Golden Boys by Sonya Hartnett

This is a beautifully written book published in 2014; some of the descriptive language reads almost like poetry.

It's a story about street friends and embarrassing fathers. The Jensen family move to a working class suburb. Their father is a good looking dentist who buys his two sons every toy available. The Kylie family have 6 children and live in a small 3 bedroom home. Then there's the big bully boy Garrick, and the streetwise, neglected, Avery.

It's not clear when the story is set, but it's a time when children disappeared all day on their bikes and a BMX or a skateboard was every boy's dream. There's no mention of a mobile phone a Nintendo or a computer. It could be as early as the 70s or as late as the 90s.

The book captures a time when children weren't over scheduled, when they fought their own battles and made their own rules. It's an unromantic, warts and all, image.

Half the Sky: How to Change the World by Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl Wudunn

This book was not an easy read. It's engaging and well written, but the stories it tells are just very difficult to hear. The book tells of the struggles young women face around the world, including forced marriage, prostitution, trafficking, rape, dying in childbirth, being denied an education, female genital mutilation, the list goes on.

The book gives examples of women who have taken a stand. It describes projects that are making a difference and encourages readers to take action. It explores attitudes to women and asks the question, Is Islam mysogynistic? More information can be found at http://www.halftheskymovement.org

The book is full of great quotes. I found myself underlining something on almost every page. Here are a few:

"Iran is a bundle of contradictions. Women can't testify in court, and yet women can be the judge presiding over the court."

"When a girls' junior high school caught fire in Saudi Arabia in 2002, the religious police allegedly forced teenage girls back into the burning building rather than allow them to escape without head coverings."

"Women are not dying because of untreatable diseases. They are dying because societies have yet to make the decision that their lives are worth saving."

"In Niger, a woman stands a 1 in 7 chance of dying in childbirth."

"The fistula patient is the modern day leper."

"It has become more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in an armed conflict."

"We in the West can best help by playing supporting roles to local people."