A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, UQP, ISBN 9780702238703
REVIEWED BY MAX, 11, VIC
Max reviewed his own copy of this title.
A Long Walk to Water is an emotional novel written by Linda Sue Park and is inspired and based on the life of Salva Dut. It captures Salva’s journey and a girl called Nya. Salva escaped from his war-torn village in 1985, forced to walk 1000km across Africa to survive. Nya’s family is desperate for water, so is everyone else, Nya must walk 8 hours to collect muddy, dirty water for her family, but dirty water can cause illnesses they do not even know.
I absolutely love this book, it captures the poverty and war that they live in, it also reflects our own hearts, the battles we fight inside. The book shows us that hope, hard work and perseverance will be a beacon to everyone. I definitely love the part where Salva’s uncle tells him to take the journey
One step at a time
to turn a huge task into small manageable chunks.
When I first read this book, it reminded me of the time I was hiking a very long way and seeing how Salva and Nya continued to persevere and walk, it gave me a sort of new strength and a push to keep on going through all the hard times in life. If you are adventurous, going through challenging times, love history, on the brink of giving up on something or want to make a difference to the world, this book is for you.
Ask for A Long Walk to Water from your favourite bookshop or local library.
This is Max’s first book review for Alphabet Soup. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines. Happy reading!
Green Cities: How Green Infrastructure Helps Heal the Planet, written by Sheila Boudreau, illustrated by Katy Dockrill, UQP, ISBN 9780702271175
REVIEWED BY ELLA, 11, WA
The publisher provided a review copy of this title.
Green Cities is about how we can use green infrastructure in our cities to help heal the planet. It has lots of interesting information and beautiful illustrations.
I wanted to read this book because I wanted to find out how I could help the planet more because it is important to do what we can to help the planet.
I learnt how we can make gardens on the roofs and walls of buildings, and between parking spaces and other spaces nobody uses to help create more green spaces to clean the air.
I really liked reading about mini forests that are sometimes called Miyawaki forests: Where you can fit lots of plants in a tiny space.
I thought this book was really interesting. I think that kids from age 5 would enjoy it and people who like to help the planet. I think that everyone should read this book, especially people in power and anyone to do with planning a city.
Ask for Green Cities at your favourite bookshop or local library.
If I Could Eat the Stars and Other Poems chosen by Rebecca M. Newman and Sally Murphy, illustrated by Briony Stewart, Fremantle Press, ISBN 9781760996482
REVIEWED BY ELLA, 11, WA
Ella reviewed her own copy of this title.
If I Could Eat the Stars is a poetry book filled with poems by lots of Australian authors. I really like this book and the first book which is called Right Way Down.
I like that this a poetry book because I like poetry, and I like most of the authors with poems in this book because I’ve read their books before.
I really liked the theme of space, and I thought the illustrations were really good and fit in with the theme of the poems.
I thought all the poems were great, and it was too hard to pick a favourite! I think that everyone should read this book, especially people who love poetry!
Ask for If I Could Eat the Stars and Other Poems at your favourite bookshop or local library.
Other Words For Home is a heartbreaking, realistic fiction novel that will make you cry. It is told from the perspective of Jude, a Syrian girl who just recently moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. She struggles with being away from her brother and father, along with living in a new country. She has to learn the ropes of America, while worrying about her brother’s safety. This book teaches readers about how it feels to be new somewhere, and how it feels to not know anything about a place and then move there.
My favorite part in this book is when Jude first arrives at her class for ESL, or English as a Second Language, because it makes her feel like she belongs. It also helps her have a safe space, where she can be with people who understand her. My favorite quote is: “It’s bleeding!” This quote is when Jude tries steak for the first time, and she is convinced it’s bleeding. Her uncle Mazin tells her that it isn’t bleeding, that it’s perfect, which grosses her out even more. This book is a wonderful melancholy story that will leave you with hope, worry, fear, sadness, and pure joy.
This book is perfect for readers craving an emotional realistic fiction novel that will truly immerse them in the story. I recommend this book for ages 9 to 12, and I would rate it 5/5 stars. This book is not meant for younger readers, so it might not be the best choice for them. Overall, Other Words For Home is a superb bittersweet story.
Emily Gale writes junior fiction, middle grade novels (novels for upper primary school), and young adult novels. Emily’s books have been published all over the world and shortlisted for a number of awards. Today we’re thrilled to be chatting with Emily about her latest novel: The Wild Unknown.
From the publisher:
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. 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. The Wild Unknown is a gripping adventure set in a near-future world where the truth can be difficult to find and where real friends will always be better than the smartest tech.
Text Publishing provided Alphabet Soup with a reading copy of this book.
You wrote about the past and the present in your novels Elsewhere Girls and Outlaw Girls [both co-written with Nova Weetman]. What brought you to write about the near-future in The Wild Unknown?
I’ve always loved thinking about and writing about history. I like old things and sometimes feel nervous about new things. And that’s why I did it really: to step out of my comfort zone. I’d already decided on one part of the story, the transformation part (Eddie’s body changes in weird ways, for example he grows feather-like things on his arms), and I thought setting the story in the future would let me explore why that was happening using a mixture of my imagination and future predictions.
How did you go about imagining the technology that features in your 2045 world?
I made up anything I wanted to but I also did loads of research into the future, just the same as when I write about history. I had a research folder with subject headings that were important to my story. I looked into predictions of everyday things like food, architecture, home technology, medicine, school, and travel. That meant reading science articles and looking at what it’s like in other countries in terms of daily life and technology. For example, Japan has a lot more tech hardware than Australia, a lot of really cool stuff; China moves very fast in developing technology, and so does America which is home to a lot of the tech giants like Google and OpenAI. I wanted my story to feel Australian and be easy for readers here to picture themselves in. As the story is set twenty years in the future, I also looked back twenty years to see how much things have changed in that time. I had to make a lot of decisions, so I reminded myself that I am not a fortune-teller or psychic, and the future I was creating was for a story, so it didn’t matter if I got it “wrong”. In fact I hope I did get it wrong!
Is there any particular tech that you would love to see inyourfuture? (Or that you’d hope wasn’t around?)
Something that would benefit me is supersonic flight because I live on the other side of the planet from most of my family and I get homesick for London. It would make me so happy to be able to get there faster! The trouble is that supersonic flight would be harmful to the planet, so I can’t wish for that.
That’s the difficulty we face with a lot of tech: weighing up whether it will do more harm than good. Sometimes that’s hard to work out.
I’d like tech that actually makes peoples lives better without any downside — like Eddie’s dad in The Wild Unknown having an amazing wheelchair. Maybe for myself I’d like a robot to free up my time for writing by doing boring household tasks. But I wouldn’t want it to look human or pretend to be my friend because I think that messes with our minds, which is part of my storyline in The Wild Unknown.
How do you think current tech is changing the way humans might behave in our future?
The main worry for me is that humans need to keep our brains in shape, just like our bodies, and we know now that using screens too much makes our brains slower and sadder, while using some kinds of AI can stop us from thinking for ourselves. At the same time, breakthroughs in technology will save lives, so it’s all about balance! I trust that the natural beauty and the extraordinary gifts of our planet mean more to us than any tech, but we have to keep reminding ourselves of that and protect what makes us human, while developing technology that fits with that thinking.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?
My next book is very different and it’s for much younger readers. It’s a funny, sweet, illustrated set of stories for younger readers about two animal friends, Ted (a fox) and Tuppence (a cat), which is coming out in 2027. I’ve also started working on another story set in the past, during World War One, which has a magical element to it a bit like Elsewhere Girls and Outlaw Girls. That’s all I can say because it’s a new idea and I like to keep new ideas safe and warm in my brain for a long time.
The Wild Unknown is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium by Carla Killough McClafferty, St Martins PR (USA), ISBN 9780374371227
REVIEWED BY JIYA KAUR, 10, USA
Jiya Kaur reviewed her own copy of this book.
Something Out of Nothing teaches readers about Marie Curie, a marvelous scientist who discovered Radium and Polonium. Born as Manya Sklodowska on November 7th, 1867, she would soon grow up to become one of the world’s most revered scientists. She went from a poor Polish girl who worked as a governess, to the first woman and Polish person to ever win a Nobel Prize. This book will take you through the heartbreaking and hopeful journey of Marie Curie.
My favourite chapter in this book is when Marie starts to work as a governess to help her sister Bronya pay for college. They create an agreement to help the other pay for college, working in their motherland, Poland, until the other can pay to study at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. When Marie first arrives in France, she feels free and carefree. I like the quote “All that I saw and learned that was new delighted me. It was like a new world opened to me.” I love this quote because Marie feels free, joyous, and can’t wait to get started in the beautiful city she would soon call home.
I believe that readers ages 9 to 11 will enjoy this book. I would rate it 10/10 stars. I think this book is very emotional, so readers might prefer other reads if they want something continuously delightful and carefree.
Readers who love books about science, or the I Survived series will love this book. In all, Something Out of Nothing is a fabulous book by Carla Killough McClafferty that will teach readers about an exceptional scientist: Marie Curie.
Kylie Howarth is an award-winning, internationally published children’s author-illustrator from Western Australia. Kylie has swum with whale sharks, manta rays and humpback whales in Ningaloo, piranha and pink dolphins in the Amazon, braved scuba diving with lionfish in Egypt, marine iguanas and hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos Islands and encountered great white sharks in South Africa. Today Kylie is visiting to talk about her latest book, the third in her graphic novel series, Kev and Trev: Snot Cool Snow Stories!
The publisher provided Alphabet Soup with a copy ofSnot Cool Snow Stories.
From the publisher:
Join Kev and Trev’s epic mountaintop adventure — full of chilly thrills and high-flying fun! Watch out for penguin paps, soak in steamy hot springs with snow monkeys and dodge the dreaded Abominable, all while searching for the rare and elusive snow pugons. And this time, the clock is ticking. Book Three is due one week earlier! Jump on board Kev and Trev’s popcorn-powered houseboat-balloon and brace yourself for their coolest adventure yet!
This is Book 3 in the Kev & Trev series. Book 1 was a deep sea adventure, Book 2 took us to the jungle and this latest book is set in the snow. How do you decide where to set each instalment?
I like to set my books in places I’ve adventured to and experienced firsthand. I recently took my kids snowboarding in Japan which was the first time they’d ever been in the snow. Seeing them experience snow and snowy mountains helped me see how Kev and Trev might feel in a new snowy landscape.
Given that a page is white … and snow is white … Do you have any tips for young artists wanting to set a scene in the snow?
Drawing a snowy setting was much less time consuming than drawing the thick jungle scenes that were in Book #2, so that was great! I took lots of photos of snowy trees when I was in Japan to help me see how the branches droop under the weight of snow which helped me to draw them when I got back to my studio. My tip would be to research and observe interesting details like that. How do footprints look in snow and how far do people’s feet sink into it depending on the depth of the snow?
Have you been to the snow like Kev and Trev? (Did you ever see anything like the Abominable?)
Yes, I have spent time in many different snowy countries including Australia, Japan, Austria, Italy and France. I’ve seen huge snowmen and snowballs, but thankfully none of those chased me. In Japan, a bear had been seen the week before we arrived! So, I was constantly on the lookout for bear tracks from the ski lifts, but luckily only saw snow bunny prints.
A graphic novel involves months of work. After creating three graphic novels in a series, have you changed the way you’re doing anything in the process of creating each graphic novel?
They certainly do take a lot of work to create which means many, many hours hunched over my iPad. After tweaking my neck too many times, I have now learnt to stretch and take breaks from drawing.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?
I am very excited to be working on a picture book at the moment, as it’s been a few years since I’ve created one. This new character is not at all patient and has been bugging me to stop ignoring him and get cracking on his book. So far he has been fun to work with.
Snot Cool Snow Stories is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Penguin Random House UK, ISBN 9780241735329
REVIEWED BY AZAADI KAUR, 8, USA
Azaadi Kaur reviewed her own copy of this book.
Little Women’s main characters are the four March sisters. Their names are Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Meg is the oldest and prefers pretty things. Jo, the second oldest, is bold and likes to read. Next is Beth who is faithful, shy, and likes the piano, and the youngest is Amy, who likes to draw.
When the story starts, we learn that their father has gone out to war. He was the main person earning money for the family, but because he was away, the March family does not have much money.
The book is about the challenges they face as the sisters grow up and become young women. I’m pretty sure that this is where the book gets its title. Most of the time, the book takes place in the little hut where the girls live.
The parts of the books that I really like are when sometimes the sisters learn new lessons that help transform them into even better people. I learned from them about the importance of telling the truth and to report problems immediately any time they come up.
My favorite part of the book is when the girls do a good deed and someone else is really kind back to them. I like it because it shows how one act of kindness can trigger or spark another act of kindness. (And another, and another, and another.)
I would recommend the full book to ages 8–12 and the short story version to ages 6–9.
Fantastically Great Women Scientists and their Stories by Kate Pankhurst, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 9781526615336
REVIEWED BY JIYA KAUR, 10, USA
Jiya Kaur reviewed her own copy of this book.
Fantastically Great Women Scientists and their Stories by Kate Pankhurst is a book that teaches the reader about extraordinary female scientists. Some of them include Marie Curie, Mae Jemison, and Rosalind Franklin. This book explores the challenges they faced, and also teaches you other things about their life; what they dreamed of as a kid, their inspiration, and more. This book is excellent because it shares surprising facts and motivational stories about legendary women.
My favorite chapter in this book is about Caroline Herschel, a terrific astronomer. She worked as a maid at home, until her brother brought her to his own house, where she became a soprano singer. When her brother shifted his focus to astronomy, she did too.
Fantastically Great Women Scientists and their Stories is a stellar book that teaches you that anyone can do anything, and to follow your dreams. I recommend it for anyone ages seven to ten, and I rate it five out of five stars. This book is inspirational, and it also reminds us that the most extraordinary people overcome difficult obstacles. All these women were really amazing, so take up the chance to learn about them.
