My Australian Story. Scholastic, 2019. ISBN: 9781742994307.
(Age: 9-12) Themes: Bushfires, Climate Change. The My Australian
Story series focuses on different historical events that have
impacted and shaped our nation. Sally Murphy's fictional account of
the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires commemorates the 10th anniversary
of this disaster. She draws from real-life accounts, creating an
important message about the effect natural disasters can have on
communities. Between the chapter's summaries of bushfire and other
catastrophic events are included to open the readers' eyes to
importance of planning and the way people rally to support after
these tragic events.
In Bushfire we encounter school girl Amy, her older brother
Aaron who's leaving home for a gap year, her mother who is a climate
change scientist and park ranger and volunteer fire fighter father.
They live in the Victorian town of Healesville. Her Grandma who lost
her home in the Canberra bushfires now lives nearby in Marysville.
Discussions with her family often turn to being bushfire ready and
the science of climate change. Over the summer holidays, Amy visits
her grandma and forms a friendship with a local lad Jackson and they
enjoy swimming at the local pool and lunches from the bakery. Amy
loves collecting information about natural disasters, plane crashes
and rescues. When the bushfire sweeps through the town both
youngsters play a vital role in saving grandma.
Sally Murphy's carefully crafted novel presents an authentic picture
about the reality, the unpredictability and the devastation of
bushfires. Even though the community and family are prepared,
nothing can stop the powerful and overwhelming catastrophe. Central
to Murphy's emotional story is the resilience of the community, the
support of the state and the nation in rallying together to help in
the aftermath. Bushfire is a useful resource for Year 5-6
classrooms, exploring the themes of climate change and practical
preparation in the Australian bushfire.
Rhyllis Bignell
The Anzac Billy by Claire Saxby, Mark Jackson and Heather Potter
Black Dog Books, 2019. ISBN: 9781925126815.
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Themes: Anzac Day, World War,
1914-1918. During World War 1, soldiers From Australia and New
Zealand were sent carefully wrapped gifts in a tin billy for
Christmas. Even though the care package could not be sent to an
individual soldier, the little boy in The ANZAC billy, chooses
things that he knows that his father would like and concludes with a
letter: If by chance this billy
Reaches you and not my dad,
I hope you enjoy these treats, sir,
But please send my letter on.
Happy Christmas!
Claire Saxby's prose is lyrical and full of emotion. A little boy
narrates the story, telling the reader what he is adding to the
billy day by day. Butterscotch goes in on Monday, yucky fish on
Tuesday, walnuts on Wednesday, chocolate on Thursday, socks on
Friday and on Saturday and Sunday Mum and Nanna add some essentials
like a razor, soap and handkerchiefs.
The water colour illustrations by Mark Jackson and Heather Potter
are stunning and filled with authentic details of life during World
War 1. They will provide the reader with an in-depth understanding
of the historical period. When the reader first sees the billy being
filled, the background is of a kitchen, with a wood burning stove,
canisters on the shelf, a wooden safe to keep food cool and a
kerosene burning lamp. The photograph of the little boy's father
shows a very young man, and this will tug at the heart strings of
any adult reading it, knowing how young the soldiers were and how
many lost their lives. The shop where the little boy buys the
chocolate bar is full of shelves stocked with the most interesting
produce and outside in the street, the reader can see a new
automobile, the pram that the bay is in and the clothes of the
times. Little details like the family cat that appears in most
pictures and the Christmas decorations add to the loving atmosphere
that pervades the story.
Read aloud in the classroom or at home, this would make a poignant
and heart-warming story to commemorate Anzac Day and an excellent
reference book for life in the early 20th century. Teacher's
notes are available from the publisher.
Pat Pledger
The boy who steals houses by C.G. Drews
Hachette Books Australia, 2019. ISBN: 9781408349922. 346p
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Themes: Family/Bildungsroman. Sam and
Avery have been fending for themselves for nearly two years.
Gradually, we establish that their emotionally distant aunt cared
for the two teenage brothers after their abusive father abandoned
them. Sam will do anything to protect his older brother Avery, who
has autism, which has led to Sam's own anger management issues at
school and beyond. In order for them to survive, Sam perfects the
art of temporarily inhabiting the homes of families on vacation. For
money, they work as a team to pick pockets.
But Avery is unhappy and seeking independence. A mechanical savant,
he finds a job in a garage and moves into a crack house. Sam fears
for Avery, who is vulnerable but cannot convince him to continue to
break into empty houses together. Distracted and alone, Sam chooses
a house and in the manner of Goldilocks, falls asleep in a big
armchair in a disused room. When the De Lainey family return
unexpectedly, Sam is trapped. In the course of making his escape,
each sibling mistakes him for the friend of one of the others. In a
comedy of errors, Sam is welcomed into a real family - one he has
always dreamed of belonging to.
When the jig is finally up, the mess is spectacular but not before
Sam falls in love with Moxie, after spending the summer surrounded
by her gorgeous, loving family.
Dysfunctional families and making it out the other side, is C.G.
Drews' forte. This story is every bit as harrowing but more nuanced
than her earlier novel, A
Thousand Perfect Notes. The number of resonant issues
affecting the major characters and the burgeoning romance between
Sam and Moxie, guarantee another page turner for this rousing young
author.
Deborah Robins
Me and my sister by Rose Robbins
Allen and Unwin, 2019. ISBN: 9781760524456.
(Age: all) Highly recommended. Themes: Autism, Difference,
Disability, Family, Siblings. What an amazing book. The narrator
explains that he and his sister like doing the same things, although
sometimes at different times, they like different foods, his sister
makes him laugh and she is sometimes rude to Nanna, but Nanna
understands. They go to different schools, and learn different
things.
From the first few pages readers are aware that his sister has a
disability and watch as he copes with a sister who is different.
Readers will applaud him as he waves good bye to his sister on her
school bus, and helps his sister when she is upset, knowing that she
does not like to be hugged, using a high five instead. Readers will
be embarrassed along with him as people in the street are rude, and
thankful that Nanna understands his sister, when sometime he does
not.
All the way through this wonderfully understated book, clues are
given as to how children should react to a child who is different;
being gentle and kind, not touching them, comforting them when they
are upset, recognising signs that they wish to be alone and so on.
The boldly outlined illustrations replete with swathes of primary
colours, enhance the lives of these two children, making them
central to the story, without any distractions on each page. The boy
tells his tale in capital letters, reflecting the life he leads with
his sister. Things are never calm or on an even keel, the whole
family is aware that their family is different and must react to
their daughter's difference.
The author cleverly shows a child wanting to be the best he can be
to help his sister, but also aware that sometimes he may do the
wrong thing or not quite understand. She calmly tells the readers
that it is alright to feel frustrated sometimes, to be upset when
you are told off but not your sister, to want to be by yourself
sometimes without her. A wonderful awareness raising book, first
published in England, this will find a place in all classrooms where
diversity is encouraged and accepted. Teacher
notes are available.
Fran Knight
Once by Kate Forsyth
Illus. by Krista Brennan. Wombat Books, 2019. ISBN: 9781925563566.
(Age: 5+) Recommended. Themes: Australia - History, Storytelling,
Women. On the cover are the words 'A long time ago, Our ancestors
shaped our stories . . . ' and in this evocative picture book, Kate
Forsyth traces the impact that her ancestors' storytelling has had
on her and the influence that stories can have on everyone. Starting
with her great-great-great grandmother who 'grew up in the shadow of
a cursed castle' she writes of the stories that were told at the
knees of successive women. Her great-great grandmother 'Travelled
far, far across the seas', with 'a head full of stories' and settled
in Australia. Her great grandmother listened to those stories and in
turn passed them on, culminating in Kate Holding high a flaming torch
Lit long, long ago
When words were first shaped.
This is an inspiring book that will be a joy for children to read
and think about. The power of story comes across vividly as the
journeys of Kate's ancestors are depicted across the ages. We see
the immigrant sailing in a ship, the pioneer searching for gold and
fighting fires, the young woman living through war, another young
woman marching for peace and equal rights, and finally a young child
growing up in the space age and collecting stories to pass on too.
It is not difficult to see how important stories have been to Kate's
family and to realise how important they are in all families.
The illustrations convey an authentic feeling to each key historical
period, each picture showing the dress and living conditions of the
times. The young woman fighting a fire in a tent during the gold
rush was particularly evocative as she tried to put it out with a
baby's blanket. These images could lead to discussion about how
people lived in different eras and a class could make a time line of
Australian history by following the text and pictures.
This is a lovely tribute to the women who have been so influential
in the author's writing life and could encourage children and adults
to find out stories of their own ancestors. Teacher's
notes are available.
Pat Pledger
A cat called Trim by Corinne Fenton
Ill. by Craig Smith. Allen and Unwin, 2019. ISBN: 9781760631840.
(Age: 4 - Adult) Highly recommended. Themes: Matthew Flinders,
Exploration, Life at sea, Sailing, Companion animals, Australian
history. Matthew Flinders' cat, Trim takes centre stage in this
appealing book of his life alongside one of the world's outstanding
explorers. A kitten born aboard the HMS Reliance in 1799, he
was taken in by Flinders noticing his courage and lack of timidity.
He prowled the ship, killing mice, joining Flinders at the Captain's
table, then going below to join the crew for any tidbits. Saved by
Flinders when he fell overboard, Trim was with Flinders aboard HMS
Investigator as he sailed around parts of Australia, coming to grief
on the Great Barrier Reef.
Sailing across the Indian Ocean in 1804 Flinders had to call in for
repairs and supplies at Isle de France only to be seized as a spy
and imprisoned. Trim would venture out at night but one night he
failed to return, and when Flinders was released in 1810, he sailed
home alone.
Statues of Captain Flinders and his cat have been erected in Port
Lincoln and Lincolnshire, while a small statue of Trim has been
erected behind that of Flinders outside the Mitchell Library in
Sydney, which houses many of his papers. Trim: being the true story of a brave, seafaring cat by
Matthew Flinders was published in 1977 after Flinders wrote a
biographical sketch of his cat in 1809 while he was imprisoned in
Isle de France (Mauritius).
This wonderful book relates the story of Trim and his life with
Flinders, giving readers a great deal of information about Flinders'
explorative work and why he is so important to Australia. It details
the ships he sailed after Trim's arrival, and Craig Smith includes
drawings of these in his detailed and engrossing illustrations as
well as enticing endpapers with maps of Flinders' voyages. Smith
breathes life into the crew's years on board ship detailing the
perils of life at sea for all to wonder at. From falling overboard,
to sewing up the sails, being wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef and
having to wait for your captain to return, sometimes months later,
or putting up with the vermin that inhabited the ship, all is shown
in this glorious book.
Fenton tells the story of the night in 1804 when Trim did not return
from one of his night's escapades and muses that perhaps he was off
on another adventure, although the story goes that someone ate him!
This wonderful book will encourage younger children to find out more
about Captain Flinders and his mercurial cat, delving into the
exploration that Flinders undertook, naming Australia, and mapping
the continent, so realising why there are so many statures of him
around the world, with and without Trim.
Fran Knight
The French photographer by Natasha Lester
Hachette, 2019. ISBN: 9780733640025.
(Age: 16+) Recommended. Historical fiction. In 1942, Jessica May, a
beautiful and much sought after model for Vogue magazine, has her
career cut short when her ex-boyfriend sells her image for a Kotex
advertisement. She finds herself blacklisted because nobody wants a
model linked to the taboo subject of menstruation. But the flipside
is that for the first time she considers what she would really like
to do - and that is to become a photojournalist reporting on the war
front.
And so it passes that Jess finds herself, along with Martha
Gellhorn, Hemingway's wife, venturing as a female reporter into the
war zone. The story of The French photographer is a romance,
Jess falling in love with the dashing American officer, Dan
Hallworth, but it is also the story of the struggle of women war
correspondents to be recognised and respected alongside their male
counterparts. Jess goes from reporting on the nurses' stations at
the front, to documenting the Nazi concentration camps, to war
crimes committed by both sides. She is an intrepid photographer and
reporter who won't be held back by the conservative and chauvinistic
officers she has to report to.
However, interwoven with the story of Dan and Jess, is the story of
a young French child, Victorine, handed by her parents to an
American soldier to save from the advancing German army. Dan becomes
the only father Victorine knows, and Jess also becomes a trusted
friend.
Time shifts to 2004, and D'Arcy Hallworth, a young Australian art
handler, has the task of preparing an exhibition of the work of an
anonymous photographer, a job that sees her trying to untwist the
threads of her own family history, and follow her dream as a
documentary filmmaker. But first she has to uncover many secrets and
learn who to trust.
The two stories interweave in a way that keeps the reader engaged,
and the novel provides a blend of historical fact and fiction that
is both realistic and satisfying. Much of Jessica's story is based
on the experience of war photographer Lee Miller, renown for her
images of women in wartime, and most memorable for her iconic photo
taken in Hitler's bathtub, 1945. Lester includes an account of that
photograph in her story.
Readers of this novel will gain an appreciation of how difficult it
was for women to gain credibility in the workforce, and that whilst
the war opened up new opportunities for women, the doors were quick
to close again once the men had returned. Reading The French
photographer would provide students with an interesting entry
point to researching the history of women's roles during World War
II.
Helen Eddy
Squish Rabbit's pet by Katherine Battersby
University of Queensland Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780702260469.
(Age: 3-5) Recommended. Themes: Friendship, Responsibility, Love,
Pets, Eggs, Dreams. This is the third book featuring the cute little
rabbit Squish and once again children will delight in the soft cover
and the appealing illustrations. It follows Squish
Rabbit and Brave
Squish Rabbit. Squish has big dreams - a field of never-ending
carrots, matching outfits with his friend Twitch but what he really
wants is a puppy. Twitch helps him out with a toy puppy but it
wasn't quite right and when Squish finds a lonely egg while out
walking he brings it home, hoping that it will hatch a puppy. He
patiently cares for the egg and finally finds a friend.
Children will have lots of fun, knowing that eggs don't hatch
puppies, and will try to predict just what might hatch out of the
egg which looks similar to an Easter egg. What if it is a crocodile?
What will Squish do? This could lead to discussion about the
responsibility of looking after different pets and the joy of owning
one. Friendship too is an important theme and Twitch is helpful and
caring as he aids his friend in his quest for a pet.
The line drawings of Squish are amazing - his feeling are apparent,
even though there are just a few black outlines on his face. The
soft pastels of the egg and background contrast beautifully with the
illustrations of the friends and toys. Each time the book is read,
the reader can find more to look at and think about.
Children who loved the first books will welcome another tale about
Squish, and teachers will find the teacher
notes a handy reference.
Pat Pledger
Peppa's muddy festival: a lift-the-flap book
Peppa Pig series. Ladybird Books, 2019. ISBN 9780241375884.
(Age: 1-4) Recommended for fans of Peppa Pig. Any parent who has a
child obsessed with Peppa Pig will welcome this sturdy board book
with lift the flaps, just right for small fingers. In Peppa's
muddy festival, the family is off to a children's festival
where they anticipate having lots of fun. But Mummy Pig is a bit
worried that it will rain and the ground will become very muddy. Not
so Peppa Pig, who loves muddy puddles.
Very bold and vivid colours bring the children's festival to life.
Each activity has a flap to lift and children will have fun guessing
what is under each one, often ones that are not expected. The
family's overnight stay in a tiny tent is fun, but not as exotic as
the glamping that Suzy Sheep's family experiences or the joy of
finding that it has rained overnight and the ground has been turned
to mud. The expressions on the faces of the little animals as they
make mud castles and jump in muddy puddles are exquisite.
Warning, after reading this book to youngsters, it will be hard to
keep them out of puddles!
Pat Pledger
Joe Quinn's poltergeist by David Almond
Illus. by Dave McKean. Walker Books, 2019. ISBN: 9781406363197. 80
pgs.
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. Themes: Ghosts, Death, Grief,
Beliefs, Coming of age. This dark, atmospheric graphic novel will
grab the reader's attention right from the first time the strange face with its gaping mouth on the front cover is glimpsed.
This is the fourth collaboration by Almond and McKean, (Mouse
bird snake wolf, Slog's
dad, and The savage) and as one would expect from two
such outstanding artists, it is stunning.
Davie is on the cusp of moving from childhood into his teen years.
He is interested Josephine Minto, and isn't sure of his beliefs
about God and ghosts. When Joe Quinn boasts of having a poltergeist
in his house and Davie sees bread and other objects flying through
the air, deep down there is a hope that ghosts do exist as that
would mean that his little sister might be one. The problem is that
Joe Quinn tells stories and when the local priest is called upon to
give his opinion, it turns out that he is not the holy person that
one would wish for.
Almond's exploration of grief and beliefs is dark and powerful. In
the introduction he writes about his childhood where St Patrick's
Church was full of believers but superstitions about ghosts abounded
and people flocked to Lourdes for its healing waters. And Davie's
story is full of the uncertainty of a changing world, one where even
the priest is questioning his spiritual beliefs.
Dave McKean's illustrations are as eye-catching and as
thought-provoking as in his previous collaborations with Almond.
They build on the story and give the reader a visual picture of all
the characters and their surroundings. The drunken, cigarette
smoking priest lurches into Joe's house, Josephine Minto shows off
her tennis skills and Davie, Joe and Geordie emerge as young adults.
This is a complex and clever book, certainly not for the very young,
with its dark themes and questioning of religious beliefs. It is a
coming of age story, with Davie throwing off his childhood and
realising that life goes on and his sister will be remembered 'in
memories and words'.
Pat Pledger
The go-away bird by Julia Donaldson
Illus. by Catherine Rayner. Macmillan Children's Books, 2019. ISBN:
9781509843589.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Themes: Friendship, Birds. A bird in
South African has a call that sounds like 'go away' and is so named
the go-away bird. In this story of friendship, of people needing
others to survive, the Go-Away bird tells all the other birds who
come to roost in her tree to go away. A wonderful series of birds
come into the tree only to be told to go away. The Chit-Chit bird
wants to chat with her, but is told to go away. The Peck-Peck bird
wants to eat with her but is told to go away. The Flip-Flap bird
wants the Go-Away bird to come and fly with her, but is told to go
away. Donaldson cleverly writes a six line rhyming stanza
introducing each bird as they come by, telling the reader what the
bird wants to do. Each stanza finishes with the two lines But the Go-Away bird just shook her head
And what do you think she said?
Each bird is rebuffed by the Go-Away bird, with the words 'Go Away'
forming a large part of her response, encouraging readers and
listeners to join in, each time more heartily that the last.
But of course, readers will know that something will happen to make
her regret her rejection of the birds, and it does, in the form of a
large, brown bird. This one does not want to share a meal with her,
or fly with her or just chat. This one wants to eat her.
The Go-Away bird is frightened, but just then a Come-Back bird
happens by and calls out, making sure the other birds return.
Together the loud, colourful group of birds is able to scare off the
larger predator and so stay with the Go-Away bird in her tree.
With beautiful water colour illustrations by Rayner, the book is a
treat, the birds wonderfully conveyed, impelling all readers to use
google to find out more about these birds. Kids will love the
rhyming nature of the lines, love the repetition and prediction of
what rhyming word will be used to finish each line. They will love
calling out, Go-Away, and joining in with the fun of the story. And
they will love the look of the illustrations, the feathery leaves,
the round pink of the berries, the wonderful endpapers, the bright
colours of the birds and the menacing brown presence of the predator
filling the pages as he eyes off his lunch. A wonderful book to
stimulate discussions about birds, bird calls, friendship and the
value of being in a group, the fun of the story will be a treat to
all readers.
Fran Knight
What a waste - rubbish, recycling and protecting our planet by Jess French
Dorling Kindersley, 2019. ISBN: 9780241366912.
(Age: 8-12) Recommended. Subjects: Recycling, Pollution,
Conservation. Vet and author Jess French introduces this
thought-provoking information book What a Waste with 'humans
are now producing more waste than ever before and our planet is
suffering'. She presents a challenge: 'the power to make a positive
change is in our hands.'
Presented with current facts, figures, graphic representations,
photographs, dialogue boxes in the vibrant DK style, many
environmental issues are explored. Did you know '92% of the world's
people are breathing polluted air?' Discover why we need forests and
learn about the threat to the orangutan population with the loss of
their habitat. Deforestation and land clearing are major problems
with 15 billion trees cut down each year.
The site of 'The Great Pacific Garbage Patch' in the north Pacific
Ocean contains plastic rubbish that weighs as much as 500 jumbo
jets. Simple but effective solutions are shown as well to reduce
plastic in the ocean: take three for the sea by removing rubbish on
beach visits, organise your own clean-ups and join in International
Coastal Clean-up Day.
Each spread includes clearly defined explanations, questions and
ways children, students, families and communities can assist in
recycling, reducing waste and protecting our environment. E-waste,
food waste, water waste and industrial waste are key areas of
concern. Bold statements and facts presented as percentages, eg. 45%
of lettuce in the UK is thrown out, provide interesting talking
points for environmental science lessons. What a waste is another visually outstanding DK information
book which presents current environmental concerns and shows how
people are developing solutions, giving hope for the future. Jess
French encourages us all, including younger readers to speak up, be
a plastic-free family and make positive changes.
Rhyllis Bignell
Kingfisher by Patricia A. McKillip
Ace Books, 2016. ISBN: 9780425271766.
(Age: 16+) Recommended. Themes: Fantasy, Coming of age. Mythopoeic
Fantasy Award for Adult Literature (2017. In an unusual blend of
Arthurian legends and those of the Fisher King, McKillip has given
readers a unique tale that contrasts with many of the popular urban
fantasy stories that dwell on werewolves and vampires. Hidden away
by his sorceress mother Heloise, Pierce Oliver does not know that
his father is alive and that he has an older brother. After he
encounters knights being driven in a limousine and using mobile
phones, Heloise admits the truth and he decides to go to Severluna,
where his father is part of the king's court. On his way he meets a
chef at the Kingfisher Inn, Carrie, who also wants to uncover
secrets that Merle her father has hidden from her. And at King
Arden's court, Prince Daimon, the King's bastard, also learns about
his mother, who he always believed was dead. The fates of these
three characters, Pierce, Carrie and Daimon, are all entwined and
manipulated masterfully by the author as King Arden sends his
knights out on a quest to find the sacred and powerful artefact of
the god Severen.
McKillip skilfully blends tropes from legend and modern urban
fantasy and readers may well find themselves looking up the legend
of the Fisher King, working out who he was and where he stood in the
story, as well as keeping tabs on possible characters that might
belong to the King Arthur references.
The strange world of sorcery and modern technology, is peopled with
a plethora of important secondary characters - it was helpful to
keep a list - all of whom play an important role for each of the
characters.
Intertwined with the masterful management of the legends, are
age-old themes of coming of age, of forgiveness and love and some
mouth-watering glimpses of food. Kingfisher is a rich and complex story that will
be remembered long after it is finished, as readers ponder the
combination of technology and myth and the relationships between
parent and young adult.
Pat Pledger
What the fluffy bunny said to the hungry hippo by P. Crumble
Illus. by Chris Saunders. Koala Books, 2019. ISBN: 9781742997551.
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Easter, Rabbits, Searching,
Hippopotamus, Animals. When Fluffy Bunny invites the Hungry Hippo to
slide down his hole in the ground to find some delicious eggs,
children will be delighted to see that the hippo has not a hope of
fitting in the little hole. But next he asks the mouse to follow him
down the hole and over the hill, and through the field, and later
the meerkat to climb down the hole, over the hill, through the field
and across the pond. As he asks each animal to follow him, Fluffy
Bunny gives another instruction as to where the animal must go. Not
only down the hole, but a series of other instructions leading to
the increasingly prized eggs.
Children will love following the bunny's instructions and enjoy
learning the string of directions, to be able to read along with
whoever is reading the book out loud. Listeners will add actions to
the instructions and join in with the telling, laughing at the hippo
still stuck with his head down the hole at the end of the book.
But when bunny asks the elephant, he is in for a shock as the
elephant has worked out for himself how to avoid the string of
directions and get the eggs more quickly.
A lovely book to introduce eggs at Easter, invite children to follow
directions, and teach them a few new animals as the bunny asks them
to follow him.
Teachers will be able to point out all the different words adding
detail to the eggs, introducing the significance of eggs to this
particular time of the year.
Fran Knight
Catch a falling star by Meg McKinlay
Walker Books, 2019. ISBN: 9781925381207.
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Themes: Family, Skylab, Death, Grief,
Loss, Friendship, Astronomy. Twelve-year-old Frankie Avery is trying
to navigate life in 1979 in a small town in Western Australia, when
she hears reports of Skylab falling. In between dealing with school
reports, friendship issues and her mother working long hours,
Frankie must look after her brother, Newt. Newt is too young to
remember much about his father but loves to make and create
scientific projects. For his birthday Frankie gives him the
materials and instructions to make an antenna and this sets him on a
path that forms a main part of the story. Frankie's mum is working
hard at the hospital and seems to be there more than she is home,
often forgetting to be home on time or to do promised activities,
leaving Frankie to pick up the pieces and ensure that she and Newt
are fed and get to school on time.
As the story progresses, Frankie and Newt become more engaged in the
Skylab reports and are affected in different ways with different
consequences. Frankie must negotiate her pain at the loss of her
father, the responsibilities that her mother is placing on her and
her relationship struggles with her best friend and her mum. As Newt
becomes more and more obsessed with Skylab, Frankie must ensure that
he is kept safe.
Meg McKinlay has written this book perfectly for younger readers, as
she explores the importance of having something to hope for while
negotiating the isolation that grief brings to individual members of
a family. Frankie's relationships with her mum, brother and best
friend, Kat, are very real and honest and truly reflect the place
between being a child and an adolescent. Teacher
notes are available.
Mhairi Alcorn
