The Ballad of Cauldron Bay
Elizabeth Honey

Allen & Unwin 2004
290pp., pbk., $15.95
1741142555

The Ballad of Cauldron Bay by Elizabeth Honey is a great read. The main character is a girl called Henni. Henni also appears in other Elizabeth Honey novels such as 45 & 47 Stella Street and Fiddleback which I haven’t read but you don’t need to have read them to be able to enjoy The Ballad of Cauldron Bay.

In this book Henni goes on holidays with her family and a group of their friends to a lovely beachside area called Cauldron Bay. Eventually they are joined by Tara who turns out to be not so nice and Henni does not like her. But her dad has asked her to be nice to Tara as she is going through a difficult time in her own family.

Tara becomes interested in one of the boys in a group of surfers and even thinks about running away with him. Henni doesn’t know whether to tell the adults or just mind her own business.

The book is like a diary or a journal written by Henni and includes her sketches and poems about people and things around her. I really liked this as I could relate to what was happening to Henni and what she was feeling and made the book easy to read. I felt I really knew the characters even though they were not over-described.

It has made me want to go and read the other Elizabeth Honey books about Henni and the Stella Street gang and her family. I would recommend this book to others aged 11 up to 14.

Grace, 11, Sydney.

Shaping up for Lyndal Maloney (by Chrissie Perry) is an interesting book about a boy named Harry MacGuire. Harry falls is madly in love with a girl at school named Lyndal Maloney. But if he wants her to like him he’s got to shape up-and quick. Harry finally gets in shape when along comes some competition. And he has to fight for all he’s worth.
I recommend this book for 8- 12 year olds.

Christina Zilm, South Australia