After January The novel, After January, deals with some of the important issues for young adults in Australia in ways to which they can easily relate. Some issues that are raised include social acceptance, broken families, choices about the future and independence. The novel talks about the main...

Everyone has heard the saying, "from rags to riches". What if you were in a situation where that saying was reversed? Would it change you forever? This is exactly what happened to Alex, the protagonist in the novel The Wild Children by Felicia Holman. This drastically changes Alex's l...

Ondaatje's novel, In the Skin of a Lion, reflects the situation of immigrants and the political power structure in Canada earlier in the century. The writer argues that those at the top of society's power hierarchy during that period, from both a political and financial standpoint, were disregarding...

I feel that the ways by which death is discussed in children's literature are very important, as a large number of children are forced to deal with the death of a loved one each year. I think that many children turn to books as form of guidance and support and for this reason the ways death is...

"You do not fully know a man until you have walked around in his shoes" Social isolation due to economical disadvantages is the criteria of which Alex Kotlowitz novel There Are No Children Here is based upon. It is a true story in which free lance journalist, Kotlowitz followed the lives ...

In comparing Dirt Music by Tim Winton, and Journey to the Stone Country by Alex Miller, both novels have numerous similarities and differences.  Winton and Miller have based both their novels in Australia.  The focus is on the journeys that the characters in each novel take. Winton's  journe...

"TOUCH ME" The novel Touch Me by James Maloney explores a variety of themes that are extremely evident in our own lives and our society today. Through the forging of relationships, development of characters and experiences throughout the novel, themes such as social conformity, masc...

My Independent reading book that I choose for the book of the month was "Dark Secrets; Legacy of Lies", by Elizabeth Chandler. The main purpose the author wrote this book was mainly she enjoys writing stories that are mysterious or romantic. She loves to write stories that she knows the pu...

For almost three decades, Michael Crichton has written novels that appeal to his reader=s imagination and take a firm hold of their pocketbooks. Crichton=s writing stands out as much as his 6=9@ frame. He has become one of the most widely read and bought science fiction authors of the past th...