morris Gleitzman, think again. Once has its comic moments, but it is a tightly controlled story of Felix, a young Jewish boy caught in the jaws of the Nazi war machine. Morris Gleitzman is best known for his humorous writing, but lately has squared up to some bigger issues. There?s few bigger than this, but Gleitzman has brilliant control of the characters, the voices and the compelling structure of the novel. Onceis frightening, but not without hope.
Happy holiday and good reading to you all. Thanks for a year of feisty and thought-provoking ideas.
Mike
Mike Shuttleworth Program Co-ordinator Centre for Youth Literature 328 Swanston Street Melbourne VIC 3000 PH: 03 8664 7262 FAX: 03 9639 4143 http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/youthlit/
Received on Tue 06 Dec 2005 03:38:52 PM CST
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 08:38:52 +1100
Two from Australia that I thought you might like to know about. There have been many, many others--YA is alive and kicking in Australia--but these are two that have stayed with me.
Bill Condon No Worries (University of Queensland Press) While No Worries may have some familiar YA elements, Condon?s version of the work-parents-girlfriend triangle in the life of a young man is fresh, affecting and crisply unsentimental. Dropping out of school, Brian joins the world of working men, but has the bigger challenges with his bipolar mother, feckless dad and a girl called Emma. In Brian, Condon creates a young man who has all the stoicism of a Raymond Carver figure. Bill Condon should be saluted as one of those authors gutsy to create stories in which the main character doesn?t always get what they want.
Morris Gleitzman Once (Penguin) If you thought you knew Morris Gleitzman, think again. Once has its comic moments, but it is a tightly controlled story of Felix, a young Jewish boy caught in the jaws of the Nazi war machine. Morris Gleitzman is best known for his humorous writing, but lately has squared up to some bigger issues. There?s few bigger than this, but Gleitzman has brilliant control of the characters, the voices and the compelling structure of the novel. Onceis frightening, but not without hope.
Happy holiday and good reading to you all. Thanks for a year of feisty and thought-provoking ideas.
Mike
Mike Shuttleworth Program Co-ordinator Centre for Youth Literature 328 Swanston Street Melbourne VIC 3000 PH: 03 8664 7262 FAX: 03 9639 4143 http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/youthlit/
Received on Tue 06 Dec 2005 03:38:52 PM CST
