Our Australian Girl – Marly and the Goat by Alice Pung

Reviewed by Jessica (age 8)

     This is the latest instalment in the Marly series of the Our Australian Girls books. It is 1983 and Marly is excited because her grandparents arrive from Vietnam and her Mum is having a baby. Marly’s Grandpa is really nice, but a bit eccentric. He buys a goat and chickens despite many objections being made by the family (including Grandma). When a neighbour complains about the new pets, Marly is forced to go to a Council Meeting because she is the only person in her family who speaks English. 

     I really enjoyed this book because it was very interesting and it had a real sense of adventure. My favourite character was Marly because she didn’t care what anyone thought of her and she was very brave.  I really like the Marly books. This was the best yet!

PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE :  https://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780143308515/our-australian-girl-marly-and-goat-book-3

AUTHOR'S WEBSITE : www.alicepung.com

ILLUSTRATOR'S WEBSITE : http://luciamasciullo.com

About the Author                                                                                          

     Alice Pung is a writer, editor, teacher and lawyer based in Melbourne. Born a month after her Chinese parents fled from Cambodia to Australia as asylum seekers from Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge Regime, Alice has used her shared family's experiences to write stories that captivate all readers.       
   
     She has won numerous awards including the 2007 Newcomer of the Year Award in the Australia Book Industry Awards for her first book Unpolished Gem. Her next book Her Father's Daughter won the Western Australia Premier's Book Award for Non Fiction, and it was also shortlisted for the Premier's Literary Awards in Victoria and New South Wales, and nominated also in the Queensland Literary Awards. Laurinda, Alice's first novel, was published in 2014 and was one of Readings' Top 100 bestselling books for the year. She is writing four books around the character Marly for Penguin's Our Australian Girl series.

     Alice's writing has appeared in many notable publications including the Monthly, the Age, Meanjin, Best Australian Stories and Best Australian Essays. Alice edited Growing Up Asian in Australia, a collection of personal accounts, essays, short stories and poetry which is currently a set text for the VCE English context on Identity and Belonging.

     Alice lives with her husband at Janet Clarke Hall at the University of Melbourne, where she is currently the Artist in Residence. 

About the Illustrator

     Lucia Masciullo grew up in Livorno, Tuscany, among smells of saltiness and rosemary. She always loved painting and after graduating in Biology she decided to pursue her dream career as an artist. In 2006 she moved to Brisbane and since then has been happily working as a fine art painter and freelance illustrator. She has recently illustrated Sonya Hartnett's The Boy and Toy.

Two stories from the OUR AUSTRALIAN GIRL series

Reviewed by Jess (aged 8 years) and Bella (aged 11 years)

Meet Marly – 1983 

By Alice Pung

     This is the first of four stories about Marly, a girl living in Australia in 1983.  Marly and her family came to Australia as refugees and now her cousins are coming from a refugee camp to live with them too. Marly is a very engaging main character because she is an interesting and lively girl. She made us laugh and enjoy this book very much.

     This book informed us about the lives and experiences of new Australians during the 1980s. It is interesting to see how Marly navigates between two worlds – her home life with her Vietnamese family, and her school life in the wider Australian community. It made us realise that girls today aren’t so different to little girls in the 1980s and that although our cultures might be different, all people are actually quite alike. It also made us realise that we should take pleasure in life and not worry about what other people think. This is a great book and we think all girls our age should read it.

Marly’s Business – 1983 

By Alice Pung

     This story is fantastic! It was interesting and captivating and it gave you a look into a typical girl’s life from the 1980s. It was heartwarming but at the same time adventurous and bewildering. We were hooked from the beginning and did not want to stop until we finished it!

     This is the second of four stories which is part of the Our Australian Girl series. It’s about Marly, a girl from a Vietnamese refugee family living in Australia in 1983. Marly wants, more than anything, to buy Donkey Kong cards and collect them like the other kids at school, but her Mum and Dad don’t see the value in them.  She sets about raising the money for them herself and makes some great new friends along the way and has exciting adventures on the bus. We think most kids can relate to wanting to collect things that your Mum and Dad don’t see as valuable, and also to their first experiences catching the bus on their own. We haven’t done it yet, but we hope our first bus trip is less nerve-wracking than Marly’s!

                                                                    We would definitely recommend this book to our friends!

The Kidz Review Krew really appreciate Penguin Group (Australia) sending us copies of these two amazing books which are part of the Our Australian Girl series.

For more information on the books go to http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780143308492/our-australian-girl-meet-marly-book-1 and http://www.ouraustraliangirl.com.au

For more information on the author go to alicepung.com

  About The Author

     Alice Pung is a writer, editor, teacher and lawyer based in Melbourne. Born a month after her Chinese parents fled from Cambodia to Australia as asylum seekers from Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge Regime, Alice has used her shared family's experiences to write stories that captivate all readers.

     She has won numerous awards including the 2007 Newcomer of the Year Award in the Australia Book Industry Awards for her first book Unpolished Gem. Her next book Her Father's Daughter won the Western Australia Premier's Book Award for Non Fiction, and it was also shortlisted for the Premier's Literary Awards in Victoria and New South Wales, and nominated also in the Queensland Literary Awards. Laurinda, Alice's first novel, was published in 2014 and was one of Readings' Top 100 bestselling books for the year. She is writing four books around the character Marly for Penguin's Our Australian Girl series.

     Alice's writing has appeared in many notable publications including the Monthly, the Age, Meanjin, Best Australian Stories and Best Australian Essays. Alice edited Growing Up Asian in Australia, a collection of personal accounts, essays, short stories and poetry which is currently a set text for the VCE English context on Identity and Belonging.

Alice lives with her husband at Janet Clarke Hall at the University of Melbourne, where she is currently the Artist in Residence. 

Do You Dare? Jimmy's War by Sherryl Clark

Reviewed by Carmela Ramos

       My son and I were extremely happy to receive more books from the Do You Dare? Series. I managed to take one from his ‘I want to read this book next’ shelf and I’m so glad I did as I thoroughly enjoyed the read.  Of course I will place it back for him to read because I highly recommend it.  Following suit with the other books from the Do You Dare? Series, Jimmy’s War has a boy as its central character, is written in the genre of historical fiction, has an exciting plot and is full of adventure. Sherryl Clark’s literary talent has contributed in making this historical story both enriching and entertaining for the reader.

       Jimmy loves to play footy and should be at school but with the absence of his father who died in a factory accident, a brother away at war, and an ill mother, Jimmy has to work to support his family instead.  With caring neighbours such as Mrs. Wimple, and cheerful friends such as Frank, Jimmy is encouraged to keep battling on. When Jimmy’s brother Arthur returns from war, he is not the same, and Jimmy not only has to deal with these changes but also the dilemma of working for the local crim, Bill Prosser.

       Sherryl Clark has clearly researched the era and the effects of Gallipoli on the returning soldiers and their families. The story is set in the suburb of Yarraville, and Clark’s description of the people, the food, the buildings and the surroundings give a real sense of what life was like in 1915. With a real historical setting, a well-driven main character and highly interesting support characters, Jimmy’s War is a fascinating story that will immerse young readers in an adventure in Australian history.

Thank you Penguin Australia for sending us a copy of this amazing book.

For more information go to http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780143308027/do-you-dare-jimmy-s-war or check out Sherryl Clark's fantastic website http://www.sherrylclark.com

 SHERRYL CLARK (AUTHOR)

   Sherryl Clark's first children's book was The Too-Tight Tutu which was published in the Aussie Bites series in 1997. Since then she has published almost 30 children's books, including Sixth Grade Style Queen (Not!) and Motormouth. Sherryl is also the author of the Rose books in the Our Australian Girl series. She has had two collections of poetry for adults published by Pariah Press - Edge (1990) and Thicker Than Water (1999), and is a co-editor of Poetrix magazine. Sherryl teaches fiction and poetry writing in the Diploma of Arts - Professional Writing and Editing at Victoria University and Holmesglen TAFE.