Dim's Write Stuff

We're all guilty. Spurred by an impulse too intense to ignore. Rationale and logic shoved to the backseat in favour of letting impetuousness drive. Despite knowing better, validation for such behaviours is often reduced to a dismissive, all encompassing, we did it anyway, which is the haunting underlying premise of Carla Salmon's latest young teen novel, We Did It Anyway. Hot on the heels of our first encounter with the youths of the coastal Red Sands community, this racy adventure focuses on other erstwhile members of the friendship circle; Alex, Otto and Jasper. The spotlight doesn't just rest on the boys however with Luna and best mate, Milly, firmly lending narrative nouse and balance. Set on the rugged island of Talmar, the group gather to partake in an Easter holiday life-saving club training camp. Opinions oscillate wildly about this; the boys are all up for a bit of freedom. Luna is less convinced about the camping vibe but with the twins' dad there to supervi...

Full confession: I adore the writing style of Susanne Gervay. Her picture books resound with lilting emotion. Her junior novels entertain and engross. Her young adult fiction, gripping and gritty. So, while I’m being upfront and honest, her latest YA , The Edge of Limits was a more exacting reading experience than expected. In Susanne’s own words this novel, delves into adolescent relationships and consent looking into the complexities of boys as they confront sexuality, power, and relationships. Teenage boys are not a species I admit to understanding in great measures. I have never lived with their unique drives, language and emotional tropes, their male ‘smells’. So, reading about 17-year-old Sam and his testosterone imbued school mates as they plough their way through self-actualisation and a school survival camp, was not the proverbial walk through the park. The park was the confronting physical and mental terrain of the Aussie bush. The walk, a challenging journey of re...

When a masterful storyteller distils the essence of the past and reinstates it into a meaningful, moving context for those for whom that past never existed, the result is forcibly compelling. Inkflower by Suzy Zail is this and more. Here is my review of this incredible tale which first appeared on  Kids' Book Review, 11 July 2023. Zail weaves truths and imaginings into a novel for young people that both spellbinds and beleaguers belief. She states her father taught her we have to talk about the things that scare us before we can change them, so too must the reader experience some uncomfortable realisations just as teen protagonist, Lisa Keller, is forced to after learning about the terminal condition of her beloved father. Emil Keller (formerly Rosenfeld) has a successful career, comfortable home and doting family. And only a handful of months left to enjoy them. Diagnosed with the debilitating Motor Neuron Disease MND, Emil embarks on one last quest before his time ends; to sh...

The alluring title and intricate cover design of this novel provides instant grab but it’s the immediate saturation of raw authentic atmosphere that really pulls you into Salama’s story. Debut author Zoulfa Katouh pours her heart and soul into Salama but does so with enough measured restraint and humour to ensure this exposé of Syria’s present day atrocities appeals not only to adult readers but also its intended YA audience. And, it’s an allure that lingers all the way to the heart touching end. Salama is a young Syrian girl living in Homs, a city located on the Orontes River in western Syria. A city razed to the ground by Syria’s ugly ongoing Civil war. She lives amongst the destruction surviving on less than nothing, enduring nerves more frayed than the fabric of any remaining normality. Every ounce of energy is directed into maintaining the welfare of others, namely those brought into the local hospital in which she works to be cobbled back together again. She mends, stitches, s...

Anyone who knows me well knows I harbour a deep fondness for feathered things. Chooks, ducks, quails, budgies, galahs, turkeys and even rosellas have all graced my childhood at some point or another. And don’t even get me started about the pigeons! That’s a whole other story, right, Pippa ?! So it’s little wonder these next few books enthralled from the get go. They all incorporate avian expression and characteristics in some way that contributes a sky-full of heart and soul to these stories. Take off with them soon! Twitch Twitch is a young lad residing in the English countryside surrounded by broads teaming with birdlife. Like me as a child, he prefers the company of winged creatures to the two-legged ones who frequently ridicule and bully him. His reticent and reclusive ways belie his quick wit and sharp intelligence. He despises school but takes infinite pleasure in his own company. He homes a family of pigeons on a rooftop loft and communes daily with his cackleberry-laying girl...

Unless you’ve been to the afterlife, and successfully returned, chances are you are not super familiar with the supernatural. These next few YA novels ease maturing young adults into spine-tingling conjecture about spectres, the worlds they habitat and conditions of existence they are forced to abide by. It’s bewitching stuff. The Ghost Squad This thriller by Sophie Masson takes place in the not too distant future following a global cataclysmic event which renders the world virtually tech-free. Living in a world stripped of modern day conveniences, young Polly is thrust into a heart-racing quest of survival. Guided by her own instincts and a beguiling young teen by the name of, Swan, Polly grapples with new found knowledge about two opposing clandestine organisations, the government run Ghost Squad and the Base whose shared intent is for the control of information about the afterlife. Since what is commonly referred to as the Pulse (theoretically a massive solar flare disturbing e...

Most modern epistolary novels for tweens and teens veer towards a collection of email exchanges or even sms text messages to relay story plot and character reaction. Shooting Stars is a refreshing step back into genuine epistolary storytelling through the use of diary entries with one remarkable point of difference; our main character has never met another person his age, in his entire life. Egan Tucker is fifteen. He is a teenager of rugged burly appearance, can smell danger (literally) from a mile away and can slaughter and butcher a wild boar in less time than than it takes to fry bacon. Egan likes to dance in the rain - naked. He moves without shoes and his best mate is a dog, named Jack who'll bite your arm off if you mess with his toy bunny. Their's is a wild, carefree existence, deep in the heart of a tiny bush valley hidden from civilization. No TV. No internet. No other human interaction...except for Moma, Egan's fearless and indomitable mother. Through Egan...

Perhaps the greatest expression of song is Yaxley's exceptionally lyrical prose. This is My Song is a sweeping story told in three parts across three continents, embracing three monumental periods of time. The story of young Rafael Ullmann's rising love for music amidst the growing tensions of the 1940s is chocked with heartbreak and wrenching disappointment. He survives the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp but at the cost of losing his passion for the thing he loved most, music. His song lies withered, abandoned and forgotten like a childhood pet that died long ago. By the time his daughter, Annie arrives, Rafi has accepted his world of silence and regret. Annie is a child of the sweeping isolation of the Canadian prairie lands, yet she is a bird eager to fly and seeks a freedom she cannot enjoy with her parents. It is her son, Joe, an uncertain modern-day Aussie youth seeking a solid sense of self from a history he knows nothing about, that eventually helps them ...

Wai Chim's latest YA is a tempting hot pot of teenage coming-of-age angst, family values, cultural cohesion, mental health oh and yes, dumplings! This is a hearty, satisfying read about Anna, the eldest child in a Chinese immigrant family who rely on the family restaurant to survive. That premise alone could have been redolent with cultural stereotypical clichés however Chim has blended Anna's story with the careful addition of a host of interesting and authentic ingredients; characters like, Rory, who is the local delivery boy for the restaurant and also, ultimately Anna's first love and saviour. As Anna trudges through her 11th year in High School, she is repeatedly put upon to keep the home fires burning for her younger tween sister, Lily and 6-year-old baby brother, Michael. Their overworked father is rarely at home, dossing in the restaurant storeroom under a cover of avoidance. Perhaps the character that both disturbs and delights the most is Ma, Anna's m...