Tag Archives: Abandoned children

May20

Becoming Mrs Mulberry – Jackie French

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Harper Collins Australia

  • ISBN: 9781867243502
  • ISBN 10: 1867243504
  • Imprint: HQ Fiction AU
  • List Price: 32.99 AUD

When this arrived, I was, as you would expect, tremendously excited – given my love of Jackie’s books, both for kids and adults. I had great plans to relish reading it over the Easter break but then the whole pesky moving house thing intervened. Last Saturday it was three weeks since the actual upload and we were starting to feel settled in our new little cottage and my treat to myself was the hair salon. And no visit to the salon is without a book in hand so it was the perfect opportunity to start this one. I read 1/3 of it while I was there – and couldn’t put it down. Then, lost myself in its glorious narrative each night until Thursday, despite two days of relief teaching making me feel even tireder than usual.

Once again Jackie has given us both history and romance, drama and mystery, all set in a familiar yet new setting. Agnes Glock, daughter of a well-regarded Sydney doctor, is a poor medical student in Edinburgh defying conventions of the early 20th century on what is suitable for females, when her upper-class friend implores her to marry Puddin’s shell-shocked brother, to protect both him and their (amazingly wealthy!) inheritance. At first aghast at the very thought, but persuaded by extraordinary circumstances, Agnes – who was raised to care for others – takes on the marriage to Douglas with absolute righteous standards.

In Douglas’ family home in the Blue Mountains, Agnes gathers together the broken misfits from the Great War, employing some, providing shelter for others, and establishing medical care. These are the survivors that nobody wants to acknowledge. They may have given more than their fair share for King and Country but the ordinary townsfolk regard them as freaks and madmen.

Four years later her husband, in name only, has barely started to recover from his ordeals, when Agnes chances upon a child who is also in dire need of help, physically, medically and emotionally. Complications arise when Agnes’ former fiance, who was presumed dead, is very much alive and now practising medicine himself back in Sydney is unintentionally enlisted in the child’s recovery. As Agnes treads a path towards fulfilment of her own dreams and ambitions, and restores both her husband and the ‘dingo girl’ to full health and life, dark secrets surround them and evil intentions threaten not only their happiness but their very lives.

This is a narrative full of drama and tension which will captivate the reader, who becomes utterly invested in the fate of these characters. I love that Jackie has not only skilfully woven diverse characters into her cast, but has not shied away from the ugliness of which some humans are capable or perpetuate, particularly underlining the frequent hypocrisy and chasm between public persona and private actions. I sense that the pious church elder who is rotten to the core in the worst possible way is no accident of writing but could easily reflect the abuses of many so-called Christians and churches.

This really is a gripping read and even as I galloped through, desperately wanting to know ‘what happens next’, it is one of those books which leave one feeling bereft at its conclusion.

Thank you, Jackie, for another absolutely sensational read. It goes without saying that I give it my highest recommendation and if you have mature senior students, it will be entirely suitable for those as well. However, be aware that some circumstances described could be very confronting for some readers, and a trigger warning/caution should be given.

Apr25

Here in the Real World – Sara Pennypacker

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Harper Collins Australia

February 2020

  • ISBN: 9780008371692
  • ISBN 10: 0008371695
  • Imprint: HarperCollins – GB
  • List Price: 14.99 AUD

At present we (as a collective global community) are having a great deal of reflection and discussion of what it means to be a hero and for many young readers their perception and definition of this might be relatively narrow. This beautiful new narrative from the author of the highly-acclaimed Pax encourages children to re-think their ideas around this.

Ware is an only child, somewhat over-protected and ‘different’. He’s not the kid who wants to join in, he is content in his own world and his passion is medieval history and all that goes with it: castles, chivalry, fanfare and brave deeds. He’s looking forward to spending summer with his grandmother, happily in his own world,  while his parents work double-shifts desperately pulling together the money to buy their rented house but when Big Deal, his gran, becomes unwell the plans for summer fall apart.  He is, instead, enrolled in the dreaded vacation program at the ‘Rec’ where he supposed to have ‘meaningful social interaction’ and be forced to participate in mind-numbingly boring activities.  After only one day Ware explores the abandoned and demolished church next door to the Rec where he encounters a very fierce and very prickly girl, Jolene, who appears to be quite obsessed with growing plants in tin cans.

Initially the two are at odds, both wanting the space within the old church grounds but as Ware continues to skip Rec and investigate the lot and its potential they begin to find a common ground. While Ware begins to create his own castle from the ruins and Jolene fusses over her papaya plants, they both come to accept each other and the fact that the lot is, for both of them, a refuge from their troubles.   It’s an unlikely friendship but one that, like the little plants, slowly but surely grows and bears fruit that will nourish them both.

The two misfits’ summer proves to be one of teamwork, mutual acceptance and understandings, problem solving, loyalty and purpose. When their sanctuary comes under real threat they must devise a plan to save not only their space but Jolene’s plantation which, for her, is her ticket to a better life.

Woven throughout are the nuances, difficulties and at times hostilities that can permeate family relationships and friendships and the slow but careful resolution of some of these is a truly moving aspect.

I loved this book and read it quickly over two nights. While essentially gentle in its narrative the interaction between all the characters and particularly the two protagonists is very engaging. Not to do it any disservice by comparison but it really put me in mind of Bridge to Terabithia with its similarity in the scope of imagination and the unlikely pairing of the two children. It’s a tremendous read and one that will be very well received by thoughtful readers from around 11 years upwards. It’s certainly one I will be recommending highly to my Choclit group (Year 7-12) as I think many of them will appreciate both the quality of the writing and the premise of the plot.

Click to access Here-In-The-Real-World-Teachers-Notes.pdf