James Moloney

This is one of those fabulous gritty books that captures you from the first page - I just couldn't put it down. It deals with some heavy issues such as emotional and psychological abuse, and raises the question 'Is murder ever justifiable?" A worthy contender for CBCA Book of the Year: Older Readers - it has my vote!

Great beginning, so-so middle, and an ending left hanging for a sequel. Mysterious, black-robed forms deliver a sleeping boy to an out-of-the-way orphanage in the opening to this so-so fantasy adventure. Saved from having his memories overwritten by a magical book by a fellow orphan, young Marcel soon discovers that he and two fellow orphans just might be the heirs to the kingdom. The plot devices are used fairly creatively, but even a flying horse, an evil magician, elves, and of course a show more dragon couldn't quite pull above the mediocre level for me. It opens well, but the surprises weren't too surprising, and the ending was a bit of a disappointment. show less

Our young hero has just moved to a new town and is itching to try out his skateboard in a big storm pipe that seems perfect for skateboarding. As he's about to enter the huge cement tunnel, some local boys come to warn him off, telling him that there was a terrible accident the previous year and that two boys were badly hurt. But of course, our young man can't resist the call of the wild. Did curiosity kill the skateboarder?

I borrowed this book from the library in my quest to get my hands show more on every book that Shaun Tan of The Arrival and The Lost Thing fame, has worked on. A handful more great etchings by him and the story was fine, but I've never been a fan of skateboarding, actually find it stupidly reckless, so can't say this story really spoke to me. show less

I spent one year reading all of the Children Book Council of Australia nominees. This was one of them. I have no freaking clue why. It was one of the worst books I've ever read. It was sick and disturbing - and I love Criminal Minds. This was just terrible. Dylan is a twisted fk. And Tim is easily manipulated. Plus I don't think it should be available to teens - and I read it as one. No need to give teenage boys ideas frankly.