Leviathan & Behemoth by Scott Westerfield are steam punk/alternative history novels written for teens. His fast paced stories have mechanical walking battleships, genetically engineered living airships, a runaway prince, and a girl masquerading as a boy (and out doing them all), action, adventure, friendship and morality. Keith Thomson’s wonderful illustrations add the readers understanding of the technologies found in Westerfield’s world, and to early 20th century “feel” of the book. Highly recommended.
Melina Marchetta’s depiction of Sydney’s inner west in Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca and The Pipers Son is so realistic that I actually had a discussion with a colleague about whether or not her characters had taken the quickest and most obvious route driving from one scene to another! Apart from a strong sense of place, Marchetta creates believable characters. I made a mistake in reading the related books in reverse order, (The Pipers Son then Saving Francesca), but they read well as stand alone novels.
Time and place were wonderfully evoked in Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet. Though I’ve read and loved his more recent novels, I’d not read Cloudstreet, perhaps because I was sure that it could not possibly live up to its reputation. I was not disappointed, and understand why this novel appears so often on “Australia’s favorites” lists.
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