Reviews of Ian Bone's Titles

Sleep Rough Tonight

"Bone has created characters who are hard to like and also hard to forget. Only Marta warrants empathy. Yet readers' hearts will pound as they follow Alex through the wee weekend hours, through empty warehouse lots, inside freeway bridge structures, to a nail-biting final confrontation. Terror, adventure, and the struggle between right and wrong come together in this high-tension story of bullying at its extreme form, from one of Australia's most popular writers for young adults."

                Frances Bradburn, Booklist, American Librarians Association

"Bone at once creates an atmosphere of unease and menace, provokes your thinking and provides a cracking plot."

                Lorien Kaye, Saturday Age, 26/6/04

 

"The psychological battle ranges over issues of friendship, faith, courage and self-belief, and is played out against an equally taut and effective plot…"

                Katharine England, Adelaide Advertiser, 24/7/04

The Song of an Innocent Bystander

"A chilling but seductive coming-of-age novel… cries out to be read. It's a remarkably tender exploration of how characters can be shaped by their own powerlessness."

                Barbara Pendrigh, The Bookseller, UK, May 2003

 

"This is a tense and gripping thriller, which has some unexpected twists. Ultimately, it is an exploration of truth, the nature of good and evil, and the powerful human instinct to survive."

                The Bookseller, Teen Picks, UK, June 2003

"Complex characters, precise and relevant detail plus exquisite tension and release make for an unforgettable experience."

                Margot Nelmes, Reading Time, Vol 46, No.4

 

"...grips the reader with the force of its moral and ethical dilemma, while never straying from being a probable story set in a world that is becoming less and less predictable."

                Archie Fusillio, Australian Book Review, December 2002

 

"One of the year's best."

                Agnes Nieuwenhuizen, Australian Centre for Youth Literature, Dec 2002

 

Nominated for the American Librarians Association's 'Best Book for Young Adults' list, 2004

 

Book of the Month, Australian Women's Weekly, September 2002

 

Baby Days

"A beautifully captivating book… Told in a lilting, prose style reminiscent of early nursery rhymes and lullabies…"

Reading Time, Vol 48, No1

 

"Spudvilas's illustrations are good enough to frame."

Daily Telegraph, Saturday 13 December, 2003

 

"...this book effervesces with grace and fun."

Australian Bookseller

 

"...text is lyrical but simple, floating its way through the book as the baby floats his way through the day."

Aussie Reviews

Dancing Night, Tonight

"A story statically charged with love and magic, both in the words and the illustrations."

Reading Time, Vol 47, No2

 

Shoo Cat

"Charming and sure to be a winner."

Magpies Magazine

That Dolphin Thing

"Ian Bone, author of the acclaimed Tin Soldiers and Fat Boy Saves World has done it again. This is a sensitive, moving and funny book."

            Helen Purdie, Magpies, Vol 16 No 5

Bone captures the egocentric voice of the adolescent beautifully ? and here he has written a novel that is both tough and funny."

            Jo Goodman, Reading Time, Vol 45 No 4

 

"...a real gem. That Dolphin Thing is the hilarious story of an adolescent boy?s journey through a time of tough emotional experiences."

                Vanessa Rankin-Hume, Fiction Focus, Vol 16 No1, 2002

 

  "... is full of bad jokes and attractively eccentric characters; he handles a deathly serious subject with a deft and disarming lightness of touch."

Tin Soldiers

"Tin Soldiers  is a powerful and moving novel about men, violence, war and the long memories that keep old conflicts from fading."

            Judges Comments, 2001 NSW Premiers Literary Awards (Ethel Turner Prize)  

"(One of)  the best teenage novels ever published in Australia..."

                John Marsden, The Age Extra, December 9, 2000

"... a serious meditation on the vicious cycle of masculine violence... This strong book will stay in the mind with the same tenacity (as "Fat Boy Saves World")"

Lorien Kaye, Children's Bookseller & Publisher, June 2000  

"... a complex, dense, powerful and, at times, frightening journey down parallel roads of self discovery... It is violent without being gratuitous, topical without being trivial and tells a very male story without crossing the line into macho."

Chris Thompson, Viewpoint Magazine, Spring 2000  

"A powerful, tough, brave, gripping book."

Booktalkers Newsletter, No 2, July 2000  

"... a racism issue well handled by Bone. He shows the teenage male enclosed in the armour of self-loathing and fear of emotional contact, in a search to find meaning."

Sunday Age - Agenda, 11 June, 2000  

"... a powerful novel with strong masculine voices."

                Barbara Dobson, Reading Time Supplement, Vol 44, No2.  

"A great read."

            Chris Foley, REACT Magazine, Number 3, 2000

Winning Back Dad

"Bone's punchy style and pithy humour creates farce as well as pathos in this essentially thought provoking treatment. A commendable addition to the Walker range ...

Times Educational Supplement, UK, October 1999  

" ... positive, perceptive, child-focused and often funny exploration of the effects of a truckie's redundancy on his family."

                Katherine England, Adelaide Advertiser, August 1999  

"This is a great Aussie book for kids between 7-10 years because it is all fun."

Tessa Wyllie, aged 11, Geelong Advertiser, May 2000  

Recommended in the Bulletin Magazine's "Top Childrens Book Buys for Christmas '99"

                Robin Morrow, The Bulletin, November 1999  

Recommended on "Angela Catterns Show", ABC Radio

                Lowene Crowsdale, ABC Radio, September 1999  

Recommended by the NSW Education Department's Bookshelf 2000

The School Magazine, NSW Department of Education & Training

Fat Boy Saves World

"Rarely have I read a youth novel of such quality and insight."

                Tess Brady, Australian Book Review, Feb/March, 1999  

"(Ian Bone's) writing is exciting and accessible ... (Fat Boy Saves World) glows with originality from the first page."

                Gail Mahon: Australian Bookseller & Publisher, Oct 1998  

"(Fat Boy Saves World) is a great book. It is filled with lots of emotions, lots of caring bits and lots of fun."

                Casey Moran, Year 9 Melba HTS: React Magazine, Nov 1998

"This unusual novel combines beautiful, original and tender language which delights and terrifies, with a jaunty, self-depreciating humour touched with despair."

                Anne Briggs: Magpie, March 1999  

"The book brings together a cast of characters who touch on each other's lives like lightning bolts..."

                Dylan Tovey, Brisbane Courier Mail, 9 February 1999  

"(Fat Boy Saves World) features meticulous characterisations, eloquent prose and ingenious narrative techniques which prove (Ian Bone) is a formidable writer."

         Alex Radovanovic, Viewpoint Magazine, Winter 1999  

Recommended on "Angela Catterns Show", ABC Radio

                Lowene Crowsdale, ABC Radio, July, 1999