Kiki’s Epeolatry

  'A tragic bush fire sparks a beautiful friendship between a young girl and a baby koala. Ruby is dreading changing schools as her autism makes it hard to befriend other kids. But when her dog finds a baby koala and her family agrees to foster it, Ruby quickly becomes the koala's best friend. Ruby loves quiet and routine, which makes her a perfect koala carer! A talented artist, she names the koala Pablo - after her favourite artist. Through looking after Pablo, Ruby befriends a neighbouring girl who loves painting as much as she does. Soon Pablo is well enough to move to a koala kindergarten. But is Ruby ready to move to her own new school?' If you want to give your child a heart-warming little story about how a girl on the autism spectrum looks after a koala joey; makes a new friend; comes to terms with important life-changing events in her family life and factual information about the ongoing, upsetting tragedy of Australia's bushfires then this book is a must in an...

    'Set in Melbourne, Loner is a humorous and heartfelt exploration of new adulthood. Lona kills her days by sneaking into the dark room at her old art school to develop photographs. She kills her nights DJ-ing the roller disco at Planet Skate. She is in inexplicably, debilitatingly love with a bespectacled Doctor Who-obsessed former classmate, and in comfortable, platonic love with her best friend Tab. Lona works hard to portray a permanent attitude of cynicism and ennui but will her carefully constructed persona be enough to protect her from the inevitable sorrows and unexpected joys of adult life? Loner re-examines notions of social isolation experienced by young people, suggesting sometimes our own company can be a choice and not a failing.' Lona is clearly a young woman on the cusp on trying to figure out what she wants from life and whether societal expectations are the right path to go down. What this means is that it is clear that she is having a dilemma as to what sh...

  'Set against the colourful boho backdrop of London's Camden in the 1990s, Craig Revel Horwood's first novel,  Dances and Dreams on Diamond Street , tells the story of an unlikely family of friends who each rent a room in a ramshackle six-bedroom, four-storey townhouse. Like any family, the residents of Diamond Street sometimes fights and often act up but when the chips are down, they're there for each other in an instant - usually brandishing a cheap bottle of booze, and the offer of an impromptu kitchen disco.  Presided over by the wise-cracking but warm-hearted patriarch of the family, Danny Hall, a professional dancer turned choreographer, the novel follows a year in the life of the inhabitants of Diamond Street, rough diamonds one and all, as they try to achieve their dreams - with unexpected, heart-warming and sometimes hilarious results.' Set in the heart of the 1990's, Horwood's first novel feels like a time-capsule from a pocket of what could be de...

Lantern Square feels like a place where not only can you find great people to be around, but also be open to so many different possibilities. It is clear that our protagonist, Hannah, feels the same way after moving to the Little Cottage after having quite an interesting history. I found this book thoroughly enjoyable. There is no other way I can put it. Yes, there were occasions where I wasn't able to follow along properly. I'm not sure whether it was the style of the writing or simply my own fault. But the heart of the book was truly good. It had a main character who was clearly real and has some interesting and mysterious plot details which if you get further enough along, you can't help but continue on the journey. I think that the only way I can really describe this book is like a warm hot chocolate with a toasty blanket by the fireplace. It's definitely one of those which you would without a doubt read during those cold winter nights. It has that true community fe...