Karen Comer

Collecting Stories

My violin, my violin

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I am a fine musician,
I practise every day.
And people come from miles around
just to hear me play.
My violin, my violin…
they love to hear my violin…

This old Play School song is going through my head – along with David Garrett’s version of Coldplay’s Viva la vida – because I have recently started learning the violin!

One of the main characters in the current young adult book I’m writing plays the violin – it’s a crucial element of her identity. Don’t ask me why – I had an image of a teenage girl playing a violin in an empty tram and knew I wanted to write a story about her.

I wanted to write this part of her story with a little more knowledge so I bought a beginner’s violin and booked in for some lessons.

Some observations:

  • It’s an interesting process to learn something completely new as an adult, because let’s face it, it takes a while to learn the basic skills. I had to fight my frustration at hearing such awful screeching sounds coming from my beautiful violin, and my frustration at having to practise again and again the basic bow hold, even how to position the violin under my chin and the boredom of doing the same basic bowing techniques over and over and over.
  • But oh the satisfaction in making a beautiful sound, even if it’s just one reverberating D string!
  • The dismay on my children’s faces when I suggested I could play a few strings to summon them to dinner!
  • The pride in being able to play Twinkle twinkle little star – not well. Not fluently. Not hitting the right string every time. Not seamlessly easing from the E string with three fingers held down, thank you very much, to the A string. But I can play a somewhat recognisable version.
  • The rituals – how I love the ritual of adding rosin to the strings on my bow, then using the tuning app on my phone to tune my violin, before settling the violin into position tucked into my neck.
  • The distinct sound of my husband or children shutting the hall door when they hear the first screech of my violin!

I’ve been out a couple of times to listen to a contemporary violinist. First of all, how wonderful to be out in Melbourne hearing live music! And then all the notes I took, how each violinist held her bow with such grace, how the violin sounded played with the piano or the drums, how both violinists were also singers and how they moved between singing and playing effortlessly.

My violinist character now has some added depth, some authenticity as I describe her playing movements or talk about her musical dreams. I have a stronger image of her playing her violin in an empty tram now.

And sure, thanks for asking, if you’re interested, I can probably free up some time to play jazz violin at your next event – just check with my manager!

‘The end of the world is bigger than love’ – book review

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If you’re looking for a book that has tension, lyrical evocative writing, humour, romance, and above all, love, look no further. Davina Bell’s recently released young adult book, The end of the world is bigger than love, is my favourite young adult book of all time.

It’s the story of Summer and Winter, identical twins, set slightly in the future where climate change, a pandemic and technology mishaps have completely changed the world. They live on an abandoned island, nourished by their mother’s books and their father’s stash of tinned food. Their isolated but idyllic life changes when Edward appears.

The story alternates between Winter and Summer, and it’s clear from the beginning that one of them, perhaps both of them, are unreliable narrators. I found it fascinating to look for tiny hints of whose version of the truth was slightly truer.

The language is beautiful and humorous and exciting.

This is Summer – We didn’t have any books that, like, specifically advised what to do when your identical twin sister falls in love with a bear with Real Murderous Potential. But as I was looking through the piles for one, I came across Matilda, that short, minxy genius, and thought to myself, well, her headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, isn’t too far off some kind of unpredictable, bloodthirsty grizzly ….

And here’s Winter – A butterfly can’t crawl back into a chrysalis. And so I said, “Not.”

And Summer said nothing and her face said everything.

And not that much later, I could feel that she had left.

And for the first time in so long, I was alone.

Alan Watts wrote that “A satisfying ending fulfils two criteria. It is, to some degree, a surprise while also being utterly inevitable; in retrospect, it could not have ended any other way.” A difficult feat to pull off but Bell’s ending had me reading both quickly and slowly (as contradictory, I know, as writing an ending that is both a surprise and the only possible ending).

This is the sort of book you want to immediately go over to savour the poetic language and to understand the story a little more once you know the ending.

It’s almost the end of June, I’ve read almost 50 books this year, and this book is my equal number one choice.

Books for young adults – Christmas ideas

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With potentially seven or eight weeks of holidays ahead of them, teenagers need some decent books to keep them away from their screens! Young adult fiction can be a tricky area to navigate – a book that a nineteen-year-old might enjoy may not be suitable for a fourteen-year-old. The age of the protagonist is a good guide as teenagers usually like reading about a protagonist a year or two older than they are. However, there aren’t any rules with young adult fiction so don’t let the suggested ages hinder anyone from reading a good story. There are a couple of books here told by both a female and male protagonist, which makes it more appealing to girls and boys. While girls will usually want to read a book with a female protagonist and vice versa, it’s so important to encourage kids to read about a variety of viewpoints. Here’s a selection of ten fabulous young adult reads.

Take three girls by Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell and Fiona Wood – this book delighted me because of the concept – three Yr 10 girls at the same school who didn’t have much to do with each other are forced into a group through a school wellness program. They all branch out and develop in unexpected ways, as does their friendship. The story is told from three different viewpoints, and all three voices are strong. This book also terrified me because of the social media angle – there’s an anonymous website where students at local schools comment on different posts, like a list of girls with eating disorders and unflattering photos. This book is one for girls aged 14-16.

The gathering by Isobelle Carmody – this is an oldie, published in 1993.  Nathaniel has moved with his mother to a quiet suburb where everything appears to be in order but underneath the surface lies evil. Nathanial learns he is one of the Chain, a group of five kids who have been chosen to break the reign of evil by the head master, Mr Karle. This is quite a grim, page-turning tale, suitable for 13-15 year-old boys and girls.

Legend by Marie Lu – I’ve just started this one, and so far, I’m intrigued. One of the protagonists is Day, a boy who is undercover because he’s wanted by the authorities but secretly watches over his family. The other protagonist is June, who has skipped ahead a few years at college, and lives with her beloved older brother. Day and June have heard of each other but don’t know each other. One day, June’s brother is killed by Day, and June swears to find Day and kill him.

The hate you give by Angie Thomas – this is one of my favourite reads (children, young adult and adult fiction) for this year. It’s about Starr Carter, a sixteen-year-old African American girl living in Garden Heights, an area notorious for crime and drugs. She goes to school at Williamson, where she’s one of a handful of black students. Within the first twenty pages, she’s at a party chatting to an old friend, Khalil. There’s gunshots at the party so they flee in Khalil’s car, are pulled over by the police and because Khalil checks to see if Starr is ok, he’s shot dead. As you can predict, the novel focuses on the cruelty and unfairness of a young black man’s life at the hands of a white policeman. You can read a longer review here. Suitable for boys and girls, aged 13-16.

This is Shyness by Leanne Hall – This is an apocalyptic type book, where darkness reigns over the suburb of Shyness. While many have left Shyness, those that remain live out their days without sunlight, watching out the for sugar-high Kidds. When Wildgirl, an outsider, meets Wolfboy from Shyness, they spend a night exploring the best and worst of Shyness. This story is told from both viewpoints, making it an excellent choice for boys and girls, aged 13-16. It won the Text prize in 2009.

The girl from everywhere by Heidi Heilig – It’s about a sixteen-year-old girl called Nix Song, who is a Navigator on a pirate ship with the ability to follow maps into the margins, into different countries and different timelines. Led by her father the Captain, and supported by a crew of time refugees, she discovers her own abilities. She needs to, lest her father steer them into a time and place where Nix doesn’t exist. Perfect for 14-16 year-olds.

No limits by Ellie Marney – I loved reading this book earlier in the year. It’s gritty but the two characters are interesting, the danger they find themselves in is page-turning and the chemistry between them is magnetic. Because the story is told from both Derwent and Amie’s viewpoints, it’s another great read for boys and girls, aged 15-18. You can read a longer review here.

His dark materials by Phillip Pullman – this one I haven’t read but am planning to over January because I’ve heard so many good things about it. It’s a trilogy which contains Northern lights, The subtle knife and The amber spyglass. This description comes straight from the book blurb for Northern lights – ‘Lyra, an orphan lives in a parallel universe in which science, theology and magic are entwined. Lyra’s search for a kidnapped friend uncovers a sinister plot involving stolen children and turns into a quest to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust.’

Moonrise by Sarah Crossan – I haven’t read this one either but it’s on my list because I loved her earlier book, One, so much. One was so extraordinary that I would read anything by Sarah Crossan without knowing a thing about it. The blurb below comes from the book –

‘They think I hurt someone.
But I didn’t. You hear?
Cos people are gonna be telling you
all kinds of lies.
I need you to know the truth.

Joe hasn’t seen his brother for ten years, and it’s for the most brutal of reasons. Ed is on death row. But now Ed’s execution date has been set, and Joe is determined to spend those last weeks with him, no matter what other people think …’

Turtles all the way down by John Green – another moving book by best-selling young adult novelist, John Green. I didn’t cry through this one, like I did with his earlier book, The fault in our stars, but it was definitely a page turner. The protagonist of this story, Aza Holmes, has anxiety. She lives with her mother, loves her best friend Daisy (who is one of the most vividly-drawn sidekick characters I’ve enjoyed) and has reconnected with an old friend, Davis, whose billionaire father is missing. Anxiety for Aza manifests itself in a fear about the bacteria Clostridium difficile. This means she has to constantly check an old wound on her finger, washing it, using hand sanitiser and reapplying fresh bandaids. It also means she worries about kissing Davis – all that bacteria. Reading Aza’s thought processes was exhausting but it put me right into her head. Like all John Green’s characters, Aza has a strong voice and her courage makes her a likeable character. The orange spiral on the front cover is a motif for the way Aza sees her thoughts, spiralling down and down into a never-ending vortex. This book is suitable for 14 years plus. Green has added a list of supportive websites at the back of his book for readers who may be affected by the issues raised in his book.

Please pass this post on to anyone who may be looking for young adult books to buy as Christmas presents. I’ll be compiling a list for adult fiction within the next week or two. Happy Christmas shopping!

No limits by Ellie Marney – book review

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No-Limits_Cover

At her book launch at the Collins Street Dymocks bookshop, Ellie Marney said she was grateful to everyone who told her to keep writing. Now those supporters are grateful she did keep writing, because the result is No limits, a newly released young adult novel.

Ellie is the author of the Every trilogy, a series of romantic crime books for young adults. The third book, Every move, had a draft which killed off Harris Derwent, a minor character. Ellie’s agent convinced her to keep Harris alive, as she thought he would make a fabulous protagonist in another book. Luckily, Ellie agreed, because Harris is now front and centre page of No limits!

I was fortunate enough to read an early digital copy of No limits, just before it was released, and I’m glad I did. I’m also glad I bought a print copy and asked Ellie to sign it. (I love a signed book by the author!)

No limits is told from the viewpoint of two characters, Harris Derwent, a nineteen-year-old who begins the story in hospital. He’s also broke, and forced to go back to live with his father who has physically and emotionally abused him all his life. Working at the hospital is Amita Blunt (Amie), the local police sergeant’s daughter, who cares for Harris. When Harris chooses to work as a runner for a local drug cartel, he also chooses to feed information back to the sergeant, through Amie. Although Harris and Amie start off as acquaintances, then friends, their relationship develops into a sizzling romance – just as hot as the danger they find themselves in.

Each chapter alternates between Amie and Harris’s voice – it’s one of those fabulous books where you like both narrators and don’t really mind who is telling the story.

No limits is set in Ouyen and Mildura. Ellie explained at her launch that the sensitive issues of domestic abuse and crystal methamphetamine are serious in north-central Victoria where she lives.

No limits was launched by the YA room, an initiate that promotes young adult fiction by holding monthly bookclub meetings.

I found it an absolute page-turner. For me, a page-turner book is one where I care about the characters so much that I can’t stop reading about them to find out what happens next for them. It’s a bit like having a coffee with a friend and saying, ‘Tell me everything!’

I loved Amie’s blend of practical and responsible – she looks after Harris, she looks after her widowed Dad, she looks after her elderly Indian Nani – and her daring and creativity. She’s a talented photographer and she doesn’t hesitate to put herself in danger to save Harris. As for Harris, there’s definitely some of the bad-boy vibe which makes him an interesting character from the beginning, but understanding his history with his dad, as well as seeing how he gradually tries to turn his life around, makes him a character to be admired as well.

When these two characters are set against a sordid world of drug-dealing, as well as a rural setting and Amie’s Indian family, it’s no wonder it’s hard to stop reading.

Ellie’s first book, Every breath, is the most borrowed YA book from libraries in 2015 – I can admit to contributing to that statistic! She’s also the founder of the LoveOZYA movement, to promote Australian young adult fiction. Her blog post, ‘Above the waterline’ was also widely read – she writes about fitting in writing around country driving, four kids and part-time work.

I find Ellie and her writing inspirational. I suggest you go and read her books!

Three strong, original books

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I’ve been reading quite a few wonderful books lately so I thought I’d bundle a few together in a review. I have so many library books teetering in a pile on my bedside table that I’m worried I’ll be decapitated during the night!

I’ve reviewed an adult novel by a well-known Australian writer, a young adult novel by a US novelist and a debut children’s novel. All three books had strong female characters, with so much determination and courage.

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  • Beauty in thorns by Kate Forsyth (adult historical fiction) – I am such a fan of Kate’s. She teaches a wonderful writing course in Sydney through the Australian Writers Centre on plotting, and her latest book is testament to her ability to weave together threads from a few stories and timelines. It’s set in the Pre-Raphaelite era and focuses on the lives of a few artists  – Ned Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Morris, and the women who loved them. The story focuses mainly on the women – and they were a talented, creative force as well. I didn’t enjoy this book as much as Kate’s previous books, perhaps because it felt that she was following the stories in a chronological manner, rather than crafting a story. But the characters are compelling, the settings evocative and Kate’s writing is as rich and descriptive as usual.

the-girl-from-everywhere

  • The girl from everywhere by Heidi Heilig (young adult fiction) – a friend recommended this book to me, and I’m glad she did. It’s about a sixteen-year-old girl called Nix Song, who is a Navigator on a pirate ship with the ability to follow maps into the margins, into different countries and different timelines. Led by her father the Captain, and supported by a crew of time refugees, she discovers her own abilities. She needs to, lest her father steer them into a time and place where Nix doesn’t exist. Because of the complex and sophisticated plot of time travelling, I know I’ll read this book again to figure out the connections between the different timeframes. (That’s a sign of a wonderful book, when the reader is planning to read it again after finishing the last page!) It’s a really unique book, that shows a different sort of protagonist to the usual YA ones concerned with school and parties and friendships. There’s also a sequel available now – The ship beyond time – I can’t wait to read it. Best for 14-16 year-olds, but absolutely fabulous for all adults.

how-to-bee

  • How to Bee by Bren MacDribble (children’s novel) – this is set in a dystopian world, where nine-year-old Peony is desperate to become a  ‘Bee’, someone who climbs the trees, waving a wand to collect the honey. She lives and works on a farm with her sister and grandfather. But trouble arrives in the form of Peony’s mother, who wants to take Peony away to a different life. Peony’s voice is strong and compelling and whisks readers away into her world where you just want everything to work out for her because she is such a hard worker and so determined to support her family. I loved this book – definitely one of the best children’s books I’ve read this year. And the cover is gorgeously striking! A fabulous read for 9-12 year-olds.

I’ve also spent a bit of time in the last fortnight reading some unpublished books. I’m part of a writer’s group and last weekend we met up as usual to discuss each other’s work. I absolutely believe in the writing from the other members – I’m sure I’ll be reviewing their published work one day – a crime novel, a middle-grade novel and a young adult book.

Any recommendations for me? I’m compiling a wishlist for National Bookshop Day on Saturday 12th August – I’ll definitely be visiting my local. Tell me what’s on your book wishlist!

Words in deep blue – book review

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Sometimes I feel that it is my job to find beautiful books and tell others about them because I feel their lives will be enriched. Cath Crowley’s young adult novel, Words in deep blue, is one such book.

The story is told in first person, alternating between Henry, who has finished year 12, works in his family’s secondhand bookshop and has just been dumped by his girlfriend, Amy – and Rachel, his ex-best friend, moving back to the city after being away for three years and who lost her younger brother when he drowned at sea.

The setting had me at hello – a secondhand bookshop with a letter library. The letter library section is full of secondhand books which can’t be bought because anyone is welcome to come in and underline or highlight or write notes about their favourite lines or paragraphs. The result is layer upon layer of annotated messages between strangers, friends and lovers. People also leave letters between the pages of their favourite books for strangers, friends or lovers to find. The letters form part of the story.

The characters are well-read, appreciate nuances, discuss books, write well and care deeply. As older teenagers, they are also caught up in their world of girlfriends and boyfriends, friends, music, books, going out, lack of money, jobs, fitting in, parents, school, social media.

Here’s a passage from Rachel:

Henry read me ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ once, on a night in year 8. We were lying on the floor of the bookstore, and I’d told him that I didn’t like poetry. ‘I can’t understand it, so it never makes me feel anything.’

‘Hang on,’ he’d said, going over to the shelves.

He came back with the Prufrock. The poem did sound like a love song. As I listened I stared at a mark on the ceiling that looked like a tear-shaped sun. The mark somehow got mixed with the words.

I didn’t know exactly what ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ was about, but lying there next to Henry, with his voice so close, I wanted to disturb something. I wanted to disturb us, shake us out of him seeing me as just Rachel, his best friend. I loved the poem for making me feel like disturbance was possible. And because it said something to me about life that I wanted to know, but didn’t understand.

I stayed up way too late to finish this book, and found myself crying at one point. Because this book had disturbed me – in a good way. It holds characters with dreams and pasts, a bookshop with fluid connections between the living and the dead, the possible and the imagined.

What’s the latest (good) disturbing book you’ve read?

 

 

The stars at Oktober Bend – book review

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Miss 9 and I had a girls’ afternoon out on the weekend – we do like to leave our boys behind and go to places likes cafes, craft classes, cheese shops and gardens every now and again – and went to a fabulous book launch at Readings. We were there for the launch of  The stars at Oktober Bend by Glenda Millard, her latest young adult book. Miss 9 was there to ask Glenda to sign her first book from the Kingdom of Silk series.

There was cheese, there was champagne, and then the formalities. An Allen and Unwin editor introduced the book, then Mike Shuttleworth from Readings told us why he loved it. I agreed with his point about Glenda offering a different sensibility, a different way of viewing the world.

Glenda’s book is told from the point of view of fifteen-year-old Alice who has an acquired brain injury. She has difficulty voicing her thoughts but writes them beautifully in poems, which she leaves around her small Australian town for strangers to find. Manny finds them. He is a refugee, a child soldier who is trying to establish a new life in Australia.

The book is written entirely in lower case, as we see everything through Alice’s eyes, with small sections of the book in Manny’s voice. Despite my last post about editing your own work and the importance of communicating clearly, the lower case writing draws us immediately into Alice’s way of seeing – might not be correct grammar but it expresses Alice’s voice authentically. A perfect pairing.

I’ve lost count of how many books I’ve read and owned by Glenda. What I love about her writing are the characters and her language. Miss 9 and I told Glenda we would like to live with the Silk family – those characters are so creative, sensitive, brave and thoughtful. And Alice is a beacon for every teenager on the outsider, everyone struggling to express themselves aloud, for every young adult on the brink of falling in love. As for her language, this is one of Alice’s poems:

and when he comes
i will
pass to him
new poems
on fine white pages
sonnets and songs
rows of notes
for words to waltz to
and when he reads them he will
know that i am
more
than twelve
more
than broken much
more
he will take
my hand press my fingers
gently into his
scarred places and i
will know their meaning.

Or this is her voice –

there were fewer silences than there might have been during that first shared meal. hope prised open the tiny doors of my caged heart. twice now manny had seen me fitting. twice he had not turned his back. he had listened to fragments of my stumbling speech and begged me to speak again. his wanting to listen made no difference to my speech. it was no clearer, quicker or more fluent. my words did not sound like birdsong or poetry. but many watched me and waited while i spoke. asked me when he didn’t understand. laughed with us when we laughed at my mumblings and his misunderstandings. that night we had everything we needed – food for our hunger and conversation for our souls.

And lest you think that this book is just about stars and poems, the last section is so gripping you will not be able to put it down. Promise. This is a beautiful book for the young adult in your life – it will encourage them to look at poetry, the evocative language will expand their vocabulary and the story of two outsiders will make their world a little larger.

Glenda told Miss 9 about the next three books she was writing – we both can’t wait to read them.

Cloudwish – book review

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Cloudwish
Fiona Wood
Macmillan
2105

The story: Vân Ước Phan is a year 11 student, attending a prestigious Melbourne school on a scholarship. Her parents, immigrants from Vietnam, want her to study medicine at university. She wants to daydream about Billy Gardiner, a year 11 rower, and become an artist. Vân Ước describes herself as ‘in the dumpbin category of scholarship/poor/smart/Asian’ and has an affinity with Jane Eyre – the book and the character. What would Jane do, she asks herself when there is Billy trouble, parent trouble, mean girls at school trouble, prank at school trouble? Clash of cultures, clash of classes, clash of dreams, clash of generations – it’s all here in this young adult book. On top of the realism of this story is the floating, vague, mysterious premise of Vân Ước’s wish, using a glass vial from a visiting writer’s box of writing prompts.

The highlights: I loved Vân Ước. She is a complex, many-layered, articulate, shy, Jane Eyre aficionado, creative, sensible, value-driven, infatuated character. Fiona Wood’s earlier two young adult novels, Six Impossible Things (shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year, Older Readers, 2011) and Wildlife (winner of the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year, Older Readers, 2014) focus on some of the characters in Cloudwish. You don’t need to have read the earlier books first, but I would definitely recommend reading them in any order. (And, please, Fiona, can you write Michael’s story next?)

When interviewed for The Sydney Morning Herald, Fiona discussed the respect needed for gritty subjects when writing for young adults. ‘Six Impossible Things touched on homosexuality, divorce and financial troubles; Wildlife looked at sex and death and loss of innocence. Cloudwish touches on depression, bullying and post traumatic shock disorder.’

Considering the current refugee situation, Cloudwish is topical material. Last night, Mr 11 and I saw the documentary Between the devil and the deep blue sea. Jessie Taylor made the documentary six years ago when she visited detention centres in Indonesia to understand why families would risk their lives on boats to spend years in Indonesian detention centres. I pictured Vân Ước’s parents, leaving Vietnam on a boat to Malaysia. Vân Ước’s mother tells her:

“You’re a good girl. But it is not the same. That chain has been broken. You have independence. Ba and I want that for you. But everything here is different. And that’s still hard for me.”

“But not bad?”

“No, not bad! You will have a good life. But the old life is gone forever.”

Cloudwish is a fabulous read for adults and young adults. I can see it being set for an English curriculum.

 

 

One true thing

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One true thingone-true-thing
Nicole Hayes
Random House
2015

The story: Frankie is sixteen, a guitarist in a band, and lives with her father, an academic, her mother, a politician and her younger brother, a swimmer with asthma. Frankie’s mother, Rowena, is in the middle of an election campaign, working to be the first elected female premier of Victoria. Rowena is used to the criticism and taunts of the media, but when she is photographed with an unknown man at night, the media becomes relentless and Frankie’s family begins to fall apart.

The highlights: There’s so much passion in this book – Frankie’s passion for her band, Rowena’s passion for politics and Frankie’s passion for Jake, the new kid at her school with his own passion for photography. Frankie, Rowena, and Rowena’s mother (Gran) are strong women – each with their secrets, their strengths and weaknesses. The pace is fast, the tension of politics, love, family life and school keeps the story entwined and interesting. No wonder young adult fiction is so popular!