Margaret MacNabb

Margaret MacNabb is a Sydney journalist and editor, who has worked as sub-editor and feature writer for the Sydney Morning Herald. She is co-author (with Michael Pollak) of Days Never Done (2002), a biography of children’s writer Hesba Brinsmead.

Margaret MacNabb reviews ‘Girl Underground’ by Morris Gleitzman, ‘Tiff and the Trout’ by David Metzenthen and ‘Orphans of the Queen’ by Ruth Starke

October 2004, no. 265 • 01 October 2004

Stories of children in the maelstrom: the horror of mandatory detention; the appalling cruelty of how some orphans are treated by those responsible for them; and youngsters caught in the heartbreak and dislocation of family breakdown – such is the stuff of these three important novels for young people. No coy sensibilities are spared in these reflections of modem life. Here are ordinary adults a ... (read more)

Margaret MacNabb reviews ‘Tom Appleby, Convict Boy’ by Jackie French, ‘Stoker’s Bay’ by Peter Jeans and ‘Ichabod Hart and the Lighthouse Mystery’ by James Roy

June-July 2004, no. 262 • 01 June 2004

In an era when so many young people seem to be cosseted and protected from anything harsh or dangerous, there are still good books to show them the darkness and complexity of real life. These three new titles are all emotionally and intellectually confronting, and none pulls any punches. In James Roy’s Ichabod Hart and the Lighthouse Mystery, convicts are deliberately mutilated to make them more ... (read more)

Margaret MacNabb reviews ‘Scarecrow Army: The Anzacs at Gallipoli’ by Leon Davidson and ‘Animal Heroes’ by Anthony Hill and ‘Alexander The Great: Reckless Conqueror’ by Carole Wilkinson

August 2005, no. 273 • 01 August 2005

One walks a fine line between patriotism and claptrap when writing about anything to do with war. Especially when writing for young people, one tries to salute the courage of soldiers and to honour the fallen, but also to instil caution in potential young soldiers; to convey that war is hell and that it shows human beings at their worst. Of course, one wants to tell an exciting story, too, with he ... (read more)