Pin-Up Post: Aussie books for ANZAC day

today is ANZAC day, so I'm posting fabulous war stories by Australian authors (of course). this is our first pin-up post. each Pin-Up post is a list of books fitting a theme, all as Australian as i can manage.


A rose for the ANZAC boys by Jackie French
The 'War to end all Wars', as seen through the eyes of three young women It is 1915. War is being fought on a horrific scale in the trenches of France, but it might as well be a world away from sixteen–year–old New Zealander Midge Macpherson, at school in England learning to be a young lady. But the war is coming closer: Midge's brothers are in the army, and her twin, Tim, is listed as 'missing' in the devastating defeat of the Anzac forces at Gallipoli . Desperate to do their bit – and avoid the boredom of school and the restrictions of Society – Midge and her friends Ethel and Anne start a canteen in France, caring for the endless flow of wounded soldiers returning from the front. Midge, recruited by the over–stretched ambulance service, is thrust into carnage and scenes of courage she could never have imagined. And when the war is over, all three girls – and their Anzac boys as well – discover that even going 'home' can be both strange and wonderful. <



Soldier Boy by Anthony Hill 28 June 1915, young James Martin sailed from Melbourne aboard the troopship Berrima – bound, ultimately, for Gallipoli. He was just fourteen years old.
Soldier Boy is Jim's extraordinary true story, the story of a young and enthusiastic school boy who became Australia's youngest known Anzac.
Four months after leaving his home country he would be numbered among the dead, just one of so many soldier boys who travelled halfway around the world for the chance of adventure.
This is, however, just as much the story of Jim's mother, Amelia Martin. It is the heartbreaking tale of the mother who had to let him go, of his family who lost a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend.
It is about Amelia's boy who, like so many others, just wanted to be in on the action.

Once by Morris Gleitzman
Once I escaped from an orphanage to find Mum and Dad.
Once I saved a girl called Zelda from a burning house.
Once I made a Nazi with toothache laugh.
My name is Felix.
This is my story.
Everybody deserves to have something good in their life.
At least once.
this is my favourite war story, the perfect balance between emotion, action and facts. the sense of understanding gained is incredible, and it's beautifully written.

Hitler's Daughter by Jackie French
Four kids tell a story at a bus stop in country Australia on a rainy Monday. But the story seems to have a life of it's own. It's the story of a girl in another time and another country. her name was Heide, and she was Hitler's daughter.
Could- just possibly- the story be true?
this was the 1st story i really read about war, i read it in year 6 for our reading groups, and though the protagonist doesn't have a clue what's going on it was an enlightening read, i loved it.

the blurbs to these are from the author's website or penguin, for more details check those websites or our reviews.
I'm planning to do more of these posts, they're quite fun :)
what do you guys think of the name Pin-up posts? like a list of books you plan to read. I'm still working on it.

Tomorrow When the War Began

Title: Tomorrow When the War Began
Author: John Marsden
First Published: 1993 by Pan Macmillan Publishers

Ellie and her friends Corrie, Homer, Robyn, Fi, Kevin and Lee all go on a camping trip. when they return they discover Australia is at war and all there families are being held captive.

i think this is a great book, it's beautifully written. I actually found myself admiring the writing and trying to absorb it to apply to my own as I read. my favourite sentence was
"The, light switched off, the patrol got back into formation and continued down the road like a dark crocodile."

it was very different to most adventure/war/action books, it was really centred around characters which i usually really enjoy, but i found it made the pace a too slow. in the action parts involving guns and bombs found that it wasn't very compelling, there was a lack of suspense, I even managed to put it down in the middle of a shooting and not read it for a week. over all though i think that the characters shone through and made it an incredible book, even if the action wasn't so good.

for some reason, I'm not sure why, i was expecting this book to be in 3rd person. At first i wasn't so sure about reading from Ellie's point of view,I felt i wasn't getting to know her in the same way i was getting to know the other characters. as i read on i became really glad that we could read Ellie's thought, they were so interesting and insightful and i loved knowing what was going through her head.

a brilliant book for action and realistic fiction lovers alike. i can't wait to go and see the movie and read all the other books.

The Running Man

Title: The Running Man
Author: Michael Gerard Bauer
First Published: in 2004 by scholastic

Joseph is a quiet, shy boy who lives with his mother, while his father does construction work in far away countries. this story begins when Joseph is asked to mow the Leyton's lawn. Caroline Leyton convinces him to paint a portrait of her brother tom, a reclusive Vietnam war veteran. a very special relationship forms over silkworms, books and secrets. but their can be problems of relationships built on secrets, what happens if someone else says different, who do you trust? Tom and Joseph give each other just what they've needed for a long time.

i love, Love, LOVE this book. i have no criticism, i thought it was perfect. it was perfectly paced, i was hooked from very early in and read it all one Friday night. this is quite a philosophical book, so i was very surprised to find that it was so suspenseful and interesting. most books that are about thoughts, feelings, relationships and life in general usually have a relaxing pace, but The Running Man is quite eventful.

like i said, this book is very philosophical. it talks about life, death, views on life, perspective, judgement of others and even miracles. i learnt so much from just reading it. The Running Man is the kind of book you feeling happy and hopeful after reading, it just sticks in your mind.

i feel i haven't done this book justice in my review, i highly recommend reading it. please give it a go.

A Rose for the ANZAC boys

A Rose for the ANZAC Boys by Jackie French is a WW1 story through the eyes of 3 young women. don't worry, there still adventure, blood and suspense. Midge is a 16 year old kiwi sent to England to learn how to be 'lady like'. There she meets Ethel and Anne and is flung into the war and the open a canteen for soldiers in France. they not only give out food, but care for many wounded men. later midge ends up in the ambulance service.

these young women also suffer as their young ANZACs fight, brothers, cousins, boyfriends all of. what's worse a death notice or them being on the missing list? my favourite thing that this book shows is how the world radically change in just a few years, especially in a feminist view. Then it changed back again. women worked, ran everything and often faced almost as much as men did. then when the soldiers came back they were honored (which the deserve) and took over again. the women who worked to save men and saw them die were expected to go back home, forget and raise families or play tennis. can you imagine what a hard transition that would be?

i love Jackie French's writing, her picture books, novels and non-fiction. check out her other work as well. this book was defiantly a 'stop and think' novel. a good feminist view on war. i hope you join me in this though: thank you for all the women who serve during war. thank you for the women who helped at the front lines of WW1 and WW2 and the women left at home who kept the world running, sewing uniforms and bandages for them, sending food and running factories.

finding darcy

title: finding Darcey
Aurthur: sue Lawson
first published: 2008 by black dog press

finding Darcy by sue Lawson is the best book in a long time. i couldn't put it down which is what I've been looking for all holiday. Darcy is living with her gran(misery) and her great gran or Grandma(batty). her SOSE teacher the newt or Mr newton has set an assignment about WWII which is a taboo topic in her family, if she mentions it she's more likely to get shot than an interview. the more research she does into her great grand father the harder it is to ignore the elephants sitting the corners of her grans perfectly clean house.

the thing that makes this book sing is how realistic it is, especially Darcy. you couldn't get a more realistic picture of a teenager(my opinion) she is very confused and wants answers and information, she can sulk, lose her temper(i do both of those a lot) and faces bullies. i really love this story and it makes me wonder about my own family history. my only problems with this book is if you're not paying full attention you might get a little confused and that you may need google, a good encyclopedia or someone with a bit of knowledge about australia in WWII.

i'm off to watch 27 dresses and do a little WWII and family research. do you guys have any cool family war stories?

Once

Title: Once

Author: Morris Gleitzman

First Published: 2005 by i don't have time to find out who :D

'Once I was living in an orphanage in the mountains and I shouldn't have been and I almost caused a riot. It was because of the carrot.'

Felix is a Jewish boy living in an orphanage in 1942. His parents were Jewish booksellers, and once they all lived together in a cosy house with carrot soup for dinner. But then things start to get hard, and his parents leave Felix at the Catholic orphanage with only a small suitcase, a few books and a creamy white notebook, and promise to come back for him when stuff gets sorted out.

But then one day, the Nazis came ad burned the Jewish books. Felix thought that his parent's book are in trouble, so he ran away hoping to help. Everything was going fine until Felix realises that it's not only the books that the Nazis want and hate, preferably dead...

Together with Zelda, he sets out on a search for his parents and finding himself in more trouble than ever...

This was a truly fabulous book, so sad though. Felix just sounds so honest and innocent, sometimes you just wish his parents would pop up and give him a hug. Until you find out the truth...

I loved all the characters, mainly Mother Minka and Zelda and Felix and Barney. You'll see why. Also, BING BING GOOD NEWS ONCE AND THEN FANS!!! Morris Gleitzman decided to write another sequel to these books called 'Now' (are you psychic or something Anna???). It will be out in 2010, can't wait!!!

Then

then by Morris Gleitzmen is a very sad book. i think the line "then we froze" sums this book up to perfection. you can never tell what's going to happen, though i sometimes got a bit confused, that could have just been me. i also thought the ending was rushed. the description was perfect, it wasn't just their story it was their emotions, these are the only books I've read that show what it would have felt like to be a Jew in the Holocaust. another great thing about this book is it reaches out to lots of age groups, so a 10 year old could read it, but i still loved it at 13. i hope that Morris Gleitzmen writes a third book. what about 'Now'?