Ophelia Wild, Secret Spy by Elena de Roo and Tracy Duncan

Little books, such as this one, make me wonder why people think children's books are for children alone. Why must it be left to a seven year old to enjoy a quick, delightful read?

Elena de Roo's rhyming couplets are great fun and add a really nice momentum to this story of Ophelia Wild, who opens a spy agency, scattering her leaflets (business cards written on leaves) to the wind. Soon she meets Albert who is both interested in joining the agency and in hiding from some bullies. Feisty Ophelia is able to use her ingenuity to send the bullies running. She and Albert become good friends and set out to solve mysteries around town and at school.

Heavily illustrated by Tracy Duncan's adorable and bubbly drawings, this book is just as interesting to look through as it is a pleasure to read. Combined they create a character that I wish I had as a friend when I was that age.

Very worth while finding this little treasure.

4 Silver Stars

Find it on Goodreads

Hanna

Hanna appeared to be an interesting movie for its Genre, and I do like me some Cate Blanchette.

So, what did I think now that I’ve seen it?

Well, it’s an over the top action movie with some rather odd quiet moments in between. In other words, it was good fun!

One thing that I found a bit off putting was the bizarre trance music that was thrust upon us suddenly at the beginning of the first real action sequence. It didn’t seem to fit in with what the movie was going for, and kept distracting me and making me laugh at the ridiculousness of how every action movie seems to need either dance/trance or heavy metal music when people are beating each other up and shooting at each other. When the credits rolled, I saw that the music had been done by the Chemical Brothers, and then it all seemed to make sense. I still think there was a major disjunct between the tone of the movie and the music, but at least I understood how the producers could have let the music get so self involved.

Oh, one other thing that was distractingly ‘arty’ and over-done was the lighting design. I didn’t realise that secret military bases had a ‘disco’ setting. Nor that the same setting would also be applied in an abandoned theme park, only with coloured globes… Let’s just say it’s a good thing that none of these characters were epileptic, as the fights might have been over much sooner if they ended up convulsing on the ground.

But, overall, it’s entertaining. As we learned years ago with Serenity, movies about teenage girls who can kick butt just seem to work. (Please note: Serenity is infinitely better than Hanna)

Stormbreaker: Alex Rider #1 by Anthony Horowitz

Well what can be said about Stormbreaker?

It is perfect - for what it is.

This is a fast paced, lots of action, spy-James-Bond-style, book with a 14 year old main character. What 10-16 year old boy wouldn't love imagining themselves in his place? Solving the mysteries, thwarting the baddies, using high-tech gizmos, kung-fu-ing henchmen, and being an all round cool guy!

This was a little out of the realm for me. I don't usually go anywhere near this kind of genre. But a new job where I'm expected to know my backlist, an audio book that matched the length of a drive to Canberra and what do you know... Alex Rider. Teenage spy.

This time, I was not taken with the reader of the audio book. I will read the rest of the series myself. It felt stilted and was too easy to tune out and his accents where not the best.

The book on the other hand is better than I thought it would be. It's not as 'well written' in parts and a lot of what I read, but it's perfect for its market and when boys (or even girls, as I know there are some out there that are fans) are reluctant to read, such easy to read but fast paced books are great!

Having discovered in the first chapter that his 'Uncle' (who hated him calling him 'Uncle') died, I immediately wondered which book in this series uncovers that Alex Rider is actually Will Rider's son, not his nephew.

I will have to read to find out and I know I will enjoy them as I go.