Athina Clarke

Athina Clarke is from Readings Carlton

Review — 8 Nov 2020

Glassheart by Katharine Orton

Right from the beginning, Glassheart is a heart-stopping encounter in the foreboding quiet of the night, and a compelling mystery to be solved by both our protagonist, Nona, and the…

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Review — 1 Oct 2020

The Secret Life of Stars by Lisa Harvey-Smith & Eirian Chapman

I usually prefer fiction and was delighted by how much I loved Lisa Harvey-Smith’s Under the Stars: Astrophysics for Bedtime and looked forward to her next book, The Secret Life…

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Review — 1 Oct 2020

Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake & Jon Klassen

Funny yet wise, irresistibly playful and infused with an offbeat charm, Skunk and Badger is a beautifully crafted, whimsical adventure that charmed me from the outset, recalling authors I’ve loved…

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Review — 6 Sep 2020

The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn by Kate Gordon

The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn is an enchanting and layered fairytale with a touch of the gothic. The author paints evocative landscapes of emotion and place: dreams and a profound…

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Review — 2 Aug 2020

Annie Lumsden, The Girl from the Sea by David Almond

This is a beautifully tender coming-of-age story of unconditional love and acceptance, difference and belonging, of finding our place in the world, our connection with all living things and ultimately…

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Review — 28 Jun 2020

The End of the World Is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell

The End of the World Is Bigger than Love is set in a time when Earth has suffered an environmental catastrophe of unimaginable and epic proportions: Antarctica has lost the…

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Review — 29 Mar 2020

The Line Tender by Kate Allen

Lucy and Fred are very best friends and collaborating on a summer project. Already a passionate biologist at 13, Fred asks Lucy (a talented artist in the throes of self-discovery)…

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Review — 29 Mar 2020

The List of Things that Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead

Twelve-year-old Bea reflects on life since her parent’s divorce and the many challenges periodically conspiring to overwhelm her: family adjustments, school frustrations, struggles with spelling and (her ultimate nemesis) itchy…

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Review — 27 Jan 2020

Meet Zoe and Zac at the Zoo by Belinda Murrell & David Hardy

Not only are Zac and Zoe great friends who live at the zoo, they’re also spending a whole day helping Zoe’s mum with feeding lions, giraffes and meerkats; only sweeping…

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Review — 23 Feb 2020

The Ghost of Howlers Beach by Jackie French

This remarkable adventure is set in the early 1930s when much of Sydney’s population was homeless, jobless, starving and living in squalor and abject poverty. But lovable twelve-year-old Butter lives…

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