I was lucky enough to attend one of author, Tristan Bancks, StoryBoard writing workshops at Bangalow NSW where some of the scenes of the book were inspired! So needless to say- I loved this book because I had a connection.... More
Wow! Clare Atkins’ second novel, Between Us, is a must read for every Australian… especially you. 10 Reasons to Read Between Us (Black Inc Books 2018) Hear asylum seeker voice: It’s a chance to get inside the head of a... More
I loved this book so much I did the ‘fan girl’ thing by contacting the author on Twitter! So I’m not a teenage boy, or a farmer and have never lived in a rural farming town. This book shouldn’t really... More
The Comet Box- Adrian Stirling (Penguin 2011) >> Spoiler alerts << As writers the advice you often get is to ‘read wide’ which basically means read as much as you can in as many genres as you can. I was... More
Diary of an AFL Legend by Shamini Flint I have no idea how Marcus Atkinson, the main character in this book, survived until he was nine never learning any of the rules of AFL! His complete lack of any knowledge... More
Between the two of us life has been pretty full at the moment! The launch of Black Cockatoo (Magabala 2018), writing our second novel about featherfoot, volunteering with Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns, coaching the local woman’s footy team, working... More
Ok, so this book totally isn’t aimed at YA audiences… but it was so good reading it to little Ms 2, Ms 5 and Mr 9 that we thought we’d add it here. Maybe every book starts to sound good... More
Read some of these deadly reviews on Black Cockatoo (Magabala 2018)! https://blog.boomerangbooks.com.au/black-cockatoo-blakwork/2018/12 http://underground-writers.org/2186-2/ https://losangzopa.wordpress.com/2018/10/07/black-cockatoo-carl-merrison-and-hakea-hustler/ https://www.readings.com.au/news/childrens-books-that-teach-resilience?fbclid=IwAR1mPXvOLB0EJ_vCdxbmR_s8aTUwI5P-nCA3DNk5De4Gm9ZHNnAJ9omZAwc https://telltalestome.wordpress.com/2018/10/15/black-cockatoo-by-carl-merrison-and-hakea-hustler/ https://www.readplus.com.au/blog_detail.php?id=9103&fbclid=IwAR2VGg2GtjlG0QKKM3-m0ctILCNmg-hP90T1bwbyGyAZ9k2aYYFRTvHnCr0 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40530925-black-cockatoo Some of the criticisms were: Animal abuse- Hakea is a vegan, Carl hunts traditionally and with a gun when out on Country. Treatment... More
If you love rugby or the Rabbitohs as much as Matty in “Matty’s Comeback” by Anita Heiss you should totally read this book. A junior fiction book aimed at Aboriginal boys aged 8+ this book follows 10 year old Matty... More
This is the first book we have read from the Specky Magee series… and we LOVED it! Wish I could give it a thousand stars out of ten. The story line is deadly: Specky getting selected for the International Rules... More