new "Notes" (Children's book reviews)

The latest edition of "Notes from the Windowsill" is now available at

http://www.armory.com/~web/vol11.no5.html

Reprints include _The Color Kittens_ and the first two Trixie Belden
mysteries.

New book reviews include _Hitler's Daughter_, an Australian prize
winner that couldn't have been published here at a better time...
--
"I like books... I mean some of them. I don't like the kind that gives
you the feeling they're trying to improve your mind. I like the kind that
tells you things you already almost know." -- _The Mummy Market_
Terry Pratchett strikes again: http:www.armory.com/~web/vol11.no5.html

Wendy E. Betts wrote in article
.. .

The latest edition of "Notes from the Windowsill" is now available at

http://www.armory.com/~web/vol11.no5.html


New book reviews include _Hitler's Daughter_, an Australian prize
winner that couldn't have been published here at a better time...
--

I haven't read Hitler's Daughter yet - thanks for the review, but I'd like
to say that I am quite an admirer of Jackie French, the author.

First book of hers I bought - many years ago - as called something like
"Organic Gardening"!

When I bought a collection of YA SF stories of hers called _Alien Games_
(which blew me away), I didn't realise it was the same author.

She's prolific, covering a range of ages & genres. Mostly those of hers
I've read are SF. Although the ISFDB only lists one title of hers
(_Somewhere Around the Corner_ which I must read - a time slip novel for
teens), she's also written:

.... a series of post-holocaust books for upper primary children, the
Children of the Valley series, which I like a lot (_The Music from the
Sea_, _The City in the Sand_, _The House of a Hundred Animals_, _The Metal
Men_ & a 5th that I haven't read)

.... a new YA (or _mature_ teen) series of SF mysteries: _In the Blood_ and
_Blood Moon_, so far. These are set in a future society where the cities
are sophisticated & technologically advanced (& probably regimented) & the
country dwellers live a variety of alternative lifestyles. I thought her
explorations of "what's a successful family unit / community" very
thought-provoking in these 2 books, but the mysteries/solution process
didn't quite gel for me. (Still, I will buy the next one when it comes
out.)

.... _Tajore Arkle_ - a quest / coming of age fantasy that I was impressed
with. (for teens).

.... something called "Cafe on Callisto" which won an Aurealis Australian SF
award for Childrens short fiction (ages 8 - 12) in 2001, according to
ISFDB.

These are her web sites:

http://www.jackiefrench.com/kidsbooks.html

and

http://www.harpercollins.com.au/jackiefrench/ (page at [one of] her
publishers)

(Note: _How the Aliens from Alpha Centauri Invaded my Maths Class and
Turned Me Into A Writer_ is a book about writing, aimed at teens. "make it
fat, make it thin, make it fat again")

Jackie appears to be quite a character - she lives in the country (which
I'm sure is why the backgrounds in her SF stories seem so plausible) - and
also appears on Australian TV on occasion, in some of our lifestyle
programs.

Jane