Isn’t it time we listen?

Australia is on fire. It’s burning.

Now bushfires and wildfires happen every year around this time in Australia, it’s summertime and they do have the right conditions for these fires. They aren’t, however, usually so deadly.

The Independent

I follow quite a few Australians, from a variety of backgrounds and abilities. One such person I follow is Anika from LittlePineNeedle on instagram (link here) who has various chronic illnesses and currently has evacuated twice, from two different areas, and has to wear a face mask with a purifier built-in in order to breath

properly. Something similar to what I show here. Just in order to breath. Inside her home, her mum’s home, wherever she has had to evacuate now. It’s ridiculous.

 

TechRadar

One of the author’s I follow, A.B. Endacott (her instagram is here, my reviews two of her books I’ve read are here and here) is luckily in one of the least impacted areas, but her local MP (I’m not sure of the Aussie terms but in the UK that’s your local representative for the parliament) is quite high up in their cabinet. She has emailed them asking for action, asking for some form of explanation for the inaction.

That’s what’s odd, and very concerning. From what I can see online the Australian government isn’t making any big efforts to react, they aren’t funding the volunteer firefighters, who are dying whilst trying to stop these fires. Here are two men with their children, from the volunteer firefighting service, who have passed whilst fighting these intense fires.

Geoffrey Keaton, 32, and Andrew O’Dwyer, 36

The Guardian

The Australian Prime Minister (like the president for US readers) has ridiculous thoughts about climate change which really don’t need to be voiced whilst these fires caused by the increased temperature rage across the country. Thankfully due to pressure from others MPs, there are a few changes being made. But not without a fight.

But in the end, Australia is still burning. FOUR THOUSAND PEOPLE huddled at the coast of Mallacoota have been told to jump into the ocean to escape the blaze if it gets too close. People have lost their homes, their possessions, and many are afraid for their lives. The emergency service minister for New South Wales has been absent, and trust has been lost in the Prime Minister and in the government. 46 degrees Celsius. 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

ABC

AUSTRALIA IS BURNING

Isn’t it time we listen?

Magnus and the Book that has Potential

First things first, thank you to NetGalley for providing a free eARC of this book in return for an unbiased review.

I picked this book up as the concept sounded cute and interesting, and as a Geography student, the environmental viewpoint was really inviting. Sadly, I was disappointed by this book. Although I went into this book knowing that it was intended for children aged 7-9, I still felt that it was too childish for this audience. The writing was also sub-par in quality, and I hate when this happens in children’s literature as it feels like the author believed their full efforts weren’t needed for “just” a kids book.

There were sections of this book which should have been great emotional moments, with the characters feeling confused, shocked, worried, excited or more. However, this never seemed to happen and emotions were very muted. One such example of this: ‘”Oh.” Magnus was very excited.’ … was he? Was he really? With various sectors like this, I feel like this book could have really benefited from further input from editors and the writer having more experience with writing, both in general and for children.

I feel like this book is more aimed at 4-6 year-olds, as there is almost no emotional depth and the language used (with an exception being dinosaur species)  being very simple. There were plot setups for future books which older children would likely be able to spot with ease and the character of Em has what feels like no development.

Moving onto the good points of this short read. The concept of this book is actually really good! As mentioned above, I love the environmental aspect of the book which pushes the use of renewable energy and challenges the consumer-driven world we live in. The concept of the series is also really good, with multiple (seemingly parallel) universes and a well fleshed-out villain who is perfect for a kids book. There were a few really interesting scenes, one involving the Jewelled Book of the Universe and Em, and another involving a clever deception of the bad guys at the end!

I feel like this book could have been so much better and had so much potential. Possibly the book was rushed, or it was the authors first work and the editorial team didn’t analyse the writing as well as they could. The plot line is there, and with a little more development the characters are also. Fingers crossed that as this series continues on the author will develop and improve and make this an interesting kids series that I would happily recommend to my friends with children. I hope S. L. Browne manages to pull this off and end up with a really unique, fun and interesting children’s series with a brilliant environmental message behind it.