Claire Atherfold
Claire Atherfold is the manager of Readings State Library
Review — 25 Apr 2021
Oddity by Eli Brown
Eli Brown’s debut novel for younger readers introduces us to an alternate 1800s America, where the Louisiana Purchase has not come to pass, and the Unified States is on the…
Review — 28 Mar 2021
Huda and Me by H. Hayek
Meet vivacious, courageous, precocious Huda and her quiet, patient, big-hearted older brother Akeal. Their parents were unexpectedly called away to Beirut, leaving them in the hands of their horrible babysitter…
Review — 30 May 2021
The Other Side of Perfect by Mariko Turk
In Mariko Turk’s debut novel, The Other Side of Perfect, we follow the story of Alina Keeler, a Japanese–American ballet dancer. Alina lives and breathes ballet; dancing is part…
Review — 31 Jan 2021
All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue
Caroline O’Donoghue is an Irish author and journalist who also hosts the acclaimed podcast Sentimental Garbage. Her new novel, All Our Hidden Gifts, pivots from her darkly humourous…
Review — 28 Feb 2021
Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker
I can’t tell you how many times Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been retold or offered inspiration to a story. The same goes for Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. But…
Review — 8 Nov 2020
What Adults Don’t Know About Architecture by The School of Life
Winston Churchill said, ‘We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us.’ The influence that architecture has on how we live our lives is grand in scale, but easy…
Review — 1 Oct 2020
Will You Be My Friend? by Sam McBratney & Anita Jeram
In the same year as the publication of the twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the adored classic Guess How Much I Love You? (and also, sadly, of Sam McBratney’s death in…
Review — 6 Sep 2020
The Bushfire Book by Polly Marsden
The Bushfire Book: How to Be Aware and Prepare is written by Polly Marsden, the creator behind the concept of the upcoming ABC documentary series Big Weather and How to…
Review — 6 Sep 2020
The Lost Library by Jess McGeachin
From the local author and illustrator of the much-loved picture book Fly, Jess McGeachin, we now have The Lost Library. When Oliver discovers a fluttering book stuck behind…
Review — 2 Aug 2020
I Saw Pete and Pete Saw Me by Maggie Hutchings & Evie Barrow
From the creative flair of Maggie Hutchings, who brought us Unicorn! and Your Birthday Was the Best, alongside Evie Barrow’s hand-drawn sketches that celebrate beauty in imperfection, we have…