Being Jimmy Baxter by Fiona Lloyd

Jimmy Branthwaite and his mum have moved to a new house. It all seems quite rushed and strange but there are tiny hints in the text that something is wrong with the way dad treats mum. Perhaps Jimmy and his mum have run away?

In the car Mrs Jessop tells Jimmy to put his head down low and stay quiet. Mum is curled up on the back seat too. Mum has a sore arm.

"Mum says 1991's going to be a better year for us. ... Mrs J says we're not allowed a torch ... the moon is a crescent shape, same as the tip of Mum's nails, when they're not all polished how Dad wants them."

"It's a good thing Dad has a new job.  ... Dad reckons the cops had it all wrong when they said he'd had one drink too many to drive the truck. ... I'm happy we'll have fun now he's busy (far away with a new job)."

"She's prettier without her make-up on. With Dad not being here, she can be just how she wants for a change. Same for me too. I'm lighter when he's not around."

Then Dad finds them! After a very abusive scene he leaves so Mum and Jimmy quickly pack a few things, things they can carry, and they head off to catch a bus. This time they land in Mungo Creek. Surely they will be safe here. Mum gets a job in the local grocery store but they decide it might be best to change their name to Baxter - and so now we have Jimmy Baxter. 

The new school is hard. Thank goodness the teacher Miss Anna Smith is wonderful but when the bullies become too violent and mum won't get out of bed Jimmy decides to leave school and get a job or two so at least they can have something to eat. At this point adult readers will need to suspend disbelief that no one questions why Jimmy is not at school and how just how Jimmy gets various jobs including one in a pub when he is way too young and also you might ask why the shop owner doesn't ask many questions when mum no longer comes to work in his shop. 

Out in the countryside Jimmy meets a reclusive man named Mac who offers food, wisdom and friendship. Mac is deeply grieving the loss of his beautiful wife. Jimmy also makes friends with a girl from his class called Debbie and the two of them work on a project about Ned Kelly. Debbie is such a good friend to Jimmy. Things are hard but at least Jimmy and mum are safe until late one night there is a dreadful accident out near Mac's shanty. Has dad found them again?

Some of the vocabulary in this book might be confusing for readers outside Australia. There is a good list in the back of the book which made me happy but here are a few words from the first couple of chapters:

• bonnet - car hood
• yakking - talking
• crikey - wow! or that was unexpected
• lorikeets - colourful native birds
• stoked - pleased, happy
• ripper - that's good

I do like the cover and many of the things coming out of Jimmy's head are found in the story so this might be something to share with a class for a book talk - students could predict the significance of each object - tin foil, wattle, an LP record, a pencil, eggs and yellow Cadillac. 

This is a new book from Penguin Random House (Puffin Books) due for publication in July 2023. I am fairly sure this book will appear on the CBCA 2024 Younger Readers award Notables list. This book is almost my last Advance Reader copy from Beachside Bookshop - I have LOVED reading all the new releases over the last 5 years.  I will desperately miss this opportunity.

If you enjoy books with a very Australian setting and flavour you will enjoy Being Jimmy Baxter. The writing style is very similar to Morris Gleitzman's early books with his main boy character depicted as a naive protagonist in books like Two Weeks with the Queen; Too small to Fail; and Boy Overboard. There is actually an endorsement on the cover of my copy from Morris Gleitzman himself. Companion reads:

Cop and Robber

Dragon Skin

Small as an Elephant

The Secrets we Keep

Waiting for Normal

A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus

Reading this book over the last couple of days has been a joyous and absorbing reading journey. I read the final chapters on the train this morning - hopefully no one saw me crying when I reached chapter 17.  

I had a totally wrong impression from the cover of this book. The front of this house looks quite Japanese to my eye but in fact this is a story set in England featuring children evacuated from London and sent to stay with rural families from 1940 onwards.  The title comes from a fragment of memory.

"Mum always said her children hung the moon."  "you know you've got the right mum when you find one that thinks you hung the moon."

These three children come from a wealthy family. Sadly both of their parents are dead and up until now they have been in the care of an austere grandmother and a series of housekeepers. Their grandmother has now also died and so the three orphans are evacuated to the country. They had no parents in their childhood but they did have a wealth of books and these are mentioned all through the story and then helpfully listed at the back of the book.

In the first home they encounter two brothers who are dreadful bullies. Kate Albus creates so much tension during these scenes. After one dreadful incident the children are sent to a different home with a woman, her three very young children and a baby. Her husband is off fighting in North Africa and she is living in poverty. The family used torn up newspaper in their outdoor toilet.  William, Edmund and Anna are cold, hungry and neglected. In one truly awful scene the boys are sent to work with a local farmer - killing rats. (warning this scene will distress sensitive readers). 

Finally, after months of worry and neglect the children are taken in by the town librarian. Her library has been their safe haven ever since their arrival. Now they all hope that Mrs Muller might consider letting them all stay - forever! This is the solicitors preposterous plan. 

Here are a few text quotes:

The Library - "Inside, the children were greeted by the sort of cool and reverent silence known only to places that house books ... they were home."

Changing the baby - "Removing the pins, she peeled the fetid thing back an inch or two, unwilling to inspect the scene to closely, (she) used the diaper to clean the baby's bottom as best she could ... Hesitating over the writing little body, the children learned a valuable lesson about the importance of speed when diapering a baby. A stream suddenly arced from the exposed infant, hitting Edmund squarely in the chest."

"The children pressed their straw pallets together for warmth but still slept fitfully. In the wee hours of the morning sleeting rain began to pelt the room, and the children awakened to find that all three of their mattresses were damp."

A wartime drama with enough depth and psychological complexity to satisfy budding bookworms. Kirkus

Publisher blurb: It is 1940 and William, 12, Edmund, 11, and Anna, 9, aren't terribly upset by the death of the not-so-grandmotherly grandmother who has taken care of them since their parents died. But the children do need a guardian, and in the dark days of World War II London, those are in short supply, especially if they hope to stay together. Could the mass wartime evacuation of children from London to the countryside be the answer? It's a preposterous plan, but off they go-- keeping their predicament a secret, and hoping to be placed in a temporary home that ends up lasting forever. Moving from one billet to another, the children suffer the cruel trickery of foster brothers, the cold realities of outdoor toilets and the hollowness of empty stomachs. But at least they find comfort in the village lending library-- a cozy shelter from the harshness of everyday life, filled with favorite stories and the quiet company of Nora Müller, the kind librarian. The children wonder if Nora could be the family they've been searching for. . . . But the shadow of the war, and the unknown whereaouts of Nora's German husband complicate matters.

Awards:

• An ALSC Notable Children's Book
• An SCBWI Crystal Kite Award Winner
• A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
• Named to the Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice List
• A CCBC Choice

You can hear an audio sample here. Here are some discussion questions. 

Kate Albus has a new book coming out in September.

Here are some other books that explore the evacuation of children from London during World War II. 

The war that Saved my Life

When the Siren Wailed

Vinnie's War

Dragon Skin by Karen Foxlee illustrated by Dale Newman

Look at this wonderful opening sentence:

"She didn't want to go home and that's why she found it."

This is a powerful opening sentence that just demands you read on (and on and on). What is happening at home? Is it something bad? What did she find? Who is this girl? Where is she? 

Home? Read on and see how Karen Foxlee is a master of word placement and choice:

"Matt would have come home and the screen door would have slammed hard and his tool bag would have crashed down on the kitchen bench. They would have flinched ... "

"Matt liked Pip in her room with the light off and the door closed so he could have her mum all to himself. He didn't like any competition. Competition made him angry."

"Now he was sitting drinking his coffee and scrolling through Facebook and stealing all the oxygen. Her mother and her had to survive on small sips of air."

"He was dangerous like hairpin bends in the road."

"Matt was made complete out of anger. He was an armour of anger and he had anger blood and he had a heart that was solid anger."

Now we know why Pip doesn't want to go home. Home is not a safe place. Pip knows her mother feels this too but leaving will take great courage.  In the meantime what has she found?

"I will save you.

I will help you.

I will fix your wings.

I was chosen."

Pip has found a baby dragon. 

I adore the way Karen Foxlee references Australia in her story. Mika tells Pip they might be bunyips at the waterhole. If this book is taken up by a US publisher I wonder what they will make of bunyips!

There is just so much to love about this book. The writing is powerful. The title is perfect and contains more than one meaning which will be revealed as you read. And this whole book is utterly brave! Karen Foxlee creates the most amazing tension in this story. Yes I've shared enough text with you so you know about Matt and his temper and way of controlling her mum but there is also the tension about Pip's friend Mika. I am not going to spoil this important story strand. And there is the little dragon himself. Pip names him Little Fella. He has come into Pip's life at just the right time. She has something to love and in turn this tiny creature helps her navigate this year of loss and fear. Little Fella also helps her make special new friends. I read one reviewer (Goodreads) who said summed this book up perfectly "So lovely, so heart-breaking and then heart-mending."  My only other personal comment about this book is that I deeply hope the terrible violence she describes in the relationship between Matt and Pip's mum was not based on any aspect of Karen's own life.  

I'm in love with this book. Dragon Skin is surprising, beautiful, unique. The characters are wonderfully drawn - tough but vulnerable, hurt but hopeful, damaged but strong. They've lodged themselves in my heart forever.' Katrina Nannestad

Dragon Skin will be available from tomorrow and I am certain it will be listed for many awards here in Australia and perhaps beyond. School libraries who subscribe to standing order services will receive this book in their book package but if you are in a library, and you don't purchase books this way, I strongly suggest you add Dragon Skin to your book shopping list NOW!  And YES this is a book for Upper Primary (mature readers aged 11+ look at the labels at the bottom of this post) and High Schools too. I am also thrilled that this book is such a great price at less then $20 for the hardcover. 

A friend from our IBBY committee sent me an Advance Reader copy of Dragon Skin and then the publisher Allen and Unwin (thanks go to Yvette Gilfillan) sent me the finished copy which is a beautifully designed hardback with an embossed cover. Take a look at this twelve page chapter sampler. 

Karen Foxlee books just get better and better.  Take a look at some here:

Lenny's Book of Everything

A Most Magical Girl

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

Companion reads:

A Game of Fox and Squirrels

One for the Murphys

The Star Outside my Window

One more thing - you already know I am obsessive about covers.  Here is the paperback cover for the UK edition of Dragon Skin due out at the end of October. 

How to Bee by Bren MacDibble

"Lessons start on the speakers. Urbs don't like that we farm kids are too busy to get educated, so lessons get played over the speakers while we work.  Today's lesson's just for us. It's about the history of the  bees.  Not us. The real ones they used to have thirty years ago before the famines."

First off here is another one of my predictions.  This book How to Bee just has to be shortlisted for our CBCA awards in 2017.  YES it is that good!

It is the future but Bren MacDibble leaves the reader to imagine just what has happened in our world. I adore this kind of intelligent writing where there are hints but the author does not feel the need to spell everything out.

Whatever has happened there are now no bees and so children live and work on farms and while they are still young and agile they climb the fruit trees and perform the pollination.  Away from the farms, city life is dangerous.  Society is completely stratified - there are the mega rich and the desperately poor.  The rich have retreated behind high walls with security guards.  The poor wander the streets hands outstretched hoping for money or food.  There is a strong undercurrent of violence.

Peony (what a perfect name for a child who longs to work as a bee) lives with her grandfather and little sister called Mags, short for Magnolia, on a fruit farm.  Her mother visits infrequently from the city where she works.  Peony longs for her mother to rejoin them on the farm so they can be a complete family but her mother has dreams of becoming rich and living in an idealized house with every comfort.

The story opens on a day when new bees will be selected.  Peony is too young but she is determined to be chosen.  She completes a trial run up the trees with her good friend Applejoy.  He is selected to be a bee but Peony slips and falls.

"I pull the end of the wand out from the branches and start along a branch. A stick jams in my legs and I trip and fall straight out of the tree. I land on my stomach on the dirt. Pomz (Pomegranate) sniggers and scrambles up her tree.  She's stuck the end of her wand into my legs!"

Peony's mother arrives to take her to work in the city in the home of a rich man who actually sells the fruit so carefully harvested and packed by the farm workers.  Peony is amazed to learn only three people live in this enormous house.  One is a spoilt but terrified young girl called Esmeralda. The two girls form an alliance.  Peony helps Ez overcome her fear of being outside and Ez helps Peony escape back to the farm.

I have listed How to Bee for Middle readers in Years 4 and 5 but I do need to give a warning.  There are some very violent scenes in this book when Peony is kidnapped by her mother and her mother's abusive boyfriend.  Sensitive readers may find these scenes distressing.

There are a set of teacher notes on the publisher web site.  Read this thoughtful review in Reading Time.

We have over thirty non fiction books in our school library about bees.  It seems to have become a bit of an obsession of mine.  You might like to read these reviews of The Book of Bees and Bee.

I would follow this book with Chance of Safety and older readers should look for the series Hidden Children which begins with Among and the Hidden.

The war that saved my life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

If I could walk, maybe Mam wouldn't be so ashamed of me.  Maybe we could disguise my crippled foot.  

Maybe I could leave the room ... 

That's what happened, though not in the way I thought it would. 

This book is really only suitable for the most mature readers at my school but I do hope I can put in into the hands of a senior student who finds this poignant tale as engrossing as I did.

This is another one of those books that I started one night and almost finished in one sitting - not bad for 314 pages.

Perhaps you have read the classic story Goodnight Mister Tom.  The war that saved my life follows the same historical period and evacuation experience of children sent from London to stay in rural England.

Ada has been born with a club foot.  Her ignorant and abusive mother did not allow any medical intervention when Ada was a tiny baby.  She regards Ada as a cripple and stupid.  Children are being evacuated all over London.  Ada decides she and her younger brother Jamie must leave.  They board a train filled with children bound for Kent.  Reluctantly a lady called Susan Smith takes in the two children.  Very, very gradually the three form a strong bond but for Ada the most special part of her new life is the pony in the field beside the house.  Ada's care of the pony called Butter and her determination to learn how to ride and jump, mirror the persistence and care of Susan and gradually Ada, Jamie and Susan form a little family unit.

There are several very violent scenes in this book especially early in the story when Ada is locked in a small cupboard by her abusive mother.  While I do highly recommend this book I feel it is only suitable for mature students.

It is very easy to tell the author adores horses.  This is the scene when Ada meets Butter for the first time :

"I toddled and stumbled.  Everything hurt.  The pony watched me.  When I reached the stone wall I sat on it and swung my legs over to the other side.  The pony stepped toward me, lowered his head, sniffed my hands, and pressed his neck against me. I put my arms around him.  I understood how he go his name.  He smelled like butter in the hot sun."

Here is the Kirkus review.  Here is a video interview with the author.  Here is a detailed review in the School Library Journal.  Here is an excellent set of teaching notes from the publisher.  I also found a sample of the audio book which runs for ten minutes.

You might also enjoy Carrie's war, An elephant in the garden, Children of the King or Vinnie's war by David McRobbie.  Mosst importantly though, when you have read The war that saved my life you must read Goodnight Mr Tom.

True (sort of) by Katherine Hannigan

Before you read about True (sort of) you might like to read my review of Ida B also by Katherine Hannigan.

True (sort of) is even better.  Delly Pattison is bursting with wonderful ideas about how to have fun and how to have adventures but sadly for Delly every  single time things back fire and Delly ends up in trouble.

"Delly Pattison was tiny.  Her hair curled tight to her head, like a copper halo.  Her voice was raspy, as if a load of gravel lined her throat.  And Delly Pattison was trouble, little trouble on the way to big TROUBLE, and getting closer to it every day."

There are six kids in the Pattison family - Dallas, Tallahasse, Montana, Galveston, Dellaware and RB but it is the mother I loved the most.  She loves her kids and she especially wants happiness for Delly.

While Delly is trying hard to stay out of trouble while still enjoying special dellyventures and waiting for a surpresent a new kid arrives in town.  Her name is Ferris Boyd and there are two things you need to know about her : "Here is the information I shared with the class, before Ms Boyd arrived, which you need to know,' ... 'First, Ms Boyd does not speak.' ... 'She can hear, but she does not speak.  In addition, she must not be touched."  What the teacher (he always addresses the children as Ms and Mr) fails to mention in this strange introduction is that Ferris Boyd is a girl of great patience, wisdom and she has brilliant basketball skills.  It is these skills which bring her to the attention of the third important character in this complex story - Brud Kinney another local boy who lives for basketball.

There are some holes in this story - we never meet the mother of Ferris Boyd and it is very disturbing the way the adults in the town and school seem completely oblivious to the reasons why Ferris is mute.  That to one side I loved Delly and the tender love of her little brother RB.

This is a book for senior students.  It does deal with very sensitive issues but it is also an uplifting story and I am sure these characters will linger with you for a long time.

If you enjoy True (sort of) you should also look for Camo Girl.