Running in circles by Shivaun Plozza

Twelve year old Dell (aka Adelaide) is the second child in a family of four girls cared for by their father. All of them have been dealing with the emotional difficulties that follow their mother’s departure from their family to chase alien contact and pursue the appearance of crop circles. Tully in North Queensland is renowned for its own cyclonic torments and Dell has become an avid climate and weather watcher while her mother wanders the country throwing promises of her return to the family in random bursts. When a local crop circle appears it creates a wave of interest and brings their flighty mother back and ignites emotional turmoil in the family. Can Dell and her sisters survive the torment of having their alien-focused mother back in their life and can they trust her promises? And can Dell sort out what is the battle she should really fight? Who should be believed and who can be trusted? 

This is an emotionally-charged story, and one feels the weight of the storms that are brewing for the family. Alongside the family drama, Dell and her friend also deal with school-based bullying and Dell seems to be carrying the weight of the abandonment by her mother for all her family. A neighbour also is impacted by the local crop circle interest with some loose parallels to Dell’s story. Each chapter is headed by a weather report to highlight Dell’s climate interests and the issues of climate change and animal species under threat are mentioned as well. (Dell’s mother thinks that aliens will be able to help solve climate distress, while Dell is focusing on more scientific research.) Dell’s grandmother has had her own relationship chaos in the past but has finally settled with affable Grandpa-number-Four (this seems excessive and unnecessary in the development of Grandma Mo-mo’s character) and is now a calming influence in the family. Sometimes the highly charged relationship drama seems a little too fraught and strangely out of the ordinary for a comfortable read for readers aged 10-14, but the chasing after aliens has an edge of humour amid the seriousness.

Themes: Beliefs and doubts, Aliens, Crop circles, Family, Promises, Weather, Climate change, Emotional distress.

Carolyn Hull