Victoria Carless

Lani's mother is always going off on hair-brained tangents and schemes. Her latest one is to rent a cabin at a retreat in the bush and move Lani and herself there and leave Lani's professor dad behind! Lani is shocked and appalled when she gets there - no mobiles and technology and the school ( spelled skool -ugh!) is just a shack! How will she achieve her dream of being a famous astronomer like her idol Kit Galway?
But as Lani spends more time there she meets some lovely people and discovers a few secrets about Passing Waters the retreat - someone wants to buy it and move all the people out of their homes. She also discovers that the chef at the camp Meadow is a world class astronomer who is hiding a few secrets of her own and has some interesting information about Lani's hero Kit Galway. Together with Lentil ( a 9 year old friend she has made) Lani uncovers the truth about what is really happening and it turns her whole life around....
Reviewed for VPRC. Nice book about the dangers of having pre-conceived notions and taking things on face-value without diving deeper. Lani learns to overcome her initial reactions to the place and people she meets.… (mais)

Trigger warnings: Abusive father, death of a mother from a car crash (in the past), near-death experience in a lake, death of a dog, death of a friend

6/10, after taking a break from Australian authors after the last one written by them underwhelmed me I was hoping that this was better and I was expecting more from an author's crime debut; sadly it wasn't due to the many glaring flaws in this, where do I begin and come on Australians, you can do better than that. I do wonder whether the books this author made after this would be better than this one. It begins with the main character Lucy Hart living in Digger's Landing in Queensland and she wants to get out of there as soon as possible, I can understand that because it's just a boring fishing town with nothing much to do there and everything looks fine but I keep noticing that when she sleeps she has a recurring dream of her swimming in the ocean and there was a sinking boy and she tries to save him but he sank, then she wakes up from that and goes on with her normal life but she feels like an outcast and I don't know why but it's probably the reason why my library put the book in the mystery rather than the realistic section. Somehow I couldn't connect to Lucy at all since she wasn't developed or fleshed out enough even when she was unpopular and I didn't like her abusive father but at least he developed his character towards the end. In the end, there was a character called Tom who died for whatever reason, it was hinted that Lucy's mother who was a dream walker like herself died in a car crash. It turns out that her father couldn't swim and this helped me understand her recurring dreams however her dog Glen died and her father almost did, wrapping up the book on a low note.… (mais)

"Gus and the Starlight" was a sweet read and I loved the setting, a rundown drive-in-theatre. I totally understood the Able family's love of the old complex and shared Gus' wonder and love for the Starlight Drive-in Movie Theatre.

This novel took me back to my childhood when my parents would bundle my sisters and me into the car and take us to the movies. There was always something magical about buying the tickets, choosing the perfect viewing spot, hanging the speakers on the car window, clambering into the back to get comfortable and then waiting in anticipation for the sun to set so the movie could begin.

While most young people won't have first-hand knowledge of drive-in theatres, I think "Gus and the Starlight" will still appeal to young people as it is a wonderful coming-of-age story with likeable characters, a touch of the supernatural, classic movie references and a great family dynamics. A very enjoyable novel for middle school readers.… (mais)

Reviewed for VPRC. Really enjoyed this novel although was confused at the start because I thought it was set in the deep south in US and the Drive in owner was a black southern woman when in fact it is set in far north QLD and she is an over the top drama queen bogan, so go figure! Anyway... this is about Gus (Augusta) who flees with her mother, sister and brother one night from her mother's boyfriend Troy who has been using her mother's supernatural gifts to the exhaust and overwhelm Gus' mother. (sets up psychic scams). They flee to a little country town in the middle of the can fields and take lodging in a disused drive in theatre on the condition that they bring it back into operation. The old owner has gone missing (presumed dead) and his greedy daughter wants to sell the land to developers but not before she can make one last killing out of running the drive-in on weekends. The family are all squashed in a tiny caravan but with the Mum running the cafe, the elder daughter the tickets and Gus taking on the projection booth - how hard can it be? Gus is bewildered by the film's outdated projector until in walks the ghost (?) of the past owner who shows her what to do then disappears. He keeps doing this then disappearing and Gus realises that she now has "the gift" that her mother has - she can communicate with the dead. Meanwhile, something is going on with Gus's older sister that threatens to derail the whole project.
Lovely story. I guessed what was really happening quite early in the piece ( after I had worked out I was in QLD!) and found the character of Gus very engaging and likeable. Think this will be quite appealing to the Year 8 level.… (mais)