Christmas wish list:
I'd like my mum and dad to be alive
Sam and I are friends.
Best friends.
Friday night roof friends.
It's good to have a boy
for a friend.
It's a change.
He likes food
almost as much as I do.
And he's quite smart -
he knows about the stars,
and he can name
every soccer team in Australia,
probably every team in the world!
We play 20 questions on the roof.
We each choose a subject:
me - food
Sam - soccer.
Then we ask each other a question
on the subject
until someone gets a wrong answer.
The first person to answer
20 questions correctly
gets the last chocolate biscuit
or
the last slice of cake
but
mostly we share the winnings
because we are friends,
me and Sam,
best friends.
This verse novel has it all! A brilliant story which is gently revealed, terrific relationships, poignancy, sadness, joy, and two kids who you will wish were your friends too. These kids are different but they find so many things they have in common - counting the stars, playing soccer, rooftop picnics, food and friendship.
Jessica loves birds. Sam says:
"I've seen a wattle bird,
a currawong, a kookaburra
and six sparrows.
Jessica is eager to see her favourite,
a spangled drongo!
Yes, true.
Jess takes birdwatching very seriously."
The Spangled Drongo was first published in 1999 and has been reprinted seven times. My copy with the new jacket above, will be released early in 2020. I've put the original cover first. I have read many books by Steven Herrick, especially his verse novels, which I love but somehow I missed this one. I read one guide which said it was for 13+ but I would make this lower and say a mature reader 10+ would enjoy this book.
You may know I adore (ADORE in capital letters) verse novels and Steven Herrick is a true master of this form.
Read my comments about some other books by Steven Herrick:
I also loved Do wrong Ron and Tom Jones Saves the World.
Here is a spangled drongo - they are real - they are birds but I think they should perhaps insist on a new name?
Image source: https://ebird.org/species/spadro1
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