Australia Books

I bought this book for my Corrections class. It's not really the most exicting class in the world but the book proved to be a great subjective source of Prision Reform. Aside from random sexual references, this book is a must for Criminology Majors!

"Maconochie's Gentlemen" displays Norval Morris's large gifts as a fine narrative writer and a preeminent social scientist. This is a book that fits Aristotle's directive that fine art should enlighten and entertain. It is, in the first instance, an illuminating story, told through the eyes of Captain Maconochie and the family and colleagues he brought with him to Norfolk Island in 1840, of Western society's first efforts at penal rehabilitation. The fiction is followed by incisive reflections by Morris in his role as one of America's leading criminologists, relating Maconochie's experiment to the circumstances today. The book is engrossing in both modes and is thoughtful, moving, and revealing at all points. My hat is off to Norval Morris."--Scott F. Turow

NORVAL MORRIS
THE MODERN DAY JOHN HOWARD

[The power of political leadership in pursuit of popular support by relentless and unscrupulous means has surely and frequently been demonstrated....a public misled by false statistics, sensational and selective sound bites, and political leaders seeking votes is plain to see....Consequently, a prison regime defines the razor edge between power and freedom, authority and autonomy. NM]

In this compelling "roman a clef" entitled: "Maconochie's Gentlemen: The Story of Norfolk Island and the Roots of Modern Prison Reform," the humanism and the incisive intellect of Norval Morris are beautifully revealed. Published in 2002, the novel gives a vivid portrayal of Alexander Maconochie's heroic achievement of creating a "token economy" for rewarding positive behavior through a convict "Marks System" in the penal colony at Norfolk Island, a thousand miles off the coast of Australia, 1840-44. Moreover, it shares a passionate belief that a virtuous prison is possible in the process of maintaining humane and safe prisons. This belief epitomizes the life and work of Norval Morris.

Why would anyone devote himself to penal reform? If there is a viable alternative, why choose to suffer the chill breath of adverse public opinion, the bemused stares of neighbors, the frustrations and lack of reward? It is a vexing question; a satisfying answer is not easily come by. Yet, down through the history of prisons, penal reformers are legion. In contemplating the extraordinary saga of John Howard (1773) and his narrative, The State of the Prisons in Europe and England, Norval makes note of his own life's journey of penal reform.

In an incomparably lesser way, I have devoted the last five-and-a-half decades to the minutiae of prison regimes in four continents. Yet, a vocation in the academic side of criminal law provided all I needed by way of a comfortable, professional, and personal life. To add myself to the list of prison reformers is not to draw a self-serving comparison. Rather, it is to seek an answer to the troublesome question: Why should anyone of reasonable ability see the conditions of prison life as meriting serious and sustained concern? So, when devising prison conditions, you should devise them for yourself. (NM)

As the nineteenth century American prison reform heroine, Elizabeth Gurney Fry has advised: If thee should build a prison, consider thee and thine children might inhabit it. In tribute to Norval Morris, and at his behest for achieving a better understanding of the dilemma(s) of corrections, I recommend an absorbing read of "Manonochie's Gentlemen." Here one will find the heart and soul of a life committed to penal reform. Here, too, one will discover how we will all continue to benefit from the enduring legacy of Norval Morris.

Jess Maghan
Chester, Connecticut (2/25/04)

Seldom have I read a book with which I agreed more completely.

In Justine Larbalestier's first novel for teens, Magic or Madness, a teenage girl learned the truth about magic: not only does it exist, but it runs through the veins of all of the women in her family, who choose to either use their magic and die young, or repress it and go mad. Despite her name, Reason must accept that magic is in her blood, and that the use of her new powers may have devastating consequences.

Magic Lessons is the second book in the Magic or Madness trilogy. As with all trilogies, the pacing of the story stuck in the middle is crucial to the success of the series. Magic Lessons raises the stakes, testing the magical powers and emotional strength of all of the main characters. Reason is still wary of others, especially her grandmother, but must learn to trust others in order to survive. She also learns about love (or something like it). Her relationship has a serious impact on her and on the overall story.

Events and revelations have a domino effect, so be sure that you read the trilogy in the proper order: Magic or Madness, Magic Lessons, and finally, Magic's Child.

this book Rocks! the vivid descriptions paint a clear image in your mind. if your interested in this you must; A: like books that arnt compleetly true but could posibly be beleived, B: have read the fist one or you will be compleetly lost, and C: be pacient with australian gramar (wich you would be any way if you folowed my instructions and read book 1 first). I'm imacintly waiting for the third and final book in the series.I want to know what happens very badly ,but don't want it to be over.
sincerly,
A magic or maddness adict

MAGIC LESSONS is the second book in Justine Larbalestier's trilogy, and it's just as wonderful and gripping as Magic or Madness (Magic or Madness Trilogy)! In this book, there are just as many questions as in the first, as every answer Reason finds only leads to more questions. For everything that's resolved, there are five more things that I was anxious to find out as I read on! There
is plenty of suspense in this book.

Reason, Tom, and Jay-Tee have all stepped through Esmeralda's magic door into Sydney, leaving behind Reason's evil grandfather, Jason Blake, as well as Jay-Tee's older brother, Danny, in New York. They're being taught magic by Esmeralda, even Reason and Jay-Tee, though they're still not sure they trust her the way Tom does. They've had some bad experiences with magic, but they know now that they have to use it, or else they'll go crazy, like their parents. However, every time they use magic, they lose a little time being alive. Magic is not the blessing it is in other books; in the world Justine Larbalestier has created, it's more of a curse.

The door between Sydney and New York is acting strangely. At first, they think it's because of Jason Blake, but it turns out to be something much more frightening and mysterious. They're not sure what it is, but Reason knows something about whatever it is that the rest of them don't: It's a Cansino. She and Esmeralda are related to it. One more thing: it's old. As in, centuries old. Reason isn't sure what to make of this information, but she doesn't trust Esmeralda, so she's not telling anyone.

Then she loses her chance to share it. She is sucked through the door into New York. Reason's not as lost as she was the first time; after escaping the scary, stinking old man-like creature standing in front of the door, she finds Jay-Tee's brother Danny, and stays with him. She can't go back to Sydney; the old man, the Cansino, is guarding the door. She could always buy a plane ticket home (or, rather, Danny could buy her one; money is nothing to him, and she has none), but there are a few things keeping her in New York. One, she wants to find out more about the man guarding the door, and maybe do something to get rid of him if Esmeralda figures out what he is. Two, there's Danny...

Sequels often don't live up to the high expectations set by the previous books, but MAGIC LESSONS sure does! It's just as great as Magic or Madness (Magic or Madness Trilogy). One thing that I like about these books is Justine Larbalestier's magic system; it's very original, and it seems more realistic that, if magic existed, it would have a price. That makes this much darker than a lot of books about kids who find out they have magical powers, and also adds some extra awesomeness to an already great book.

The number of questions being far more than the number of answers also adds something to this novel. Even though I usually think that a book is made less wonderful by a cliff-hanger ending, I don't think that's the case in these books. First of all, the main conflict of the book is resolved, but, as all answers do in Justine Larbalestier's books, those resolutions bring new questions to be answered in the following story. Nothing here has been what it has seemed to be so far, but everything also makes perfect sense. Add this to great writing, wonderful characters, and brilliant ideas, and you've got an amazing trilogy! I absolutely cannot wait for book number three (Magic's Child (Magic Or Madness)).

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

Teenagers Reason, Jay-Tee, and Tom face a terrible choice: use the magic in their blood and die before they reach their twenties, or go insane. In the second book of this real-world fantasy trilogy, each teen discovers that nothing -- magic, friendships, trust, family -- is exactly what they thought.

I enjoyed last year's Magic or Madness. I *loved* Magic Lessons. I read it in one sitting. Larbalestier has written a sequel that raises the stakes and deepens the conflicts at every turn as the children realize their dangerous potential. A heightened sense of danger and action sequences increase the pace from the previous book without sacrificing any of the lush description, detail, and keen observations that made the first such a rich read.

I highly recommend getting both books 1 and 2 at once, because as soon as you read Magic or Madness, you'll want to dive into this one. Can't wait for the conclusion in book 3!

"Given a Wantiya mother, a knockabout miner father and a Warlpuju foster mob, it wasn't exactly surprising that I often thought of geological formations as having lives of their own. I imagined them as enormous creatures, crawling through time..." That's Emily Tempest thinking to herself. She's a small, clever, confident and often headstrong young woman who is about to find herself hunted down by murderers in the bleak, dry Australian outback. To her sometimes confusion, she and those who know her usually think of her as a black woman misplaced in a white world or as a white woman misplaced in a black world. She's as much at home in both as she's not at home in either. When she decides to visit the extended family group she grew up with, who now have been given official title to their ancestral land, the Moonlight Downs, she finds herself at cross purposes with just about everyone she knows or meets. There are the people -- the Moonlight mob -- she ran with as a child while her father worked. They include probably the two most important people in her life...Lincoln Flinders, the aging leader of the Moonlight mob, and his daughter, Hazel. Then there are the whitefellers, especially those who center around Bluebush, the nearest town to Moonlight. Bluebush is one of the worst Australian outback towns you'll hope never to be stuck in...drunks, cast-offs, opportunists, manipulative government officials and up-from-the-bootstraps bullies. Some are pleasant enough, some aren't. Some are wealthy landowners, most are not.

When Lincoln Flinders is found dead, killed in a gruesome manner that might make some think the murderer is a blackfeller, Emily decides it couldn't have been that way. Her decision to investigate is complicated by the plans some of the whites in Bluebush have to develop Moonlight Downs whether the aboriginal owners like it or not. Emily eventually figures things out, but not before the author, Adrian Hyland, has given us a straightforward and engrossing look at life in the outback, both among the aboriginal groups and the whites. He manages this with clear and even evocative language that doesn't fall back on poetic descriptions of aboriginal life or rugged outback beauty. Dreams and Diamond Doves play a part, but with a casual and unromantic acceptance of how people believe in things.

Adrian Hyland is a first-rate writer. He brings us into Emily Tempest's life and times with a minimum of fuss. His descriptions are vivid but restrained. This works because he knows what he's talking about and because he knows how to create characters we can imagine for ourselves. Emily Tempest, somewhere in her late twenties, has been drifting around for several years. She drinks, she rolls her own and her mouth sparks out with casual obscenities. She knows how to live in the bush, identify rocks and how to keep drunks in line while she serves booze at her temporary job in town. She can take care of herself. She's also thoughtful, sometimes impetuous and likes to read. Her bonded relationship with Hazel Flinders is complex.

As much as Moonlight Downs is a fascinating look at outback life amongst the blackfellers and the whitefellers, and as much as Hyland has created an intriguing lead character in Emily Tempest, more than anything else Hyland has written a fine mystery. You need to pay attention while reading this book. There's a lot going on with more than one or two plausible theories behind the murder of Lincoln Flinders. And Hyland keeps the plot honest. Most of what we learn either drives to the solution or creates reasonable alternatives. As with enjoying any good mystery, it pays to be a bit suspicious of reasonable explanations. Hyland also handles the need for a solid flash finish. The last six fairly short chapters place Emily and then Emily and Hazel in the middle of brutal killings, mistaken assumptions, desperate chases and a stand-up resolve by Emily not to give the killer an ounce of satisfaction...all in the heat and rocky outcrops of the outback. It's quite a scene, and leads to an entirely satisfying conclusion. I'm looking forward to Emily Tempest's next appearance.

An exciting new author creating an unusual persona by way of a native Australian detective.

After several years of seeing the world, half-aboriginal Emily Tempest returns home to the Moonlight Downs camp in Australia's Outback. Emily struggles to readapt to living in the "Blackfeller" camp, but is getting there thanks in part due to a warm welcome home from her friend Lincoln Flinders although his daughter, her former best friend Hazel, makes her feel like an outsider.

She is stunned when Lincoln is found dead, a strangulation victim. Even more shocking is the killer carved out his kidney. The locals assume sorcerer Blakie Japanangka murdered and then mutilated the body of the camp's leader. Emily assists police sergeant Tom McGillivray in trying to find Blakie, who has vanished. When information surfaces that makes the prime suspect look innocent, Emily looks into a land dispute as the motive for killing Lincoln with the organ removal used to throw blame on the aborigine sorcerer.

This is an interesting look at the aborigine culture from the perspective of a person who had one foot in that and one in the white Australian society before she became a globetrotter. Emily is the strength of the story line as her relationship with Hazel seems to be a microcosm of the two groups. Although the whodunit especially when it detours into an avarice land deal seems a stretch and lacks suspense, readers will enjoy this insightful visit to the Outback.

Harriet Klausner

The author, Adrian Hyland, spent many years living and working with indigenous people in the Northern Territory; MOONLIGHT DOWNS is a story told with a great deal of affection for the people. Their spiritual connection to the land and its native animals is particularly well described. He makes no attempt to gloss over the dysfunctional aspects of life in the remoter areas of the Northern Territory, both European and Aboriginal.Emily regards her community with a mixture of deep love and exasperation at the destructiveness of some of the behaviour she witnesses.

There are other issues raised in the book. The inevitable clash of cultures and lack of understanding that results. Conflicting interests of farming, mining and aboriginal land claims, the politicization of these interests and the odd mix of people who seem to be attracted to such remote areas. The real achievement that Hyland has managed to pull off is the fact that he vividly portrays all these aspects of life in the outback without making any judgements and without trying to push the reader down the path towards a particular opinion. He leaves that entirely up to the individual.

Hyland has also injected a wonderful dry humour into the book. Expressions such as "rough as emus knees", "he belonged to the von Ribbentrop school of negotiation" and "been taking deportment lessons from a Rottweiler" are genuinely funny. The author also has a gift for description; " Gladys herself was a battleship on stilts. She wasn't much older than me, but she'd exploded in every direction. She was immensely tall, immensely fat, wearing a green dress and a coiffure that looked like it had been fashioned with a splitting axe."

I'm noticing this book was a popular item at public libraries. I too checked this book out many times when I visited the city library as a kid. The story is funny and teaches a good lesson about moderation that has always stuck with me. The illustrations are cute and memorable as well. I hope to pass this story on to my kids someday so that the circle of pigs and ketchup can be complete.

This book is about ten little piglets called SORROL,BENJAMIN,SARAH,CINDY BRYONY,HILARY ,TOBY,ALUN,WILLIAM AND GARATH. Now these little piglets were addicted to tomato ketchup. How their mother cures them of their addiction is hilarious, and will put you off ketchup for life!

This is one of the books I recommend to the children who come in to the library where I work. I have even recommended it to a mother in a restaurant who was having trouble convincing her young son not to use so much ketchup on everything he ate. While it may not change anyone's eating habits, it may lessen any mealtime conflict over using too much of the red stuff. Ketchup and cereal? Pu- Leeze.

Mrs. Pig's Bulk Buy is a delightful children's story about little pigs that just love ketchup. It presents Mrs. Pig's solution to every mother's problem of what to do with kids that want to eat the same thing all the time. I love Mary Rayner's style of writing and the delightful illustrations. I discovered this book at the city library when my children were young and now am sharing it with grandchildren and great-neices.

This beautifully illustrated book set in Australia's outback has the most interesting animals I've ever seen! The multicultural theme can be used in classrooms and at home to promote an understanding of native animals of Australia, relationships with elders, women of independence, and travel. The story is beautifully written in prose and the illustrations are patterned in pencil/charcoal and brilliant pictures.

This is definitely the best picture i have ever read to my children and i would recomend it to all parents and children alike. It makes you smile and feel so content and happy as you reach the last page. The illustrations, superb, the story, edge of your seat stuff.

Recommend t for everyone, young and old.

My kids really enjoy this book. It was a gift from Grandma for my oldest son because he likes to say funny words. This book is full of funny words and names that all three of our kids love. At the end of the book, my daughter always wants to know "what happend to Grandma", so we come up with all kinds of possibilities. This is a wonderful book and is read often as our bedtime routine.

My Grandma lived in Gooligulch,
Near Bandywallop East,
A fair way north of Murrumbum
(Five hundred miles at least)...

In Sydney and in Melbourne Town,
They all knew Grandma's name,
And all about the animals,
That Grandma used to tame.

THe Australian place names and the premise of the Grandma taming exotic animals (exotic to most non-Australians kids) is as colorful as Grame Base's 11 2-page spreads. The story concerns Grandma (while we're told that everyone "knew her name," we're never told what it is), her taming, training, and befriending of wombats, kangaroos, dingos, goannas and local birds, including kookaburras, galahs, magpies, and coots. The color pictures are beautiful and often wonderfully improbable: A goanna (some kind of reptile) is shown in an easy cair, quaffing some type of drink (Foster's?), while he and a dingo (wild dog) watch a rat balance an Australian coin.

After introducing the animals who overrun Grandma's house, Base's brief plot concerns Grandma's journey (via pelican) over the desert sands and mountins, "until at dusk they reached a place, Where giant tree-ferns grew. There's a lush picture of this riverbank oasis, followed by a dark, fun/scary night illustration of the wombats--their eyes open in fear--"looking nervously around...for a wombat-eating snake." Grandma and pelican journey to next to the sea, where she dons "frilly bathing gear," and rides the waves on a blowup sea-dragon.

HOwever, things take an unexpected turn when Base decides that Grandma will be taken by the tide: "ANnd no-one's seen my Grandma/Even to this very day." This sudden disappearance is tempered by the narrator's speculation that Grandma probably landed on an island and thence to England , Spain, San Francisco, or Tingoor, or (her best bet), that Grandma's "back in Gooligulch, just like before." While the fantasy elements of the book make Grandma's fate less important, and the narrator's speculation more plausible, this turn of events may make the book somewhat unsettling for toddlers, restricting the book's audience to those around the ages 4-9 or so. You'll have to use your judgement. There's no hint that Grandma had a disaster, she pictured (in the narrator's fantasy taming animals "in thejungles of Tingoor" an d heading to San Francisco "On a Western Union train." Still, you might want to consider whrther the ambiguity of what happened to Grandma will be upsetting to your readers. Still, in keeping with the light, silly narrative poem (which is very imaginative and well-written), I think a zanier, more explicit conclusion would have been a better fit.

The other non-color picture are a monochromatic dark brown, made interesting by Base's lined shadings. Unfortunately, these are sometimes too dense, his most effective picture leave more "white space." In addition, Base introduces some of the animals without a nearby reference illustration: You have to go to the inside of the front cover to get the key to the two-page illustration of all the animals located inside the back cover! This is a little inconvenient. Overall, a very good book, with excellent color illustrations, and a clever poetic narrative that will draw engage individuals kids or in group reading.

I read this book for the first and second times last night.

It was my second time, because I had read the book when first published. But because I lived in Hawaii back then, perhaps I could not fully absorb the stunning setting and the author's many insights about island life.

I lived in Hawaii for 25 years, and in my second reading Ms. Nelson captured and returned me to 1970s Hawaii. At the same time, I learned a great deal from her book that I did not discern during my time in Hawaii.

The book is about much more than Hawaii. Anyone who has ever been young will identify with this memoir, and will come away richer for the author's uncanny powers of observation about universal themes.

I read this book for the first and second times last night.

It was my second time, because I had read the book when first published. But because I lived in Hawaii back then, perhaps I could not fully absorb the stunning setting and the author's many insights about island life.

I lived in Hawaii for 25 years, and in my second reading Ms. Nelson captured and returned me to 1970s Hawaii. At the same time, I learned a great deal from her book that I did not discern during my time in Hawaii.

The book is about much more than Hawaii. Anyone who has ever been young will identify with this memoir, and will come away richer for the author's uncanny powers of observation about universal themes.

A great book that captures the feel of Hawaii. Victoria's Hawaii is gone but the 'feel' of the place is timeless. Her description of Hawaiian music,plate lunches and hundreds of other details of island life are right on target. If you've been captivated by the idea of island life...read this book. You'll be on the beach,breathing in plumerias as long as your eyes cross the words.

I was introduced to this book by a writer who had lived in Hawaii for most of the '70s, and she felt that it was one of the best personal memoirs of living in Hawaii that she had read. Nelson taught at the University of Hawaii in the '70s, and traveled throughout the islands. She captures the beauty, the sadness, the cultural tensions and improbable harmonies of a people and a setting that is so much more than a Waikiki Beach tourist-trap destination. Her description of the people of Moloka'i was one my motivations to find the true meaning of **Aloha** and visit what may be the friendliest place in Hawai'i. St. Martin's should at least bring it back in trade paperback - the travel sections of most bookstores are dying for a distinctly different look at one of the most fascinating and spiritual places in the world

I have struggled through four biographies and numerous short stories to discover the "meaning" of Ned Kelly. This small time cattle rustler with vague notions of greater things inhabits a place in the mind of Australiana like no other historical figure. He is in fact one figure most widely cited and identified with in Australian popular media, press and the mind of the common bloke.

Every society has its outlaw heros: usually interpreted as victims of some unjust authority, champion of downtrodden rights and the oracle of some uncommon wisdom despite humble beginnings. The US has Jesse James and a whole slew of other cutthroats, Canada has a tortured half-blood religious maniac Louis Riel, and New Zealand has a few quaint highwaymen who are usually more famous when they head to Australia to become bushrangers. In Australia Ned Kelly appears as a sort of national zeitgeist -- the embodiment of everything virtuous and civilised -- a sort of pride in the uncivilised nature of the Oz national character -- the veritable well spring of the spirit of justice and national consciousness.

Writers typically take the above tact with Kelly. No one I have read cites Ned as a common criminal worthy of death because of actions he pursued -- people he killed. It was not axiomatic that the forces who be needed to put him to death, that the unjust imperial English system of law was fated to opress the offspring of Irish transportees, or that Ned had "no choice" but to commit crimes including cold-blooded murder. Ned had choices and made bad ones.

Jones does the best of describing the details of Ned's life. Laying the story bare for all to see. Jones sees Neds as making several bad choices in his life, and he is historically honest in the sympathetic telling of a noteable life.

Yet there are several points in the book that need to be addressed lest Jones fall headlong into the ranks of blind Kelly idolisers.

1)The fact remains that Kelly killed a man during a planned hold up to obtain arms. Both Kelly's excuse that he had "no choice" because the man decided to fire on Ned after Ned bailed him up, is no excuse for murder. And that is precisely what Ned was hanged for. Jones and Kelly sympahtisers attempts to focus on the fact of some wierd "self-defence" argument is extreme and could only be undertaken by a writer, indeed a whole nation of people blinded to the crimes of Ned.

2) There is always a vauge strain to link Ned with a true republican movement in Australia. I was waiting for this to come out all through the book. I wanted to know Ned's thinking and actions on this. Jones even has one chapter called "A Republic." But I read on and on and except for some vague reference in "Jerelderie Letter" (which was not authored by Ned), there is not single reference or utterance to Ned articulating a republican vision.

3) There is a comment about in the picture section of the book about the magistrate whom Jones says "some of his rulings seem absolutely insane when viewed in modern terms" (or something to that effect). Yet in the entire narrative we are not given any reference to any action of this magistrate that would indicate anthing other than fairness and cool reasoning. There is a vague intonation that because he was of Protestant Ulster roots that this court case was a microcosm of Irish oppression. But other than not allowing the defence enough time to prepare (as much a cause of the defence lawyers as the magistrate) there is nothing to impeach this person. Moreover the dialogue between him and Ned is electric at the end of the book and betrays nothing of an anger of the traditional English powerbrokers to rid the land of Ned. Ned was guilty of murder plain and simple and under the laws of the land he had to hang.

Jones, despite his empirical fairness, comes down basically on the standardised allegorical Ned of popular Australian Mythology. Ned is seen as almost inevitably a product of the forces around him. Yet in credit to Jones, reading his prose, one finds it hard to reach the conclusion that Ned was little more than a petty criminal with bad planning and execution skills, a poor judge of people and, most significantly, a cold-blooded murder.

Jones agrees with Ned's assertion that at Stringybark Creek he was driven to shoot when one Constable suddenly drew down on him after Ned had surrounded the camp of the constables intent upon stealing their weapons. He even blows in the head of another wounded constable in the same engagement after the constable pleads with him for his life and represents no threat to either Ned or the Gang.

At many places Ned had the choice to either engage in a life of brigandange and bail up everyone in NSW and Victoria or try to make it straight. His reasons for turning to a life of horse thievery and murder were ones consciously chosen after careful dilberation. Moreover despite Jones' narrative we really do not know what triggered the flight into crime: there are numerous allusions to "protecting the honour of his sister" from predatory constables, but we really do not know the specifics, everything is asserted, from a constable trying to steal a kiss, to more insidious things.

Though tales of Ned still may make for blustery tales of derring do for flush-faced Aussies full of beer intimidating unrepentent Brits, Ned evinces no common ethic that one would willingly want to embue personally or nationally. That Jones or anyone would hold Ned accountable for his actions would benefit biographers of Kelly and maybe the Nation that so blindly embraces him.

Ian Jones offers a sympathetic look at the life and times of Ned Kelly, one of the last and the most successful of the Australian bushrangers (roughly the equivalent of highwaymen).

From his early days as troubled youth to his end in Melbourne Gaol, and all the details of the time between. This is complete look at Ned, how his world view evolved, and how he closely he came to sparking a full-fledged revolt against the British Crown.

Although Jones is sympathetic to Ned, he does not try to hide unseemly details about Ned, his gang or his family -- which simply adds to the value of book. This is a complete portrait of the man, and it makes for riveting reading.

Ned Kelly is one of those figures where the solid accretion of legend and myth has made getting to the real man a difficult task in all. Kelly is both near-worshiped as a hero and reviled as a criminal who got what he deserved at the end of a rope in 1880. The recent film "Ned Kelly", starring Heath Ledger, portrayed him as a largely innocent victim of police harrassment and injustice. There are plenty who would label him a vicious, callous and murderous villain. Most likely, the truth is somewhere in between.

"Ned Kelly: A Short Life" by Ian Jones is a book about "somewhere in the middle". Jones looks at the evidence, the speculation and the hearsay, and presents as accurate a picture of the real Ned Kelly as you will probably get. Jones is openly candid about what is uncertain, and where different testimonies differ and how. A good case in point is the so-called Fitzgerald incident in the Kelly home, after which Alexander Fitzgerald claimed Kelly had tried to shoot him. Jones quite honestly states that no one really knows what actually happened, as testimony differs. However, Jones is also not shy about giving what he sees as the most plausible explanation.

The mindless hero-worship and the bitter revulsion that is given Kelly tend to over-simplify him. Jones presents a very complex man, and presents elements that add to that complexity. Kelly was a man of contradictions. Ian Jones brings that out, and delves deeply into the surroundings and motivations of what made Kelly "tick".

In the Kelly story, there are also a host of other colourful characters from among Kelly's associates as well as among the Police and the government of the day. Jones covers these people as well, in so far as they impacted on Kelly and company.

This is a very thorough book, and one certainly worth the read. If you only have one book on Kelly, then make it this one. Great as an introduction to the man and his times, Ian Jones has written a fantastic book. I would advise reading it before watching any movies on Kelly, such as Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom.

125 years after he was executed for murder, Ned Kelly is still reviled, revered and remembered.
Ian Jones writes about Kelly with the authority of an historian, the style of a stortyteller and the reflection of a sociologist.
The context of Kelly's reign (of terror?) is as important as its content, and Jones goes beyond chronology to take us into Kelly's world - a raw, growing nation, struggling with its identity, its mores, its weather and its ethnicity.
Anyone who has heard of the Kelly legend, and wants to explore it, will love and value this book
After reading Jones' account (and having a couple of months' break), I turned to Peter Carey's novel, "True Story of the Kelly Gang." The juxtaposition of fact and fiction is an interesting one, and I was glad I read both.

I came up with 'Nice Try' without knowing that I was looking for it: I found a copy at a yard sale. Needless to say I was "hooked" on Shane Maloney, and set out to get all of his books, which I did. My only regret is that I have read them all. All I have to look forward to now is another Maloney book, or old age and a bad memory so I can reread them!! The Aussie government is a bit different from ours in the USA, but it's not hard to catch on. The political manipulations and greed are easily identifiable there, too. You can't go wrong with a Murray Whelan mystery!!!

No one writes crime fiction as well as Shane Maloney. No one comes close. Not Robert B. Parker, Robert Crais, Tony Hillerman. They're great craftsmen, and of course, Shane Maloney is an apple to their oranges. But he's simply got more energy, more wit, more craft. Nice Try is an amazing book.

A word of warning to non-Australian readers, although written in English, the Australian vernacular in this book is used often and with wild abandon. Before reading the book, it would be wise to brush up on your Aussie slang, lest you get left behind. A quick test is provided at the end of this review to see if you're up to it.

In case you want to brave it without fortifying yourself with the lingo, err...language, here's a rundown as to what the book's about. Fair dinkum!

It's 1990 and the city of Melbourne is making a bid for the 1996 Olympic Games, and things are looking very promising. As far as the Bid Committee is concerned, they're a shoo-in, with only one possible cloud on the horizon. They want to ensure that the aboriginal people are on board when the IOC delegates hit town. So Murray Whelan is enlisted to keep things quiet on the aboriginal front. A simple job as far as he's concerned, it should be money for jam and then back to his job as advisor to the Minister for Water Supply.

And so it was until a young aboriginal athlete is bashed to death, and pretty soon, the whole bid starts to become jeopardised. As fast as Murray tries to fix the problems, the more they seem to crop up with the problems becoming more outlandish and, at times, amusing.

As we all know, the Melbourne bid for the 1996 Olympic Games failed and this is a humorous suggestion as to a contributing factor to it's failure.

Oh yes, and here's my test to see how hard or easy it will be to understand the language: "Take a squiz at this book, she's a real corker, fair dinkum. You'd be a real drongo to miss it and probably about as popular as a blowie at a barbie .So garn, give it a burl."

Today - Memorial Day 2000 - the New York Times headlined a story about a massive protest by the Aborigines in Sidney. They feel left out of the cultural doings at the upcoming Summer Olympics. In his book, Mr.Maloney's protagonist Murray Wheelan tries to nail down Melbourne's bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Guess what the problem is? The aborigines feel neglected and protest. This being fiction, things get quite involved, of course, with murder, mayhem and a family confusion right out of Gilbert and Sullivan. We have a passel of Aussie crackpots, and the author's humor makes you laugh out loud. Ignore the mystery part - just enjoy the incredible humor.

This book helps the kids learn numbers and also how to search for animals/birds in a picture. The artwork in this book is beautiful.

Both my kids love this book. My 18 month old son wants us to read this book several times during the day. I am going to buy several copies of this book to give as gifts to other kids.

This is, by far, the most beautifully illustrated childrens book I have ever owned! As a preschool teacher, I have read and re-read this book to hundreds of children. They all love to find the hidden animals. Some childrens books have illustrations that, to me, say, "I'll just scribble anything on the paper...it's just a kids book." Atsuko treats this book as artwork....and that is truly what it is!!! It is a pleasure to look at all of the beautiful scenes on every page.

If so, then you must see this book. It is just absolutely beautiful, and can be enjoyed by both children and adults. I have an extensive collection of children's books featuring gorillas, and this is by far my favorite for very young readers. Ms. Morozumi obviously loves her subject matter as much as I do.

The art work in this lovely book is incredible. It also lends itself to reading and re-reading. For the youngest children, you can point at different parts of the lovely pictures (they are set in different seasons and environments), and as they mature, you can "hunt" for the different animals in each picture. (one gorilla, two budgerigars,...nine cats...). A true gem!

One Woolly Wombat certainly has no complicated storyline or even a basic one for that matter. Similar in style to say the 12 days of Christmas song but in numerical order the reader visits one woolly wombat sunning by the sea along with increasing numbers of other Australian wildlife with every even numbered group doing something that rhymes with the activity the odd number before it was doing.

The friends the reader will meet to help them count along with a wombat are, koalas, magpies, kangaroos, platypuses, possums, emus, echidnas. goannas, kookaburras, dingos, cockatoos, hopping mice and seals. Illustrations of these animals (with the exception of the wombat) are very realistic looking as well.

If more of an actual story you were after other great Australian wildlife fiction picture book classics that kids all over the world will love are out there. The best are Possum Magic and Hunwick's Egg by Mem Fox. Sebastian Lives in a Hat by Thelma Catterwell, Wombat Stew by Marcia Vaughan, the entire Steve Parish story book collection by Rebecca Johnson such as The Cranky Crocodile are also great reads. Olga the Brolga and Edward the Emu although not the best stories have some greatest drawn colourful illustrations of Australian wildlife you will ever see.

This book has been a favourite of my cousins. It is witty, colourful and incorporates Australian animals, which children always love. Lots of pictures, and easily read or sung.

one woolly wombat sunning by the sea two cuddly koalas sipping gumnut tea

and so on to fourteen A now-classic Australian counting book, featuring native animals and other features of the Australian landscape and lifestyle (bush, lamingtons, and some flora)

A good choice for a counting book (also going beyond the traditional 10) for Aussie and non-Aussie kids alike.

Learning to count has never been this fun (or colorful!) My niece couldn't stop talking about wombats and magpies and koalas. The illustrations are vibrant, sometimes silly. You just can't go wrong with nine hungry goannas (look like alligators) in aprons and chefs hats.