I hope everyone is enjoying the month of March so far. My recovery is slow but steady. I’m hoping to start work in the next few days, so fingers crossed friends! This week’s bookish post will feature a selection of tween and teen reads based on actual events from history or from the author’s life. Are you keen to find out more??
This first read, The Somerset Tsunami by Emma Carroll (Faber + Faber, 2019) is a historical tale from the early 1600’s set somewhere along the southern coast of England. We’re introduced to a young girl and her brother, Fortune Sharpe and Jem, as they push a crudely carved boat from a tree into the river. It’s not a time for a girl to be drawing attention to herself so Fortune is sent away to find work dressed as a boy. Luckily a rich manor house is hiring. Yet Barrow Halll’s inhabitants harbor dangerous secrets of their own, the suspicious owner’s hunting witches, and the house itself is a little close to the sea. Yet again Carroll has delivered a story that kept me gripped until the end. This was the era of witch burning and traditional gender roles. If a woman was caught doing anything suspicious she was deemed a ‘witch’ and subjected to inane ‘witch trials’!! Carroll’s illuminating use of description will transport readers to a time that has been long forgotten and you will end up falling in love with the characters and story. What was even more fascinating was that the ‘tsunami’ described actually took place in 1607 but was categorised as a ‘catastrophic flood’ for almost 400 years. From the author’s notes we also learn some alarming facts about this time period; the 17th century had been a time when the earth’s climate was experiencing a cooling period known as the ‘Little Ice Age’, which meant extreme weather events – storms, droughts, cold winters, floods – were more frequent. A little bit too close to today for my liking!!
Lightning Mary by Anthea Simmons (Anderson Press, 2019) tells a fictionalized account of the early life of Mary Anning. It was told that one stormy night, lightning struck a group of women with a baby sheltering under a tree. Only the baby survived: her name was Mary Anning. Growing up on the wild Dorset coast, Mary follows after her father in the perilous hunt for valuable fossils uncovered by waves and landslips: ancient creatures, turned to stone. Yet tragedy and despair are never far away. As a girl fighting to fulfill her dream of becoming a scientist, everything is against Mary. but Mary hasn’t survived the lighting strike for nothing. This fascinating read gave me a glimpse of how life was for those struggling to make a living during the early 1800’s. The language used, descriptions and imagery took me all the way to the wilds of the Dorset coast and how people survived back then. What I enjoyed the most was the relationship Mary had with her father and the influence he had to create the genius she became. I thought this a good read for young girls to show the high spirit and determination Mary Anning showed back then!
This next read, The star outside my window by Onjali Raouf (Orion Children’s Books, 2019) is a unique story. Written from young Anjali’s voice, we find her and her brother in a foster home. her intent on making sure the new star in the sky receives her mother’s name sparks the most daring adventure of her young life. To get to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich before they announce it to tell them it’s already got a name!! I’d actually read about this online and sparked my interest. I cried so much as I read between the lines to find a young survivor of domestic abuse by her own father towards their mother. Raouf has created a masterpiece in her storytelling here. Readers will love the cute maps and drawings on the chapter heading of constellations. What struck with me was the notes at the end where the author recounts the actual events from her life which prompted her to write this story.
47 degrees by Justin D’Ath (Puffin Books, 2019) is a fast-paced novel of survival that draws on the author’s own experience of escaping the 2009 Black Sunday bushfires in Australia. Twelve-year-old Zeelie hopes the nearby bushfires everyone’s talking about aren’t heading towards her family’s new home. What will they do if the wind changes direction? What about their belongings and their beloved pets? And why hasn’t her mum and brother returned from Melbourne? Nothing can prepare Zeelie for what’s to come. I really enjoyed the description of the nature of bushfires, the survival techniques used by people who live in the rural Australian communities. Their kind nature and courage depicted in our young characters brings the story to life and adds another layer to the story. An interesting read of one brave and kind girl’s actions that helped many!!
This last book is a teen read. The day of the pelican by Katherine Paterson (Sandpiper; 2009) is one that takes the reader into the not so distant past. The Lleshi family are Albanians who become homeless refugees in Kosovo – a country trying to fight off Serbian oppressors. Meli Lleshi’s seven-member family and the family of her aunt and uncle have their courage and resilience tested at every turn. They are forced to go without food or water; when her uncle’s truck is stolen, they walk the dangerous roads on foot and transport her sickly grandmother in a wheelbarrow; they live in cramped tent cities. Then, unexpectedly, they are brought by a church group to a small Vermont town. The Lleshis have just begun settling into their new community when the events of 9/11 cause unexpected hardships for this Muslim family. But America has become their home, and they will not turn back. This was a powerful read for me! For someone who lived during these years and grew up hearing of the conflict that led to the separating of the former Yugoslavia; this was the first teen book I’d read about what happened in Kosovo. Meli’s voice is tinged with the sadness of leaving her homeland but I was inspired by how she and her family persevered and adapted to every hardship and obstacle in their path. Paterson has created another worthy read in this tale. The Huxhin family who the Lleshi’s are based on are truly survivors. As some scenes are a bit graphic this is another one that is better for older teens.
I hope you enjoyed this selection of tween and teen reads. Historical events, whether they were from a distant past or a recent era, are always enjoyable to read as you get a glimpse of what people would have been experiencing or thinking about. It’s a way to connect to the past for me, and that’s why such titles always draw me to them like magnets!!
Stay safe and keep reading
Miss Mahee
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 