Solomon Macaroni and the Cousin Catastrophe by Ashleigh Barton illustrated by Sarah Davis

Solomon is an only child. He is, perhaps, slightly eccentric. Solomon is, however, a smart boy. He likes things to be clean and tidy and he enjoys vegetarian cooking. His life is a happy one with his mum and dad until the day his vampire parents announce they are off on a world cruise - not for a couple of weeks but for one hundred years. You have probably guessed from the cover and realise Solomon is a vampire but he is certainly a very unconventional one. 

Solomon cannot stay home alone so he is sent to stay with his Uncle and cousins. He packs his perfectly ironed cape, his Power-Steam Iron 450 and his pack of jumbo sized Wipe-off-anything Wipes.  His uncle Dracula tries to be kind but the cousins are simply dreadful - well five of them are dreadful. Only cousin Lucy treats Solomon with kindness.

As the story opens Solomon is invited by his cousins to come to their beach. This beach is part of their enormous mansion in Transylvania. Solomon is not to keen on swimming but he is cajoled into joining his twin cousins. The three of them swim out into the 'ocean' when a huge shark appears. The shark attacks Maude and Claudette and there is blood everywhere. Oh no - I gasped when I realised that this was just one of many practical jokes by the unkind cousins. 

Oddly, though, there is a sadness in this family. Their precious mother has died and their father won't talk about her. 

Publisher blurb: You’ve never met a vampire like Solomon Macaroni before – he’s friendly, polite and makes a mean tofu Bolognese. Understandably, when his parents go on a one-hundred-year cruise without him, Solomon is not impressed. Especially because it means having to stay in creepy Transylvania with his six cousins, who are the rudest and naughtiest vampires in existence. (Well, apart from Lucy. He likes her.) Not even his uncle, Count Dracula, the oldest vampire in the world, can stop their pranks. Solomon wishes he could spend the next hundred years alone at his own house with his spider friend, Fred, instead. But when his cousins venture into the spooky Wildwood on a dangerous mission, Solomon – against his better judgement – agrees to help Lucy rescue them. At least, that's what he thinks he's doing. In the forest, Solomon must draw on all he knows – about old magic, wet wipes and the importance of a well-timed entrance – to save his catastrophic cousins and possibly the world.

This book will be published in July, 2022.  Thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance reader copy. This is a longer book (my copy had 280 pages of fairly small print) so it does need some reading stamina. Also thanks to University of Queensland Press for sending a review copy. 

I enjoyed:

• Meeting Solomon and his spider friend Fred
• The descriptions of the amazing mansion designed by Uncle Dracula
• The tone shift when Solomon and Lucy enter the Wildwood
• The kindness of Uncle Dracula and his wacky inventions

Young readers are sure to enjoy the practical jokes by the awful cousins and the tension in the final chapters. 

Here is Ashleigh Barton's web site where you can see her previous picture books. Companion read to pair with Solomon Macaroni and the cousin catastrophe:

Solomon reminded me of Arthur in One Night at Lottie House (for younger readers) and Charles in No place for Grubbs (Aussie Bites also for younger readers).

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L Holm

I am putting a little image here of Babymouse because I can hardly believe this but Turtle in Paradise is by Jennifer Holm who also wrote the Babymouse series.

Turtle in Paradise feels like a book from a completely different author. The setting here, for this middle to upper primary novel, is Key West in Florida.  The date is June 1935 and America is in the grip of the depression.  Poverty and hardship pervade life of the characters in this book and it is precisely because of this poverty that Turtle finds herself living away from her mother with her harassed and overworked aunt and boisterous collection of boy cousins.  "Truth is the place looks like a broken chair that's been left out in the sun to rot."

Key West is a tiny community where everyone knows everyone else and nearly everyone is related. Within hours of her arrival everyone knows about Turtle and they know her mum is far away working as a maid.  Aunt Minnie has no time for the new arrival.  "This is just like Sadiebelle.  She never thinks.  As if I don't have enough already with three kids and a husband who's never home ... And you bought a cat?"

The three kids are named Kermit, Beans and Buddy.  Along with their friend Pork Chop these boys are The Diaper Gang - they mind crying babies and change diapers in exchange for candy.  Turtle is not allowed to join this gang because girls are not allowed but she tags along.  What these boys don't know yet is that Turtle is a strong willed and very capable.  She has no interest in Shirley Temple but she does have a huge dream of a special house to share with her mum.  Along with her aunt and cousins, two other important people live at Key West - Turtle's angry grandmother Nana Philly and an old fisherman called Slow Poke.  Within weeks of her arrival Turtle has a job and she has begun to forge a relationship with her cantankerous grandmother.

Here is a flavour of the story - a description of a cut up :

"After we finish swimming, we have a cut-up.  A cut-up is something these Conch kids do every chance they get. Each kid brings whatever they can find lying around or hanging on a tree - sugar apple, banana, mango, pineapple, alligator pear (avocado), guava, cooked potatoes and even raw onions.  They take a big bowl, cut it all up, and season it with Old Sour, which is made form key lime juice, salt and hot peppers.  Then they pass it around with a fork and everyone takes a bite.  It's the strangest fruit salad I've ever had, but it's tasty."

There are only 177 pages in this book but it contains so many fabulous twists and turns you will find yourself spinning and smiling and definitely cheering for our special heroine Turtle.

My only real disappointment with this book comes from never really discovering why Turtle is called Turtle although I think I can make an educated guess.  Here is a good review and if I haven't convinced you that this is a terrific book here is another very detailed review from Jen Robinson.

You might also enjoy Waiting for Normal.

Turtle in Paradise won a Newbery honor (2010) so there are lots of book trailers - here is one that I like.  Here is a set of questions and a vocabulary list. One of the interesting ways I have already used this book was at a parent talk last week.  I think I convinced some of my audience that I had actually been to Florida - I love this aspect of reading when you feel as though you have really been a participant in a book long after you have finished reading.

Holm’s voice for Turtle is winning and authentic—that of a practical, clear-eyed observer—and her nimble way with dialogue creates laugh-out-loud moments. Sweet, funny and superb

Lavender by Karen Hesse

There are three reasons why I selected this book to purchase for my library on a recent visit to a wonderful Sydney bookshop called Gleebooks.  Firstly I know Karen Hesse is an outstanding writer so I knew I would be in the safe hands of a master storyteller.  Secondly this book only has 38 pages and I am always on the look out for short books that contain terrific stories so that readers who lack reading stamina can be rewarded quickly for their efforts.  Thirdly this book has a gentle cover which shows a young girl making a quilt.  She is clearly taking her time to produce something very precious.

Everything I thought about this book before reading came true.  Lavender is an emotional and uplifting story about love in one family and the joy of a new arrival.  Codie loves her aunt Alix and she is so excited that after many disappointments a new baby will soon be born.  Codie has decided to make a special gift for the baby a patchwork blanket.

"I have a secret.  I am making my cousin a blanket all by myself.  It's a surprise."

If you enjoy Lavender you might also read The Hundred Dresses and The Chalk Box kid.

This simple, easily read little story is a gem.