Trapped! The entombed miner of Bonnie Vale by Julia Lawrinson

Giuseppe (known as Joe in Australia) Varischetti is an Italian boy, a new migrant to an Australian mining community in Western Australia in 1907. School is tough because his English is poor and the Aussie boys are cruel. But when his father is trapped underground following a significant flooding event, Joe too must wait with incredible patience while rescuers work out a way to bring his father to the surface alive. A community must come together despite the ethnic background of the trapped man and a young boy must dig deep to maintain hope. 

Written in prose poetry, this is a story based on a real event and a real rescue (although Joe is a fictional character).  Imagining the difficulty of a rescue mission in 1907 is part of the interest of the story. The prose poetry format makes this a very accessible story for young readers aged 10-14, and the story is told with a tight economy of words, but a powerful emotive quality. The tension of waiting and the distress of racist attitudes is well communicated, and to hear the story told through the (fictitious) son’s perspective makes this a good story for young readers. Teacher's notes are available.

Themes: Mining, Rescues, Italian migration, Racism, Courage, Verse novel.

Carolyn Hull