Kathryn's Inbox

Besties Beth and Chanda are back in the second instalment of Besties, a spin-off from the successful Click series. This time around, Beth and Chanda are looking forward to attending their first formal school dance, but things go a bit sour when neither can find the perfect dress. Then an unintentional comment from Chanda's older sister leads both girls to believe that they need a date and suddenly the dance feels like one big disaster--and it hasn't even happened yet. Although not as well done as the books in the Click series, this was an entertaining little read about growing up and false expectations. Beth and Chanda don't need expensive dresses or dates to make the dance a special occasion, but a false sense of what a 'grown up' dance entails leads them to believe that they do. I found myself cringing every time Beth and Chanda put themselves on the line for some poor clueless boy who just isn't on their wavelength. Fortunately, the moral lesson comes throug...

I had so much fun reading the Little People Big Dreams book about Andy Warhol that I just had to turn my attention to another recent release from the series, this one featuring controversial author Roald Dahl. After all, how would someone explain Roald Dahl to children--an author who was exceptionally talented, who they've most probably heard of and read some of his work already, and who in his personal life was exceptionally complicated and cruel?  Well, somehow, author Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara does exactly that. As is an integral part of this series, she introduces the reader to the subject, this time Roald Dahl, as a child and shows how he is shaped by a childhood experience of taste testing chocolate bars and unfair school policies and how they influence his later work. She also recounts his experiences fighting in the Second World War (ending in injury) how he begins his career as a writer and ... she acknowledges that he was far from perfect and that he was anti-semitic (d...

The Indefatigable EnviroTeens are back. And this time, in their first full colour graphic novel, they are on a hilarious adventure of defeat a Toxic Space Potato who has enslaved an entire planet for personal gain. Along with their sidekicks Stuart the Wobblegong and Beverley the Sourdough Starter, they are facing their greatest challenge yet in this riotous, laugh out loud adventure. I'll be brave and admit, this book had me at the title alone. Add in a little First Dog on the Moon humour, zany plot twists and political satire and this graphic novel is a real winner. It's silly, it's intelligent and it is a whole lot of fun. And the toxic space potato, who wants everyone to give up on planet earth and live on Mars certainly sounds familiar ... I absolutely enjoyed this one from start to end. Highly recommended. 

Reader beware, titles can sometimes be deceiving. This book may be called the Banned Books Club , but banned books, and the club, take a back seat to the stories of the three main protagonists. There is Gia, a very independent woman who many years ago started a banned books club at her school, only to find herself run out of town after she had her English teacher charged, and convicted, of sexual assault. (Long story short, the townspeople wouldn't believe her, even though the court did.) Then there is Margo, Gia's seemingly perfect sister, who didn't get run out of town, who married a popular local man and who is begging for her sister to come home to help care for their mother. What Gia doesn't know is that Margo has suffered through her husband's coercive control and she's hoping that Gia will come home so that she can finally make a clean break of it. And then, because this is a small town, there is Cormac, the very attractive local vet who no woman can catc...

The Little Mermaid gets the Meant To Be treatment in the third novel of Disney's bestselling Meant To Be series. This time around Zoraida Cordova tells the story of Ariel, the star of Siren Seven, a girl band made up of seven sisters, managed by their father who also owns the family's own record label. Siren Seven have just had their final farewell concert and twenty-five year old Ariel is looking forward to having a break from the music industry and finding out who she is away from the stage. Her father has promised her that she can have some time off, and then betrays her by announcing to the public that she is about to embark on a solo career. So what does Ariel do? She runs away, creates a new identity as Melody and goes on the road with an up and coming band where she works behind the scenes selling merchandise. All good, until Eric, the front man of the band begins to fall for Melody. He has no idea who she really is and he claims to hate Siren Seven and their music. Wh...

What a joy Elizabeth of East Hampton turned out to be! Technically a spin off or a sequel to Emma of 83rd Street, and a part of the For the Love of Austen series this time around the authors turn their focus to a modern day retelling of Pride and Prejudice. It is tourist season once again and Elizabeth 'Lizzy' Bennett is helping out in the family bakery. She secretly aspires to study journalism, but those dreams seem awfully unrealistic at the moment. Her beloved father is recovering from a stroke and neither her outlandish mother (who is always working on a get rich quick scheme,) or her four sisters are capable of running the bakery. Jane already has a job as a teacher, Mary is busy protesting climate change, Kitty has a business degree and cannot bake, and Lydia is more focused on finding a rich husband. And if that wasn't enough to contend with, Lizzy soon finds herself falling foul of Will Darcy, a wealthy tourist who is here with his friend Charlie ... who just happ...

Olive, star of the Click series is back. As readers will know, Olive has always been a popular kid, a floater who has the ability to form genuine friendships with a range of other kids. Now she's in sixth grade, a member of the student council and she is doing well with her studies. When a new girl, sassy Natasha, arrives at school, Olive suddenly finds herself with an unexpected challenge. Natasha does not like Olive. And worse still, Natasha is keen to make friends with all of Olive's friends ... and suddenly Olive is left feeling as though everyone would rather be Natasha's friend than hers. This was such a relatable and well written account of preteen friendships. I've probably said this before--Olive is a great character and author/illustrator Kayla Miller does an excellent job of putting her in situations that are so believable and relatable that this series now has a huge following among adults and teenagers, along with the intended middle grade audience. Olive...

Call Me By Your Name is a coming-of-age novel about a brief but intense love that will be remembered--and felt--for a lifetime. Seventeen year old Elio is used to his home on the Italian Rivera being opened to guests, his father's students, and he thinks nothing of this until the day Oliver, an American student, stumbles out of a taxi, saying a casual, 'Later' to the driver. Elio is immediately smitten, with his imagination going into overdrive as he struggles to reconcile with his feelings. What begins with Elio doing his best to avoid Oliver eventually turns to a discover of love and intimacy like no other he has experienced before. This was an empathetic and well crafted read about a young man struggling under the intensity of his feelings for another person. It is also a story of how two people find something so very rare--total intimacy with one another. That said, this isn't always comfortable reading and it should probably come with a disclaimer that many people ...

I had no idea this volume of sermons by history making and beloved activist and Baptist minister Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr existed, let alone been republished as a Penguin Modern Classic, until I stumbled upon it a several weeks ago at a beautiful bookshop in the Adelaide Hills. Intrigued, I purchased it immediately and over a coffee at a nearby cafe I immersed myself in a work that I soon discovered was both hopeful and beautiful.  Taken from some of the author's most powerful sermons A Gift Of Love was originally published in 1963, and updated after Dr King was assassinated in 1968, and again in 1981. The sermons focus on strength, the importance of activism and his vision for an America where people are not divided by race. He also speaks of his personal experiences of activism. Personally, I found his account of the Montgomery bus boycott, and his role in it to be absolutely fascinating. Though, it should be stressed also frightening, as Dr King's house was bomb...

Okay. I know these books are meant to be for kids. But the concept of a Little People Big Dreams book about Andy Warhol was just too much for me to resist. And let's face it, outside of all of the controversies there are many aspects of Andy Warhol's career that would be very interesting and inspiring for young, budding artists. Like the fact that he was a shy kid, plagued by illness and that he could take something as mundane as a soup can and use it to change the art world forever. Anyway ... this was a fun and age appropriate biography. I loved the illustrations, which felt very fitting--unique but with a definite Warhol flavour. There is also a longer biography at the back, which will probably be appreciated more by older children and any grown ups that are reading along. Understandably, the book does not mention that Warhol was shot or his unexpected death in hospital following a routine operation.  Overall, an excellent resource for kids and a bit of fun and inspiration f...

The BSC graphic novel adaptions are back and this time the focus is on oft-overlooked BSC character Mallory Pike. And it is one of the best instalments in the series to date. This one opens with a behind the scenes look at the Pikes, a nuclear family with eight kids. For Mallory, the oldest, this often means being expected to help her parents look after the younger kids, and also going without a lot of things that she secretly wants because her family cannot afford it. She's also fed up with being treated well ... like a kid. Mallory has the chance not only to prove herself as capable, but to earn some money to buy some of the things she wants when she is offered a regular baby-sitting job caring for eight-year-old identical twins Marilyn and Carolyn Arnold. There's just one catch. The twins are absolute terrors and just love to swap places. But with a little bit of ingenuity, Mallory just might be able to solve the problem and learn a thing or two about good communication. I a...

Originally published in 2018 (and later updated) Feminists Don't Wear Pink is an eclectic series of short pieces from various high profile women on what feminism means to them. Some of the pieces, such as the Bridget Jones piece by Helen Fielding are fiction, other authors share poetry and many, from Amy Trigg to Liv Little to Charlotte Elizabeth open up about their deeply personal experiences. Much like the writers, every piece is different and everyone has a different view on what feminism means to them. This was an entertaining, though often eclectic read. I enjoyed most of the pieces on their own, individual merit, but each did not always flow into the next one well which got a bit distracting after a while, and meant that I found myself putting the book down again after reading one of two short pieces. (And consequently, the book took my a while to get through.) The book was originally published in the United Kingdom meaning that some of the authors were completely unknown to...

To say that I have been 'enchanted' by Disney's Meant To Be series would be a massive understatement. The concept is surprising as it is brilliant. Classic Disney movies reimagined as contemporary romance novels, written by bestselling authors. And it works so well. If The Shoe Fits is the first release in the series. Penned by Julie Murphy, the author of Dumplin'  it retells Cinderella. Except this time, Cinderella is Cindy, she is an aspiring fashion designer who just loves shoes. And she is the first ever plus size contestant on a reality show that just happens to have been created and produced by her stepmother. Her stepsisters, both influencers, are contestants on the same show. The only catch is that Cindy has already met the man that she and the other contestants are competing for ... and there is a very real and very mutual attraction between them. This was a fun and lightweight romance set against the backdrop of a very well choreographed reality show. Cindy an...

Don't stay where you are needed. Go where you are loved ... So reads the blurb on the back of my copy of Love Looks Pretty On You, a delightful collection of poetry and short prose by Lang Leave. And what a teaser that proved to be as I read through the collection, with each offering speaking of one kind of love or another. All forms of love are mentioned, though the collection does focus on romance, particularly unrequited love. Some of the poems would most definitely be comforting to any reader who has a broken heart.  I absolutely adored this one, snatching bits here and there, though my favourite memory is taking it with me to a cafe on a cool Saturday afternoon, taking in the short works in between sips of coffee.  Recommended. PS Did you know ... author Lang Leav was born in Thailand, after her family fled the horrific Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. The author grew up in Australia and now lives in Sydney.