Sky by Ondine Sherman

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The Author People, 2017. ISBN 9781925399189
(Age: 14+) Everything happens so fast for Sky after the death of her mother. She leaves her home and friends in the city to live in the country with an aunt and uncle she barely knows and suffers the anguish of trying to fit in at a new school.
When Sky moved to the country, she wanted to fit in, to belong and find a place. This meant sacrificing and putting on hold some of her beliefs until she could find her personal comfort zone, in both her new family and at school. When she began to feel that life was settling into a rhythm she could cope with, Sky becomes overwhelmed by challenging emotions at the same time as taking a stand against animal cruelty.
I tried to empathise with her because losing your sole parent and leaving your childhood home and friends is horrendous, but I found the character that Ondine Sherman had created emotionally under-developed. The character was not written with enough realism for me so I felt Sky's erratic moments were too far-fetched to make the story an enjoyable and believable read.
All this being said, Ondine Sherman has a comfortable and easy writing style and there are important messages Ondine wants to share about family, coming of age, standing up for what we believe in and love . . . love of yourself, love of family and the awkwardness of young romance.
This book will open your eyes to the lengths businesses will go in making profit but unfortunately I felt that the author had a point to make and was forcing me to accept this point of view instead of letting the story help the reader come to the same realisation. Ondine Sherman is a dedicated to the protection of animals and passionate about promoting respect and compassion for all creatures. In Sky, Ondine has woven special mention of one of Australia's leading animal protection groups, Voiceless, founded by Ondine and her father in 2004; and Franimals, Ondine's social-media platform, a popular community for animal-loving teens across the world. For extension activities there are teachers' resources at Allen and Unwin.
Sharon Smith

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