Book Review: The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl

From Goodreads: Alba loves her life just as it is. She loves living behind the bakery, and waking up in a cloud of sugar and cinnamon. She loves drawing comics and watching bad TV with her friends.
The only problem is she’s overlooked a few teeny details:
Like, the guy she thought long gone has unexpectedly reappeared.
And the boy who has been her best friend since forever has suddenly gone off the rails. 
And even her latest comic-book creation is misbehaving.
Also, the world might be ending – which is proving to be awkward.
As Doomsday enthusiasts flock to idyllic Eden Valley, Alba’s life is thrown into chaos. Whatever happens next, it’s the end of the world as she knows it. But when it comes to figuring out her heart, Armageddon might turn out to be the least of her problems.

Thoughts: This is the fourth of the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) shortlisted Older Readers books. I will admit this is the title and cover and I was most dubious about - truthfully it's not something I would have naturally gravitated to. I would have missed out. This is a true gem. What's more, a quick scan of it's reviews on Goodreads and it seems to be connecting with it's audience as well. Keil has avoided so many of the young adult cliches - no love triangle, a female protagonist who has curves and an positive body image and a supporting cast that are believable and great characters in their own right. Alba and her friends are having their last summer before they scatter or stay. Everyone seems to be fairly certain what they want to do, where they want to go. Alba thought she knew, but now she's not so sure.  I'm sure it's a feeling many young people have when they finish school - what now? Is what I want to do really what I want to do or just what everyone thinks I should do?

Alba is an incredible character. She is sassy, smart, talented and sure of herself. She is a fantastic teenage female character and there should be more of them. Cinnamon Girl does sneak up on you. The book just grows in strength with each chapter until by the end you are blown away with how natural it all feels. The characters have become your friends and you want to find them and ask how they are doing. Fabulous book and my front runner to take out the top prize.

The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl gets 4 stars!

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it

*****   It was amazing 

Book Review: Life in Outer Space

From Goodreads: Sam Kinnison is a geek, and he’s totally fine with that. He has his horror movies, his nerdy friends, World of Warcraft – and until Princess Leia turns up in his bedroom, he doesn’t have to worry about girls.
Then Sam meets Camilla. She’s beautiful, friendly and completely irrelevant to his life. Sam is determined to ignore her, except that Camilla has a life of her own – and she’s decided that he’s going to be part of it.
Sam believes that everything he needs to know he can learn from the movies ... but now it looks like he’s been watching the wrong ones.

Thoughts: This is the final book from the older readers short list for the Children's Book Council that I needed to read. It was fantastic. Up until this point I was thinking it was going to be really hard to choose a winner, but for me, this is clearly it. 
Where to start? Keil has written a book that works - all of it. The characters, the story, the setting - it just works. I know Sam and his friends because it was me and my friends at school. Fringe dwellers, noticed by certain people who decided their role at school was to make life difficult for those they didn't like. I also like the way that Camilla moves between the groups, seemingly immune from what others think of her. As a teacher I discovered these kids can manage that movement because they truly don't care if you like them or not. They are comfortable with who they are and don't need anyone else's approval. Kids like that fit in any where and if they do attract the attention of a bully, it doesn't last long because they refuse to react the way they are suppose to. They are too hard a target. It's a skill I wish we could teach.
I truly don't know what else to say. The book is well written, the characters are believable and endearing, the story paced just fast enough to keep it moving without feeling like you are being rushed - on the whole it's just about near perfect. Recommend it? Absolutely.