Runt

Runt is a ragged looking dog. He doesn't have a home and roams about the country town of Upson Downs scavenging for food. That is until he finds Annie Shearer and they become best friends. Eleven year old Annie lives on a sheep farm with her parents, Bryan and Susie, her brother Max and her grandma Dolly. Times are hard on the farm and the family is in debt. A large landowner in the area controls the water supply and want to purchase their farm. Annie desperately looks for some way to assist her family.

Annie discovers that Runt has a special talent for tackling agility courses however he will not perform in front of an audience. Annie must find a way of resolving this challenge if Runt is to take part in dog agility competitions and win prize money that will help save the farm.

My eleven year old grandson and I have enjoyed reading and discussing Runt by Craig Silvey. The book is a delight to read. Themes in the novel include the importance of family, friendship, tolerance, resilience, strength of human spirit, acceptance and learning to be yourself. The book deserves the awards it has won including the Australian Book Industry Award, Children's Book Council Award and Indie Book Awards for 2023 as well as the Dymocks' Book of the Year for Younger Readers 2022.

Kinloch Tales: the collected stories

Denzil Meyrick has written three novellas about when Hamish was a young fisherman working on the boat, the Girl Maggie, captained by Sandy Hoynes in Kinloch. The three novellas - A Large Measure of Snow, A Toast to the Old Stones and Ghosts in the Gloaming - were originally published separately as books and in electronic formats but have now been published in one volume. 

Each story is set in Kinloch in Scotland in the winters of 1967 and 1968 and also contain flashbacks to when Sandy was a boy early in the twentieth century. The Viking connection in the history of the region features strongly in the three tales. The appearance of a huge silver gull guiding those who are lost back to safety is also an omen.

In A Large Measure of Snow Sandy and Hamish set out in a storm to bring needed supplies back to Kinloch. On this voyage they are accompanied by a journalist who happens to be a woman - females were considered bad luck on fishing boats. Like the other stories there is much humour in the tale, especially when Sandy accidentally takes a drug that causes him to 'encounter' lobsters on the ship.

A Toast to Old Stones features the celebration by some of the fishermen of the old New Year. They travel to an isolated location to visit the old stones - important remains from the Viking past. Needless to say all does not go entirely to plan.

In Ghosts in the Gloaming a person from Sandy's past returns to Kinloch and continues to cause trouble for Sandy. Sandy and Hamish retreat from the town for a time however, when a boat is found drifting in the sea, Sandy's friends set out to rescue them.

In each of the stories Hona, the Viking from past times, arrives to help when all seems lost. He explains to Sandy about the 'pull of the Thin Places' where lives of people in different time zones can connect. Although originally written as three short books, combined in Kinloch Tales they form one coherent story. We also learn more about Hamish, an important character in the DCI Daley series of books.

A Single Stone

The village became isolated during a rockfall caused long ago, so the villagers are told, by men. They have been told that there is nothing on the other side of the mountain. They are alone. A group of women known as The Mothers lead the village. 

For the people of the village to survive a team of seven young girls must find their way into the mountain and gather pieces of mica - a blue stone that provides light and warmth for the villagers in the winter. The harvested stone is given to The Mothers who distribute quantities to families depending on a set formula. Families of girls who work on the line in the mountain receive special privileges.

In order to locate the required stone the girls must manoeuvre themselves through narrow cracks and bends in the rocks. Therefore only the smallest, thinnest girls are chosen for this work. This is dangerous task but when a girl is chosen it is an honour for the family. Babies selected at birth as potential candidates spend the early years of their lives bound tightly to restrict their growth and their food intake is limited. This is accepted as normal procedure by the villagers. If a girl grows too big she can no longer work in the mountain.

Jena is fourteen and the current leader of the girls who work in the mountain. Like the others she does not question the life she leads or the decisions made by The Mothers. Then one day she makes a discovery that causes her to question all that she has been told. Should she keep the information to herself or she she make the information available to the other villagers. 

The novel reveals the story in layers. We have Jena's story of her life and what she is thinking. Then there are sections when Jena remembers her early life with her father. The third layer introduces us to another girl, Lia, who also explores part of the mountain.

The mountain and its stone features strongly throughout the novel. The villagers are reminded of the power of the mountain by their leaders and believe that the mountain will decide their destiny. When on their quest for the mica the girls are careful not to unnecessarily disturb the stones. Throughout the novel the reader is shown the special significance stones have for the villagers - symbols in burials, Lia's blue stone. However when a stone is removed towards the end of the book it not only causes destruction but the opportunity for something new.

The themes in A Single Stone by Meg McKinlay include power, the environment and personal identity as well as conformity, belief systems, manipulation and what happens when belief systems are challenged. There are many references to the role of nature throughout the novel, especially birds. There are lots of opportunities for discussion. A Single Stone is a novel studied in year 9 this year.

Animal Farm

Animal Farm by George Orwell is a short political fable written in the early 1940s and eventually published in 1945. Orwell attempted to have the novella published in 1943 but it was banned as the book parodies the Russian revolution and consequently power structures in Russia. 

During the Second World War the British were attempting to work with the Russians as Allies against the Germans. After the war the relationship deteriorated as the Russians took over neighboring countries and brought them under their communist rule. Animal Farm has continued to be published in many editions and many languages and regularly appears on school curriculums. My grand-daughter is reading this book in Year Nine which is why I have recently re-read it.

The animals on Mr Jones' farm are overworked and underfed. One pig, Major, is concerned about what is happening and makes plans to improve the lot of the animals. Then Major dies. Some months later the animals rebel and force Mr Jones to leave the property. They then band together to plan how they will survive without humans and make up a set of laws (commandments) detailing how the farm will be run for the betterment of all the animals. However it is not long before the pigs become the leaders of the new order with two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon vying to run the farm. Soon it is obvious that the saying 'All animals are equal' is really 'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others'. The novel explores how one group of animals become the dominant group resulting in the majority of the animals having a harder life than when they worked for humans.

Animal Farm is described as an allegory or a fable. On the surface it is a story about a group of animals in dispute with humans. However, it does offer critical commentary on the Russian Revolution via the fictional characters and events. Consequently many of the characters represent real historical figures. 

Major represents Vladimir Lenin (1817-1924); Snowball represents Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) - he was assassinated; while Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin (1878- 1953) who was the Russian leader during the Second World War.  Lenin had been greatly influenced by the books, Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx. Trotsky had been Lenin's second in command during the Russian Revolution and it was assumed that he would take charge after the death of Lenin. In reality it was Joseph Stalin who became leader of the Soviet Union after Lenin.

Other characters are Mr Jones, the original owner of the farm on which the animals live, represents Czar Nicholas II (1868-1918) who was overthrown in the Russian Revolution in 1917.

Two other farmers are Mr Pilkington, the owner of a neighboring and neglected farm. He eventually sells some of his land to Napoleon. Mr Frederick, the owner of another farm, is an enemy of Mr Pilkington. Mr Frederick swindles Napoleon by buying timber from him with counterfeit money. He later tries to attack and seize Animal Farm but is defeated.

Mollie represents the bourgeois middle class during the Russian Revolution who enjoyed the luxuries in life and often weren't willing to give them up to join the fight.

 Mr. Whymper, a human solicitor, is employed by Napoleon to act between the humans and the pigs.  Mr Whymper therefore represents the capitalists who got rich doing business with the USSR. 

Squealer is the pig who spreads Napoleon's propaganda among the animals. He is an example of how language can be used in order to twist the truth to gain and maintain political control.

Minimus, another pig, writes propaganda poems and songs praising Napoleon and Animal Farm.using art as propaganda to control what people think.

The nine dogs trained by Napoleon represent Stalin's secret police force.

Moses is a tame raven owned by Mr Jones. His role was to tell the oppressed animals about Sugar Candy Mountain (the Russian Orthodox Church), and how their lives would get better. Moses was banned when Mr Jones was defeated but later Napoleon later allowed him to return.

The animals, other than the pigs, represent the ordinary people who believed that joining the revolution would lead to a new life but in reality their life became worse under new leaders.

Specific events in the book can also be seen as events in Russian history.  

The Battle of the Cowshed represents the Russian Revolution of 1917. 

The Battle of the Windmill represents the Battle of Stalingrad. For some time Napoleon had been double dealing with neighbouring, feuding farmers. Then Mr Frederick decided to lead a group to invade Animal Farm and destroy the windmill as they are afraid that the windmill might be a success. The windmill is destroyed but the invasion is not successful. The windmill is an attempt to industrialise the farm representing Stalin's attempts to industrialise Russia.

There are many links to websites discussing and analysing Animal Farm.

Animal Farm - full book analysis Spark Notes

Animals Farm at a Glance - Cliff's Notes

Animal Farm Topic Interview - Gale 

and many more ....

Where the flaming hell are we? the story of young Australians and New Zealanders fighting the Nazis in Greece and Crete

My father missed being sent with other members of the 2/4th battalion to Greece in 1941 as he was in hospital in Egypt at the time, however he was on one of the ships that was sent to evacuate Australian soldiers from Crete a few months later. I was therefore interested to read this new book about the experiences of the Australian and New Zealand soldiers plus some British troops who were sent into Greece by the British military on what was always a futile mission.

As with Gallipoli in 1915, the expedition into Greece to stop the possible of incursion of the Germans into the area closer to the British held regions around the Suez Canal was poorly planned. Insufficient troops were sent to the region for the campaign and there was little support from the RAF. The Australian and New Zealand soldiers were untrained and ill-prepared for the task in front of them. Lack of communication between the leaders of the various groups added to the challenges.

In Where the Flaming Hell Are We? Craig Collie has used records of interviews of soldiers who participated in the campaign, military histories of battalions and official sources to tell the story of the campaign and of the experiences of those who participated.

The title of the book comes from a poem by Laurie Ryan entitled The Isle of Doom written in response to Winston Churchill's comments about the role of the RAF in Greece and Crete. Part of the poem reads:

'The RAF', he said, 'in Greece

Is fighting hard to bring us peace'

And so we scratched our heads and thought

This smells distinctly like a rort

For if in Greece the Airforce be

Then, where the flaming hell are we?

The book has extensive notes, bibliography and index plus a section of photos taken in Greece and Crete. Craig Collie has written a readable, thought provoking history of this episode in the Second World War that has become a part of Australian and New Zealand history.

Would I Lie to You? presents the 100* most popular lies of all time

The British television show, Would I lie to you?, with Rob Brydon, David Mitchell, Lee Mack plus additional guests each week is a very funny show about lies that people tell and if you can recognise the truth from the fiction. 

Peter Holmes, Ben Caudell and Saul Wordsworth have compiled and discussed a series of lies that people tell in everyday life and published them in Would I lie to you? presents the 100* most popular lies of all time. The book was originally published in 2012 and again in 2015. Throughout the book there are additional comments by the presenters of the show on some of the topics under discussion.

Lies discussed include I am away for two weeks with NO access to email; Honestly he's fine. I love dogs; You don't look your age; Sorry, I'd love to stop, but I'm in a hurry; The dog ate my homework; to name a few of the ninety-nine lies discussed. Together they provide an interesting commentary on how people may react in uncomfortable situations. 

What I found really interesting was that some of the comments made in the book accidentally reflect on how our lives are changing or have changed since the book was first written. One discussion was about using x in the sign-off in a text message or email which led to the trend for people to hug and kiss others when they meet. Lee says: Why can't we just go back to being repressed? That was great. David replies: Yes, what this country needs is a major bacterial infection that will stop all this unnecessary touching. Little did they know what was to come. 

Another lie - The cheque is in the mail - resulted in a discussion about what is a cheque, what do you do if you get one and how do you locate a bank to deposit the cheque? Even more relevant in 2024.

In many ways the book provides a humorous commentary on life and attitudes in the twentieth century.

The Running Grave

The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith is number 7 in the Cormoran Strike series of crime novels. Private detective Cormoran Strike and his partner Robin Ellacott are involved in a number of cases when they are approached by a father who wants them to remove his son, Will, from a cult in which the son has become involved. Robin decides that she needs to infiltrate the cult, the Universal Humanitarian Church, to try and contact Will to discover what he really wants to do. 

Meanwhile Cormoran and his team attempt to identify and locate former cult members who left the church. It is soon discovered that many of the former cult members died shortly after their release - either apparently by suicide or violent death. However their investigations soon uncover the violent crimes occurring within the cult and the ill treatment and intimidation of members. Robin also discovers how some of the cult beliefs are used to manipulate church members.

J K Rowling (writing as Robert Galbraith) is an excellent writer of suspense novels, making the reader want to  keep reading to discover what happens next. However at 945 pages the book is once again too long.

Summer of blood

In May 1967 two Australian police officers are sent to San Francisco to locate a missing Australian student. Although they cannot act officially as police officers in California they can be private investigators and consult with local police if required.

Summer of Blood by Dave Warner is a story of hippies and drugs and music and crime. Dave Warner is a musician and each chapter heading is the name of a song from the 1967 - some I knew plus many that I was unaware of. This is a gritty, fast moving story of the endeavours of John Gordon and Reg Shearer as they attempt to locate the missing student and investigate a number of murders along the way as well as survive the different lifestyle they encounter.