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Our Australian Girl is an incredibly popular historical fiction series by Penguin Books. So far there are six Australian Girls, with each character’s story being told across four books. (Confused? There’s a useful chart here.) Gabrielle Wang* is the author of the Poppy books in the series, and was one of our guests at our recent booktalkers event focussing on middle grade readers.
Poppy is eleven years old and living in 1864 rural Australia. Her Chinese father has disappeared and her Aboriginal mother has passed away, leaving her and her elder brother, Gus, to be raised at a Mission House. The Mission is a tough place, where beatings and other punishments are frequent, and where the children’s Aboriginal heritage is denied and their culture forbidden. When Gus runs away to make his fortune at the Victorian goldfields, Poppy must also escape if she is ever to find him again. Her travels from the Mission in Echuca to the Beechworth goldfields, and the many colourful characters she meets along the way, are told across the four titles Meet Poppy, Poppy at Summerhill, Poppy and the Thief, and Poppy Comes Home, and the books need to be read in order.
The Poppy books are, first and foremost, about adventure. There are bushrangers, swindlers, fights, and chases. Poppy navigates situations of racism, violence, and sexism with bravery and compassion. Even though the series is very heavily branded as “girl books”, the plot is certainly enjoyable for readers of any gender. Poppy, in fact, spends most of her journey disguised as a boy. Apparently librarians in boys-only schools have been known to cover the books in brown paper so that their students can read them without prejudice.**
The serialised nature of Our Australian Girl has proved very successful with middle-grade and reluctant readers, while its historical aspects make them popular classroom tools. Wang has researched extensively and taken great care to depict life in 1864 as accurately as possible. She has also drawn upon her own Chinese heritage, and consulted extensively with the Koorie community to ensure an accurate and sensitive representation of indigenous culture. Wang’s passion is evident in the books, as Poppy’s spirituality informs her journey and her connection with the world. There is a very physical element to the culture and the mythology, from spirit trees to animal spirits:
It was as if she was born with a book inside her, a memory of a long time ago on each page. It was as if the animals, the rocks, the trees, the mountains held these stories inside them too. They had been whispering to her since the time she was born.
- Poppy and the Thief, p 93
Recommend for middle grade readers and older, who love their action served in a historical context. Also check out the Our Australian Girl website for a wealth of support material, from teacher’s notes to fun activities.
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*Tip: Gabrielle’s surname is best pronounced “Wong”.
**Penguin have announced that 2014 will see the release of a “boy equivalent” to Our Australian Girl, called Do You Dare. It is likely to be very
Last week Inky posed in front of the cameras (famous dog that he is), for something a little special! Unfortunately all this attention went straight to his head (what, with the photo shoot and the Inky Awards coming up), and he strutted around the office asking his CYL minions to give him a ear scratches and alike.
It was all worth it, however, as we bring you….
Inky Screen Savers. Oh yeah!
Below are several sizes that we hope will fit most of the computer screens out there.
We hope you enjoy them and are able to utilise them in your library/ computer rooms/ classrooms or for your personal computer. They can be used as either a screen saver or wallpaper.
Our booktalker event on Tuesday (31st of July) concentrated on engaging reluctant readers through the middle years.
One of the avenues discussed was comics. The following is a suggested list to get you started in comics. There are a host of different ages and genres to engage any reader.
Australia’s only full-time comic book writer, Tom Taylor’s recommendations:
Super Dinosaur by Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard
10+ is the perfect age group for this. Derek, our protagonist, and SD (super dinosaur), fight evil and save the world. You know how it is.
Image Comics
Buffy Comics by Joss Whedon
Follows a ’season 8′ storyline (season 7 was the last for the tv show). For all your students who love the Buffy tv series, it has the same sense of darkness with humour that Whedon is known for. Not to mention lots of fighting action scenes. Plus, who doesn’t love a strong female protagonist, ridding the world of evil?
Dark Horse Comics
X-Men by Joss Whedon
Much like the Buffy comics, Whedon’s X-Men series mixes dark issues, humour and action scenes to create a balanced reading experience.
Marvel
I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly
A girl protagonist who escapes the reality of her life into a fantasy world filled with giants. Convinced she is meant to kill the giants and save the world, reality and fantasy begins to merge into something new. While the protagonist, Barbara, is in fifth grade, this would be more suitable to a slightly older audience, grade 6 up.
Joe Kelly is the creator of the Ben 10 series, should you need to ’sell’ it a bit to your student.
Image Comics
Locke and Key by Joe Hill
Joe Hill is the son of the son of horror giant Stephen King. So he does suspense, horror and terror really well. Definitely for your older students, 15+.
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
A darkly gothic tale of Morpheus, the personification of Dreams. Captured and held prisoner for 70 years, Morpheus escapes. Left without his powers he goes on a quest to regain everything he lost during his years of imprisonment. There is violence, nudity and disturbing scenes, in The Sandman, so caution is
The Centre for Youth Literature will continue to present a program of inspiring professional development events for teachers and librarians.
21 February:
CYL turns 21! – a celebration with Melina Marchetta and other guest authors and a look at 21 years of special events at the Centre.
31 July:
Middling through – cultural identity and reading in the middle school years
23 October:
InkyFest – with 2012 Inky Award-nominated authors, 2011 Gold Inky winner James Moloney and author Rhiannon Hart
4 December:
Publishers’ showcase –guest authors and publishers look at new titles for 2013
All events will be held at the State Library of Victoria, except ‘Middling through’ (at Camberwell Girls’ Grammar School). Events run from 6pm to 8.30pm and refreshments are included.
Entry to Booktalkers events is $35 for non-subscribers – or you can subscribe to all four events for $110.
For more information and a subscription form, visit http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/youthlit
Now that 2011 has drawn to a close the CYL team can look happily forward to planning next year’s birthday party.
We’re turning 21 young. And we’re mighty proud, if we do say so ourselves.
Mark the 21st of February 2012 in your diaries ladies and gentleman. We’re planning special special things… with cake!
Booktalker subscribers are free. Otherwise follow this link to book.
The Booktalker’s event is just around the corner.
We’re super excited to have Michael Pryor, Rhiannon Hart, Cath Crowley, Fiona Wood, Paul Collins and Sean McMullen for the Publishers’ Showcase. They’ll be impressing us with their upcoming and current books.
There’s also goodie bags and a door prize.
Oh man, it’s going to be so much fun!
Date: Tuesday 29th November
Cost: $35
Bookings: book online , (03) 8664 7099 or via email [email protected]
The Centre for Youth Literature 2009 program booklet and the Reading Matters program will be posted out on Friday 13 and Monday 16 February. However, all information is now available online.
The 2009 program is available to download here. You can view all event details online or print off the program and booking forms.
You can [...]
Good to see illustrated books for younger readers getting a run.
For middle grade/middle years readers who don’t necessarily go down the super-hero highway, Smile by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic) is brilliant.
Getting braces is such a commonplace thing these days. Raina’s story is dramatic, funny and tender, with a nice rite-of-passage dimension, set in a recognisable world.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for your comment! Smile is brilliant, isn’t it? Definitely worth a recomendation! I’ve now updated the post to include a link to our original graphic novels book list (which has Smile on it).