Book Review: Father of the Lost Boys (young readers ed.) by Yuot A. Alaak

 Father of the Lost Boys

by

Yuot A. Alaak

THE MECAK AJANG ALAAK STORY

 

Publisher: Fremantle Press

Publication date: 4th June 2024

Genre: Middle Grade / Non Fiction

Pages: 160

RRP: AU$17.99 (softcover)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

Review: Father of the Lost Boys

Father of the Lost Boys for younger readers is a rewrite of the adult edition to be appropriate reading for younger readers aged 8+ years. I haven't read the adult version but I feel this book will have less graphic detail of the death and destruction rained on the people of Sudan. 

 

Yuot recounts the harrowing journey of Mecak Ajang Alaak as he walks 20,000 displaced boys aged 8-12 years, over a period of 2 years, to freedom. He was a man of tremendous moral and ethical stature and he instilled this in his son and the boys that looked to him for guidance

 

Not only is Father of the Lost Boys a wonderful story of courage and perseverance it also teaches a lot about the history of unrest in Sudan and neighbouring countries. I learnt a lot from Yuot's story. 

Reading Father of the Lost Boys gives the opportunity to teach empathy and compassion for refugees and displaced persons. A real eye opener for children to see what children in other countries deal with and how they work together and still manage to find joy in the simplest things in life.

 

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

Yuot A. Alaak currently lives in Perth with his family where he works as a mining professional, having attained degrees in geosciences and engineering. 

Recommneded age: 8 -14 years

CONTENT: death of children from hunger and exhaustion

                   children taken by wild animals

                   an execution by firing squad

                   some children drown

See Fremantle Press website for teaching notes and activities.

https://fremantlepress.com.au/books/father-of-the-lost-boys-for-younger-readers/

 

Book Review: The Apprentice Witnesser by Bren MacDibble

 The Apprentice Witnesser

by

Bren MacDibble

Award-winning author of How to Bee and Across the Sea

 

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication date: 30th April 2024

Genre: Middle Grade / Teen

Pages: 256

RRP: $17.99AU (paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

Review: The Apprentice Witnesser

The Apprentice Witnesser is set in a post-apocalyptic world. A sickness is sweeping the land however the people have learnt how to live and adapt to keep themselves safe.

 

Twelve-year-old Basti is the apprentice of Lodyma Darsey, a storyteller and witnesser of miracles. Basti and Lodyma have both lost their families and come together in a work / familial relationship.

 

Bren MacDibble has created a post pandemic world where there is a sense of self-care and communities working together to minimise further risk.

 

The Apprentice Witnesser is a story that lets children and teens see that there can still be a beautiful and meaningful life after a catastrophic event. Humans are resilient and can change and adapt to the environment around them.

 

What I loved about this story is that it shows how everyone can work together for a more natural, sustainable world and that miracles can be found in all number of places.

 

The Apprentice Witnesser is a story rich in wonder, intrigue, hope and resilience.

 

My rating 4 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Content: death of mother

 

Publisher recommended age: 9 -13 years

My recommended age 11+ years (I find I'm always a little on the cautious side with recommendations)

 

 

Book Review: Into the Mouth of the Wolf by Erin Gough

 Into the Mouth of the Wolf

by

Erin Gough

Publisher: Hardie Grant Children's

Publication date: 1st May 2024

Genre: Young Adult / LGBT

Pages: 384

RRP: $ 22.99AU

Source: Publisher

 

Review: Into the Mouth of the Wolf

Into the Mouth of the Wolf is set in a dystopian world where earthquakes are happening all over Sydney and people are escaping the  city.

Rohan Moretti has evidence that a big corporation is putting profit over safety. Rohan and 17 year-old daughter Iris are now being pursued. They must be silenced!

Lena is feeling isolated by her sexuality, she hasn't met anyone like her. When she meets Iris online there is an immediate spark and as they get to know each other an affection grows. Iris desperately needs to escape her pursuers and Lena promises to help.

I raced through this story. It is a fast paced mystery read with a whole host of likeable strong teens who face moral issues head on. There is plenty of drama to keep the reader invested.

Into the Mouth of the Wolf is part thriller, part climate fiction with a side of romance.

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Recommended age 12+

Book Review: The Raven's Song by Zana Fraillon & Bren MacDibble

 

Title: The Raven's Song

Authors: Zana Fraillon & Bren MacDibble

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication date: 5th October 2022

Genre: Children / Teen

Pages: 288 

RRP: $16.99 paperback

Source: Beauty & Lace Book Club 

 

 My Review of The Raven's Song

 

This review first appeared on the Beauty and Lace Book Club

 

The Raven’s Song is the product of a collaboration between Zana Fraillon and Bren MacDibble, two mutli-award winning authors coming together to write a story of friendship and courage.
 

Twelve-year-old Shelby and her best friend Davy live in a Government controlled closed community made up of three hundred and fifty people living on seven hundred hectares. This is the scientifically calculated number of people who can live sustainably on the land. They live a simple life with solar power and near zero pollution. They are brought up with kindness to each other and kindness to the land. 

Shelby’s life is busy with chores on their egg farm and attending school. 

They must live in these sustainable communities until the natural world, which borders on the fenced perimeter, heals 

When Shelby’s unfettered sense of adventure leads them through the perimeter fence and into the wild and natural world what she and Davy find is beyond their wildest imagination.
 

Zana and Bren have together created an outstanding Government controlled world in which Shelby and Davy live happily with only a scattering of information of the past. It, at first, seems like an ideal world.
 

Shelby’s story is told in alternating narration with Phoenix a 12 year old boy living with his siblings, grandmother and aunt. Phoenix has visions, dreams that he isn’t sure are real or not. A sixth sense his grandmother calls it. He is inexplicably drawn to the bog and an old local folk song about a girl who is trapped in the bog forever. 

Phoenix’s story has a science fiction element to it and is just a little bit creepy.
 

I loved the short chapters, each ending on a cliff hanger that had me eager to read on.

Both Shelby and Phoenix’s stories were totally absorbing and I was intrigued to see how the two stories would connect, never imagining what would actually come next!
 

Zana and Bren have combined multi-layered moral messages with a science fiction narrative that will have the reader transfixed.
 

I haven’t read much science fiction but I must say The Raven’s Song had me spellbound and quite often holding my breath whilst reading.
 

The Raven’s Song is a powerful and haunting read, best suited for ages 12+  (I may be being a bit cautious here, it is an eerie tale)

Publishers recommended age is: 9 - 13 years

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the authors

Bren MacDibble was raised on farms all over New Zealand, so is an expert about being a kid on the land. After 20 years in Melbourne, Bren sold everything and spent two years living and working in a bus travelling around Australia. She recently parked her bus in Kalbarri on the beautiful west coast, where she now manages a holiday villa. In 2018, How to Bee - her first novel for younger readers - won the Children's Book Council Book of the Year Award for Younger Readers, the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature, and the New Zealand Book Awards Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction. In 2019 The Dog Runner won the New Zealand Book Awards Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction. Bren also writes for young adults under the name Cally Black.



Zana Fraillon is an internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning author of books for children and young adults. Her work has been published in over 15 countries and is in development for both stage and screen. Zana was born in Melbourne but spent her early childhood in San Francisco. Her 2016 novel The Bone Sparrow won the ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children, the Readings Young Adult Book Prize and the Amnesty CILIP Honour. It was shortlisted for the PM's Literary Awards, the CBCA awards, the Qld Literary Awards, Vic Premier's Literary Awards, the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Gold Inky and the CILIP Carnegie Medal. Zana spent a year in China teaching English and now lives in Melbourne with her three children, husband and two dogs.