The Wild Unknown by Emily Gale

The year is 2045 so it's not that far into the future. There are plenty of ideas in this book that actually could happen such as personal assistants worn in the ear called 'mica'; body transplants such as hearts from animals; food orders delivered by robots called 'Goodbots'; government surveillance drones everywhere; student progress monitored by robots at school with reports sent regularly to parents; and talking appliances!

The idea of humans with body parts from animals is a key concept in this story but you might over look it.  It links with the strange changes happening to Eddie and a couple of his classmates and is introduced about two thirds of the way through the book. Eddie begins to grow feathers; he is fully awake at night and so exhausted all day; his eyes seem to have changed to night vision; he can run like an athlete way beyond his usual pace; and he can even stay under the water for a long period with no ill effects.

What is happening? How did this start? Eddie receives a delicious food delivery during the school holidays.

The Goodbot "was the size and shape of a stocky black labrador with a flat face consisting of two shining eyes and a fixed smile. It made it's way to the gate on wheels and rose to smoothly unlatch it. Then it activated its legs to navigate the step and padded towards Eddie like a cat approaching prey. ... (the treat) had to be eaten within the hour, it must be something fresh and delicious. ...the smell was something else - an aroma of fried chicken, freshly baked bread and something mysterious but delicious. ... Maybe it would taste as good as it smelt, instead of as bad as it looked. It did! Wow! WOW!"

Eddie does not question this gift from his dad even though his dad has never sent a food gift like this before and more importantly his father never uses and is even suspicious of Goodbots.

Meanwhile a boy named Theo is missing. You also need to know Eddie's mother works as a fact checker for an organisation called TruthUp because in the past "deep fakes and news-bots had turned the world upside down. No one had been able to trust a single thing they read or watched. TruthUp was trying to make news real again." Luckily Eddie has help to solve or partly solve all of this, his own body changes and the missing boy,  from his friend Kit, Kit's sister Romy and his own computer-game playing brother Jude. 

There is an interesting if somewhat minor theme explored in this story is about politics. A new political party has emerged - it is called Revive and it consists of dead former Prime Ministers. That part did give me a jolt. 

Blurb from author page: It’s 2045 and the world is full of tech. Eddie has a bot in his ear giving him advice all day, a bathroom scale that identifies illnesses, and classroom bots keeping track of him at school. The streets are full of delivery bots and game tech is amazing. But tech can’t help the police find a missing boy called Theo, who was last seen at the river. When they abandon the search, Eddie and his friends sneak down to the river to look for clues. What they find doesn’t make any sense. Then strange things start happening to Eddie. He’s never been sporty but suddenly he’s a brilliant runner. When a friend is caught in the bottom of the pool, Eddie rescues her from drowning by holding his breath for a suspiciously long amount of time. He has excellent night vision – and there are hair-like feathers growing out of his skin. It’s exciting. It’s terrifying. How can it be both? And what do the changes in Eddie have to do with Theo’s disappearance?

I did read this book quite quickly which means the story held my attention and I did enjoy the "hopefully invented" world of the future. Sadly though, two things let this book down - one, in my view, is the pastel colour choice for the cover and the second is the rushed and slightly unresolved ending - I don't think a sequel is planned. By the end of the book (spoiler alert) I was still unsure why the kids had been used in this experiment run by Theo's parents. I did find a reviewer who loved the cover - these things are always so subjective and personal. You can read more plot details here. Here is a Q and A with Emil Gale. Emily also talks about her book on this podcast (40+ minutes).

The Wild Unknown is a thrilling and suspenseful novel that explores the consequences of AI reliance and how this will shape our future. Emily Gale opens up a discussion, prompting children to ask what the benefits of AI are, and what should they be concerned about? She also hints at how AI might influence people in complex spaces, such as political parties misusing it for their own ends, or the media manipulating it. Through Eddie’s transformation and search for Theo, Gale highlights the importance of human relationships, of being able to turn to each other for help and support, and the beauty of the natural world. For ages 9+.  Readings Melbourne

(Its's) an unsettling, yet a compelling mystery that reminds us that human connection, using our own smarts and working together is better and more effective than the most up-to-date technology. It shows that we need a balance, to save humanity, to keep the world safe, and to make sure we don’t destroy the environment. This is in part a warning, and in part an examination of what could happen if gene modification and manipulation become weapons against humanity. Emily Gale has done a wonderful job of exploring this, departing from her usual historical fiction which I adore. A great example of not letting technology rule our lives. The Book Muse

The manipulation of humans using animal parts reminded me of this very old book (part of a series of three):

How to Survive an Apocalypse by Cameron Hardy and Coby Coonradt illustrated by Victoria Stebleva

On a recent visit to Gleebooks here in Sydney I spied this book. I do need to read it more closely so I will need to make a return visit to the store or hunt this title out in a library, but I just couldn't resist sharing it. The publisher of this book is called Neon Squad and now I also need explore many of their other titles. 

Publisher blurb: In this fun and practical illustrated guide, you’ll learn prepping 101, from basic first aid and water purification to packing a useful emergency kit and how to communicate during a tech outage. Then you’ll discover how to survive all kinds of disasters, including a zombie apocalypse, a supernatural takeover, and an alien invasion. Packed with useful tips, tricks, and strategies, this laugh-out-loud handbook will have you hoping for the worst!

Read the full Kirkus review "Thrilling reading for armchair survivalist".

Zombie outbreak, asteroid strike, or alien invasion? No problem! Coauthors Hardy and Coonradt... help young survivalists prepare for almost any kind of emergency in this lively guide for the end of times... this tongue-in-cheek manual has a direct but amusing style and boldly coloured, action-packed illustrations... While some topics poke fun at Hollywood-inspired calamities... there’s also a wealth of information for weathering real-life natural disasters. - Booklist

I love the idea of presenting readers in the library with book pairs. I would bundle How to Survive an Apocalypse with one or two of these:

Water, Water

The world ends in April

Higher Ground

Alone

After

The Blue Book of Nebo

Across the Risen Sea

The Last Human

Cameron Hardy and Coby Coonradt are the hosts of The Casual Preppers podcast. They’re passionate about helping people know what to do in emergencies, and they believe that learning how to prepare for disaster is a crucial life skill for individuals and families. They both also LOVE talking about the apocalypse! How to Survive an Apocalypse is their first book.

Victoria Stebleva is an internationally published illustrator and artist based in Niš, Serbia. Her portfolio includes non-fiction, middle-grade, and picture books, as well as a graphic novel, editorial illustrations, and more. Here is an Instagram post.

Home by Nicola Davies

The date is 2067. Society is now divided into two (or maybe four groups) - there are the corrupt rulers called Supas with family names like Murdoch and Nabisco, the Workers who are named for the tasks they perform such as Sacks, one of the two main characters in this story, there are also Rebels and Outsiders.

The Workers are controlled through drugs that are added to their food:

"No one needed to be told about Meal One or Two. Your body did that for you. Every morning you woke up wanting that fat straw in your mouth, and until you got it you felt very bad."

"Product helps Workers. It keeps them happy. Keeps their minds free of worry, of thoughts that might get in the way of their desire to work. And of course it makes them unwilling to leave their Stations."

Workers are also controlled via media propaganda. Meal Two works to calm the down and put them to sleep but before this Workers watch tv. The messages on tv are filled with the dream of Planet Home. They have been told there is another planet, life on this one where they live exist now is dangerous and toxic. Sacks does not even know words like bird or buffalo. Workers are told one day everyone will climb onto space rockets and they will be taken to Planet Home.

Supas "they were the richest, most powerful families. They had resources to build crystal domes to protect their Cities and grow food inside vast buildings. Stations. But they needed workers to grow their food and run their Cities - building, mending, cleaning. All the things Supas didn't want to do. So they offered ordinary people a choice: stay Outside and take your chances with the poisoned world or become a Worker."

The actual setting of this book is several hundred miles from Manhattan. The city is filled with disgusting refuse. The Supas live in the top floors of the badly damaged city towers. 

As this story opens rebels attack. Sacks escapes and so does a young Supa named Nero Nabisco. The race is now on for survival and to expose the corruption and overthrow the leaders and find a way to free the workers. Along the way Sacks and Nero also discover their own heritage, identity and most amazing of all they discover they are connected -they are twins.

Take a look at the labels I have added to this post - these will give you an idea about some of the themes.

There are graphically described battles in this book and horrible descriptions of battery chickens called Units so I will only recommend this book to mature readers aged 11+ especially if they enjoy Science Fiction or dystopian stories. Readers in Australia will not identify with the Native American culture that is explored in this story - it is a minor theme but one that added an interesting layer to the story for me. I do enjoy books which explore corruption and coercion and brainwashing (such as in cults) but clearly these are deep ideas suitable for mature readers. The prologue to Home is chilling. 

Companion books (many of these could have the label Post Apocalyptic):

The Last Human

Where the River runs Gold

The Dog Runner

The Glass Tower

How did I miss this book from 2005? I wonder how it came to be in the library where I have been working as a volunteer?  I told a bookseller in a shop the other day that I am a huge fan of dystopian middle grade books - Home is a perfect example. Home was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award. I wonder if IBBY UK have considered nominating Nicola Davies for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Her body of work is SO impressive - from non fiction to picture books to complex novels like Home. Wikipedia have a list here of all her books up until 2023. Here is a 2021 interview where Nicola Davies talks about animals and non fiction and climate change. 

Bookseller blurb: Thrilling futuristic science fiction with an environmental slant. It's 2067 and the world has become virtually uninhabitable with all the pollution and toxins created by mankind. Ruling classes live holed up in the cities and workers live in Stations, safe from the outside world. But one day Station 27 is taken over by rebels. Nero, from the ruling classes, and Sacks, a worker, find themselves thrown together as they're captured by the rebels, their common enemy. As they begin to discover the terrifying truth about their world, the two children get separated and find themselves in great danger. Will they find each other before it is too late?

Listen to an audio sample here. This sample is a perfect introduction to this book - you could use it in a book talk with your library group of readers aged 11+.

Here are some other books by Nicola Davies which show the breadth and depth of her writing:

Ride the Wind

Last the story of a white rhino

Just Ducks

Butterflies for Grandpa Joe

King of the Sky

North and the Only One by Vashti Hardy

This book was among the new titles in the Book Bunker library at Westmead Children's hospital where I work as a volunteer. I previously read a short book by Vashti Hardy - The Griffin Gate.

Rose wakes from a vivid dream that seems to be about her life in the past. A few days ago she had woken up to find herself in a house she does not recognise. She meets Mother but again has no recognition of this person. Life is comfortable and she does have the beautiful companionship of her dog whose name is North but there is always this niggling feeling that someone important is missing. She needs her memories. She needs to remember her past. This dream, as with other dreams, has been so vivid and so she gets of out of bed and quietly goes to Mother's room keen to talk to her about the forest scene and house she has seen in her dream.

If you are book talking this book with your library or class group I would read pages 29-31. This is from page 31. 

"She strode, forward, stopping midway down the bed. Mother looked so peaceful. Her cheeks brushed with white, hands neatly by her sides. Moonlight glinted on something in mid-air to the side of her. At first, Rose thought it must be a moth, but then she realised it was some sort of aerial line or string in  between her and Mother. How curious. She reached towards it to check she wasn't imaging it, and ran her fingers gently along the wire. It was definitely a cable. She looked back to the wall and saw it was plugged into a charging point ... Rose froze. It didn't make sense. She looked at the charging point. She looked at Mother. A shudder ran through her, her heart rate escalating. It was impossible. Mother was plugged in! ... A person didn't need to plug themselves in. Not someone of flesh and bone like Rose. Mother was something else."

I did read this book in almost one sitting but it is a long book (340 pages) so I imagine it will suit a reader who enjoys Science Fiction and a reader with strong reading stamina. The story does take quite a few unexpected twists and turns and, as is often the way with Science Fiction, you do need to suspend disbelief especially in relation to the human need for food. The premise is that Rose is the only or the last human and yet at every turn someone is able to supply her with water and food albeit only small quantities. Clearly Humanoid Robots do not need food so I was somewhat confused about why this was so readily available - but as I say, you just need to let that thought go. I did enjoy the early hint that Mother was not quite 'right' but that scene I quoted above still gave me a huge jolt!

The other part of this story that was a little bit strange - but many young readers won't notice this - is the use of names relating to the invention of the computer - Ada (Lovelace); (Charles) Babbage; and Alan Turing.  There are also layers of Pinocchio and I am sure choice of the two furliths (robot animals) that help Rose - fox and rabbit - have some literary significance. There are also references to Alice in Wonderland, The Nutcracker, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet.

In some ways this book made me think of an old movie called Logan's Run and even the famous book The Giver by Lois Lowry. 

Bookseller blurb: Twelve-year-old Rose can't remember anything before last week, when she woke up  not knowing her own name, her own house, or even her own mother. The only thing Rose recognized was her puppy, North. But Mother patiently explained everything - well, not everything. Not the real-feeling dreams Rose has about a mysterious forest she half-recognizes. Or why she is not allowed to stray beyond the garden, out into Luminelle, the vast city surrounding them. Mother is kind and helpful, but Rose can't shake the feeling that something's not right. Or maybe it's everything that's not right?
But then, when Rose flees to the outside world with North, it quickly becomes clear to Rose that she is different. And for reasons she doesn't understand, she's dangerous. On an unforgettable journey of discovery, Rose uncovers life-altering truths about the city she's in, the people around her ... and ultimately herself.

Bookwagon recommends North and the Only Star hugely. This superbly intelligent story is ideal for enquiring, inspired readers. What a magnificent story.

Vashti Hardy has done it again – combining STEM and a futuristic vision with a heartfelt story that leaves readers thinking long after the book is closed. Yet North and the Only One is a completely unique story. It feels different from Vashti’s other adventures. With so much emotion and so much unknown, readers become a part of Rose’s search for truth. Scope for Imagination

Here is the web page for the author Vashti Hardy. She lives in West Sussex.

The Letterbox Tree by Rebecca Lim and Kate Gordon

"We've been so wrong about everything for so long - pulling them all out to make way for houses and roads that look exactly the same and make the soil so soft and unstable that it just blows away. Mega shopping malls are the only things keeping us cool these days because no one can afford the power it takes to keep us cool in our own homes. .. Everything is broken. ... Nothing feels permanent or certain."

"Bea had told me how Hobart used to be green. And so full of trees and life and that there were cool places, and shadows. There was even snow sometimes, in people's gardens. Now it's just scorched earth and nothing grows."

Two girls "meet" across time. One is living now in 2023 and the other seventy years into the future. Both live in Hobart, Tasmania but Nyx lives in the Tasmania of 2093. Life is almost unbearable with all the changes brought about by global warming, climate change, and degradation of the environment. It is hot, dangerously hot and the land is ruined by fire and flood. Water has to be treated before it can be drunk and food comes in a dehydrated form. Nyx and her father are preparing to evacuate but they have left it too late and now they are trapped. Nyx finds solace in an old tree growing hear her home. One of the very few trees left. Climbing the tree one day she discovers note from a girl named Bea. Nyx really wants a friend and it seems so does Bea who is badly bullied at her school but what neither girl expects to discover is that they don't just live physically apart from other another - they live decades apart.

Through their tree letters the two girls begin to make some sort of sense of their strange circumstances. Nyx tells Bea all about the Hobart of the future. Bea understands there are things she can do now, not to alter the course of history perhaps, but to make things slightly better for her friend. Bea begins to plant trees - native species - that should survive into the future. When Nyx tells Bea that things have escalated and are now critical, Bea decides to ask her community and previously hostile school mates to help her bury survival supplies for her future friend. 

This book has a clever premise. It is very contemporary and so may not stand the test of time (think references to Harry Styles) but I did enjoy the build up of tension and the powerful descriptions of the landscape and buildings of 2093. Readers who live in Hobart are sure to recognise their city. The open ending is also perfect. I am so glad Rebecca Lim and Kate Gordon only hinted at a happy ending and didn't feel the need to wrap everything up neatly. 

This is the second joint author novel I have read over the last month. The other was The Raven's Song. I wonder if these were projects that started over COVID - I know it does take a long time for a book to reach publication. The Letterbox Tree from Walker Books Australia is due out May this year. The publisher recommend this book for 8+ but I think the concepts and storytelling are too complex for that age and I would say this book is for readers aged 10+ and for readers with some reading stamina not because it is a long book but because it is quite a complex plot where readers have to piece together fragments of information to work out that one girl is in the present and one is in the future and also to make sense of life in 2093 such as communications sent directly into our brains.  

Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop who have passed this book and other advance reader copies of middle grade novels onto me for over six years.

I have previously talked about these books by Rebecca Lim and Kate Gordon:

Tiger Daughter

The Relic of the Blue Dragon

Read more about these books by Kate Gordon

Amira's Magpie

The Raven's Song by Zana Fraillon and Bren MacDibble

There are three linked stories in this book written by two authors. Novels by two authors fascinate me. Perhaps the two voices  in this novel were penned one by each author - Bren MacDibble might have constructed the story of Shelby who lives in the future and Zana Fraillon perhaps tells the story of Phoenix who sees visions of the Raven girl. Phoenix lives with his Gran and aunt and his four siblings and there are hints that he is living in our present world especially when he uses his mobile phone. 

Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of this writing and also some plot fragments:

Shelby:

In this future place only 350 people can live in each community. And each are allocated exactly seven hundred hectares. "Three hundred and fifty kind, ethical, truthful people on seven hundred hectares ... "

"The next township is beyond that fence line, 'bout two hundred and sixty kilometres south of us. ... (that) is a long way to walk, even if we were allowed out there. And the doctor has the only phone on our seven hundred, just for emergencies and government business ... "

"I'm co-owner of an egg farm with three hundred and eighty hens and twelve roosters. I'll never get a sibling coz of my da not wanting another partner even if one was allowed to come here, no matter how many times I tell him to ask, so one day this township will rely on me for all its eggs."

"there's only twelve school-age kids in this whole township ... No babies have been approved to be born for five years straight ... "

"people in the old days lived in giant mega-cities smothered in dirty clouds and had lots of technology and lived unsustainably and used fossil fuels and drowned the world in plastics and pollution and parts of the honoured world died ... and new diseases told hold and killed most of their children and now we have to stay in our township and keep our hair short and our hands clean ... "

"Lunch is the main meal of the day, all our township operating on solar ovens or solar-powered electric ones, coz even woodfire smoke is pollution and we're proud of our near-zero pollution. Although it's been a long time since the government drone's delivered us extra supplies as a prize for our efforts ... The drones used to arrive at least twice a month, bringing chocolate, fabrics, medicines and seeds ... "

When Shelby and her friend Davy are sent out to check on the fence they discover it has been cut and they see curious flower posies tied to objects along the path. They are forbidden from leaving their community but Shelby is curious and then they spy an old man. He is placing those posies along the path but where is he from and where is he going? The children follow him and they make an amazing discovery. He has led them to a ruined city. They watch as he heads into a building and inside they discover something shocking:

"There's shapes of things in there like rows of giant eggs. ... There's people in the egg things. How? Why? But little faces. Children! There's kids in them. Kids waiting to hatch?"

Meanwhile Phoenix keeps having visions of the raven-haired girl and a bog. He and his siblings know the bog is dangerous and they know to keep away but the youngest boy - Walter falls in. Phoenix does manage, after a dreadful nail biting struggle, to rescue his precious little brother but when the children come home something is wrong. Walter is unwell and so is Phoenix. The children are taken away and put into isolation in a medical facility. This strange new virus is dangerous and highly contagious. 

The third story comes through echoes of a poem or folk song - a song with a warning - which is quoted at the beginning of the book. Here is an extract:

Upon one moonlit night she came 

Down hillside steep and rocked

Into the place of inbetween

The Ravened Girl of the bog ...

Can you hear she calls for you?

Through time's great swirling fog

Listen, listen, listen ... 

Sings the Ravened Girl of the bog

Listen, listen, listen ...

Sings the Ravened Girl of the bog.

Have you ever listened the radio talking about books and just wanted to SCREAM!  On Saturday I was listening to our ABC Radio National program - The Bookshelf with Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh. They were talking with a guest from New Zealand and as usual asked their guest about their current reading - books they have been enjoying. The guest, Claire Mabey, Founder of Verb Wellington, mentioned The Raven's Song. This is a book I have only just read. It is shortlisted for our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Book Awards Younger Readers category. I was a 2021-23 judge for this award in the Picture book Category. At our recent judges in Meeting in Melbourne the three Younger Readers judges talked very enthusiastically about this book and so I purchased it straight away. It was one that I had missed reading last year when it was released.  

Now back to my story. Why am I mentioning the book program and the interview? Because Claire Mabey said two things about this book - one surprising and one shocking! The Raven's Song as you can see has two authors. Claire Mabey claimed one of these authors is from New Zealand.  I needed to investigate this because we associate both with the children's literature here in Australia. Zana Fraillon is the author of the award winning book The Bone Sparrow (IBBY Australia Honour Book) and her new book (also a CBCA shortlisted title - The Way of the Dog)  and Bren MacDibble has three titles which I adored reading.

The Way of Dog

I now discover Bren MacDibble is originally from New Zealand but she lived in Melbourne for twenty years and now lives in Western Australia. 

How to Bee

Across the Risen Sea

The Dog Runner

Now for the shocking thing - Claire Mabey said she had just read The Raven's song to her own child aged 5! She does say it is a Middle Grade title but she read it to her young child who it seems followed this very complex story. In my view, The Raven's Song, will be enjoyed by mature readers aged 11+ although I should mention the publisher says 9+.  I guess Claire Mabey is very literary and so her child has probably been exposed to some wonderful fiction but I just despair that the general public listening to this broadcast will now think this is book (yes it is wonderful) is for a very young child - it is not. I hope penning the text quotes above demonstrate this.

This is a dystopian novel and that is one of my favourite genres. 

Judges comments about The Raven's Song: A stunning novel set in both the near and distant futures linked by the ancient motifs of the raven, the land and bog bodies preservation being the theme that ties everything together but never overshadows the characters' emotional journeys: Phoenix's loss and world in pieces, and Shel's discovery challenging everything she ever knew. Masterfully written and engaging, each object, action and word choice is purposeful. Pandemics, climate change and conservation, are the backdrop for this story, told in a way that never intrudes on the reader's journey and desire to explore the world. It provides parallels between our own reality and the resulting in an engaging and thought-provoking read.

In this video Bren and Zana talk about their book.

Personally I don't want to relate this book to our COVID world of the past two or three years. I didn't even think about the pandemic when I was reading this story - it was just so absorbing and intriguing and I really appreciated the way Zana Fraillon and Bren MacDibble made me work hard as a reader to follow their two very different stories. The ending was such a clever revelation and a jarring surprise. If you want to read more plot details click on these review comments:

Bren and Zana’s story is wonderful and evocative, and I loved that the uniqueness of the characters came through clearly and eloquently, allowing readers to inhabit the worlds and lives of Shelby and Phoenix. The Book Muse

The story will open up your mind, placing an emphasis on the connections that we have with people, caring for our planet and ancestry. Better Reading

One living in the future and one in the past, Shelby and Phoenix’s stories start separately and then entwine. Chapters alternate between them, revealing secrets one at a time. It’s exhilarating and addictive. Kids' Book Review

By coincidence I have just started reading another Australian middle grade novel by two authors - The Letterbox Tree by Rebecca Lim and Kate Gordon. It is due for publication in May 2023.

The Paperchaser by Penny Hall

"Hinton could see rows of identical houses, lining neat, well-tended streets. There were children setting off to school, emptied garbage bins being taken off the footpaths, people calling early morning greetings to each other ... 'And there's a price tag. ... This estate is surrounded by an electric fence with surveillance cameras, guards, dogs - the works. so all these little nuclear families can live in the cloud-cuckoo world of their parents, even their grandparents ... And don't kid yourself it's democratically run either!"

Hinton is living in a city, it could be any city really but Australian readers will recognise Sydney, the harbour, the bridge and references to the North Shore. The time is not defined but it is the future and it feels quite dystopian. People live in fear of violent gangs, no one uses the railway system anymore, the suburbs have become gated communities and everyone has to carry some form of identification because there seem to be armed police on every corner. 

Hinton is in his final weeks of school. He just needs to sit his exams. He has a plan to attend university but even this process is now rigorously controlled by the state. The authorities will determine which course he enters based on societal need not student wishes. The years at the university itself will involve being locked away to study with no contact with the outside world. Hinton wants to study law. His idea is that to make change you have to deeply know how the system works. 

"You might think you've been in a controlled environment at school. But at university! A weekly visit from one outsider - with official approval only. The only other contact with people outside through the phone - when it's working - and letters - then there isn't a work-to-regulations ban on ... And for what? A piece of paper covered in curly writing?' Hinton drew himself up and looked down his nose at her. 'I'll have you know ... that paperchasing is an old and highly respected profession ... for me, it's a case of intellectual exercise leading ultimately to intellectual freedom."

Hinton has a part time job at a supermarket but the gangs have been watching him and now they are threatening to hurt him badly if he doesn't leave the store room door open late at night so they can steal the food and other supplies. Luckily just as all of this is happening Hinton is rescued by some young strangers and he enters a whole other world underground in the city. He finds groups of young people who call themselves Miners. They have bases all over the city and beyond and elaborate communication systems. Hinton has so many questions but no one seems willing to answer him.

This book is filled with tension and twists. I am sure it would still be enjoyed today 35 years after it was published - it just needs a fresh cover and a new publisher who is willing to take a risk. The original cover is actually terrific by Arthur Boothroyd (1910-2011) but it does give the book a slightly old fashioned look. Arthur Boothroyd did the covers for other Australian children's books such as Broome dog by Mary Small and So much to Tell you by John Marsden. 

The Paperchaser was written in 1987 and it was shortlisted by the Children's Book Council of Australia in 1988. It is long out of print but I found a vintage copy at a recent charity book sale. I remembered I loved this book and in fact I kept the copy in my former Primary school library although by now I am fairly sure it has been disposed which is a shame. 

This book does stand the test of time and it has a terrific pace. Someone commented about the pace when I mentioned I had a plan to read this book in January. I read the whole book in nearly one sitting (146 pages). I was interested to see the publisher was Walter McVitty Books. That company have disappeared now but they did publish terrific titles. I was always a little bit fascinated about Penny Hall because later in her career she went on to become the Teacher-Librarian in a fairly exclusive girls school here in Sydney, Australia. I think I met her once.

This book reminded me of these:

Taronga

The Last Human

Maurice Saxby said: "It is an extended image of alienation; the mental state when one feels a nobody; the black cloud, the wedge of ice that site close to the heart when one journeys alone. It is also a metaphysical examination of reality and unreality; a speculation ... of what lies beyond the realm of human understanding. It is a tight, tense and gripping story with a poignant and poetic ending."

Catch me if I Fall

The Dog Runner

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

This is a dystopian story that opens around the year 2150 and then the setting moves to the year 2600. Earth is in danger in 2150 and civilisation is disintegrating. It is now too late to save life on earth especially since a comet - Halley’s Comet -  is on a collision course to destroy everything. A unnamed group of officials decide to save a group of people and send them to a distant planet. These people will be 'reprogrammed' with the  hope to end all wars and unrest and make everyone equal. It will take many generations for these people to reach Sagan.  But as is always the pattern in a dystopian novel equality doesn’t mean everyone’s the same. Equality and a peaceful world sound great but the danger is in what people will do to make that happen. As a Goodreads reviewer says: "The book is political in that many, many science fiction stories are political. The book is essentially a dystopia set on a spaceship and another planet. Dystopias are almost always political because they show us power gone sour."

"You won't even know any time has passed when we're up there. ... This sleep will last three hundred and eighty years."

"One hundred and forty-six people ... is all it takes for humans to continue with enough genetic diversity ... "

Petra and her family are put into stasis pods. There are Monitors on each ship who keep it running but they won't make it to Sagan. 

"El Cognito's downloadable cognisance puts the organs and brain to sleep immediately. The gel preserves tissue indefinitely, removing senescent cells and waste. It not only provides nutrients and oxygen the body will need for such a long stay in stasis, but lidocaine in the gel numbs never endings making the gel's colder temperature comfortable upon awakening."

Over the hundreds of years in this 'frozen' state the brains are filled with information to aid survival on the new planet and old memories are supposed to be purged but Petra keeps her memories of Earth and more importantly she keeps her memories of the stories - she indeed the last storyteller - the last cuentista.  Her stories will save her life and the life of the four other surviving children. 

Sagan feels like the garden of Eden but the climate is strange with hours of dangerous winds and the possibility of dangerous animals and plants but life on this planet will be so much better then living under the control of the Monitors and paying subservience to The Collective. 

Read this School Library Journal review by Betsy Bird and this one on Charlotte's Library blog. I agree with her comment: It is not a comfortable read. It is a powerful, wrenching, disturbing one. I couldn't read it all in one sitting. I am wavering between three and four stars. 

Bookseller blurb: There lived a girl named Petra Pena, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra's world is ending. Earth will soon be destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children - among them Petra and her family - have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet - and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard - or purged them altogether. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?

Here is a very detailed set of teacher notes with questions for each chapter. 

This book has received so many award including the BIG one - the Newbery Medal.

• Winner of the John Newbery Medal 
• Winner of the Pura Belpré Award 
• Wall Street Journal’s Best of the Year 
• Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Best of the Year 
• Boston Globe’s Best of the Year 
• BookPage’s Best of the Year 
• Publishers Weekly’s Best of the Year 
• School Library Journal’s Best of the Year 
• Kirkus Reviews’ Best of the Year 
• Bank Street’s Best of the Year 
• Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best 
• New York Public Library Best of the Year 
• A Junior Library Guild Selection 
• Cybils Award Finalist 

I did find this book quite difficult to read because I am not a fan of interwoven folktales - I keep thinking I am supposed to make important connections between these stories and Petra's present awful reality. The two covers above are the US and UK editions. 

Here are some companion reads:

This book is very old and long out of print but it is such a powerful story. 

Forbidden Memories - this book is sadly long out of print

This is an Australian book and sadly it is also long out of print.

Here is another amazing Australian Science Fiction book - and yes it is out of print

The Future Trap

The Last Human