Kathryn LomerReseñas

6/10, I found this YA book a bit monotonous and the plot really didn't go anywhere. In fact this story is one of the most bizarre stories I've ever read, the plot is essentially all over the place. The first part was about an elephant seal on the road, then she unexpectedly gave birth to her daughter and the main character just watched over the two seals for much of the book? As I read on, the topic of the plot, which felt like diary or memoir entries, slowly switched to contemplating about life, languages, refugees, exams, and other random events, such as hypnosis, and belly dancing? What kind of characters even do these types of things, it's not something I would find in a realistic book such as this. Also has a lot of discussion about getting boys and hooking up which I found uncomfortable, these characters are only teenagers, not adults. If you like contemplative novels skip this one and try Where the Road Leads Us by Robin Reul instead of this.

This won the Kenneth Slessor Award at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards in 2008. I enjoyed it, especially some surprisingly explicit sexual references in otherwise decorous poems, and -- in a poem titled 'Sunflowers' -- a lyrical celebration of Fibonacci numbers.

I'm not sure how to rate this book. It was cute and an easy read, and I learnt A LOT about sailing and sign language, but the storyline was bland. I liked the dual narrative between Will and Summer, but the book needed more action. It just sort of flatlined from start to finish with a couple of hiccups along the way. One thing that absolutely irritated me was the lack of quotation marks. It was a struggle separating prose from dialogue, and I'm not sure why authors/publishers decide to omit them. Despite this gripe, "Talk Under Water" wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't memorable.

A great book about Australia through the eyes of another culture. Akira decides to be an exchange student to escape the pressures of his father and the memories of his best friend who killed himself. Unfortunately, he finds himself in a very strange host family where the only "normal" person is 10 year old Daisy. The father has had a nervous breakdown, the mother works extremely long hours and is always sad, and the older daughter Angie seems to be extremely mad at Akira for no reason and also indulges in a great deal of high risk-taking behaviours. In contrast, Akira meets Stolly and his very welcoming Greek family. Things come to a head when Akira buys a motorbike, as it turns out the oldest son in his host family was killed in a motorbike accident. Unfortunately his appearance on the bike triggers off something in the usually normal Daisy and she disappears. Can Akira find her before she makes the same mistake his best friend did? Excellent, moving novel. p.63 A meets S p.67