The Fortune Maker by Catherine Norton

"It meant living in the cheapest room in Silvertown, in a house on Pilchard Street at the very end of a terrace that tilted towards a lake of dark, oozing run-off from the coal tar factory. Their room had one tiny window they had to keep closed against the stench, especially in summer, and tide water seeped up through the floorboards all year round. Silvertown itself was built on a boggy bit of land between the river and the docks, in the shadow of dozens of factories that filled the streets with the foul stinks of sulphur, tar and the boiling bones and guts of slaughtered animals."

Maud Mulligan lives in desperately poor circumstances in a London slum. The year is 1913 - think about the significance of that date - suffragettes; Emaline Pankhurst; World War I is not far off; and the Industrial Revolution means thousands of people have come to London and many work in very dangerous factories. Maud might have a tough life, but she also has a dream to leave the slums and travel with her father to a better place. In their lodgings they have a jar and every day for the last seven years she has been saving so that one day they can buy two tickets on a streamer to somewhere else. Sadly, this cannot happen because the very old building where they live falls into the Thames. The money is gone. Then her father is killed by an elephant that was being winched off a ship down on the docks. He was knocked into the river and drowned. Now Maud has no family, no home, no money and only the clothes she had been wearing the day her home fell into the river.

Maud and her father had been living in an unused pantry in the home of Mrs Wray. Her husband is a violent man and for a while Maude manages to keep out of his way but then she is discovered and so now she is forced to live on the streets. 

This is a time of superstition. Maud is desperate to know the future. 

"Underneath the river, between the factories on the north bank and the gun yards on the south, there was a tunnel. ... for a few pennies you could find out your future."

In a heartbreaking scene we see Maud exchange her mother's beautiful green shawl so she can learn about her future. 

"How will I get out of Silverton?"

"Ruin! You will lose everything."

What does this prophecy mean? Maud is kidnapped by a man connected with a factory that makes dyes. The rich owners have also consulted a fortune teller - a famous and rich one. Somehow the colour yellow is important, as are chemistry lessons. Maud will escape, then be recaptured, then escape again. Along the way she meets rich people, corrupt people, and surprising new friends. She is even caught up in a suffragette protest march - a violent one. And there is another layer over the top of all of this which is hinted at on the cover. Maud herself is able to see the future - this is a gift but it could also put her in grave danger.

Maud is told to predict the colour that will be in fashion next year.

"Maud carefully lifted the crystal ball from the velvet-lined box and carried it to an armchair. ... She gasped when the flames flickered and changed. They became a column of figures, so indistinct as to be almost silhouettes. Even so, she could tell they were not ladies but men, moving slowly forwards and swaying.  ... The dying men were sucked abruptly into the ground."

All she can see is grey and black and mud and sludge. What does this mean?

This book has 312 pages and I read it all on one day - yes this book is THAT good. The final sentence made me gasp! I sincerely hope this book has been entered in our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) awards and if it has, I am certain it will be a Younger Readers Notable title and almost certainly a short-listed book too. I am surprised I haven't heard more people talking about this book which was released in August, 2023. That said, do take a look at all the positive comments on Catherine Norton's web page. I also really like the cover - in fact that is what drew me to this book when I saw it in a local independent book shop. Catherine Norton's book Crossing was a 2015 CBCA Notable but I somehow missed reading it. 

Publisher blurb: London, 1913 Twelve-year-old Maud Mulligan knows there's no future for her in London, in the rat-infested slum where she grew up. But in the tunnel under the river are fortune tellers, Seers, who will tell your fortune for a few pennies. And then there is Mr Mandalay, Seer to the king and anyone else rich enough to afford him. When Mr Mandalay sees Maud in a foretelling for a wealthy factory heiress, she believes Maud can save her family from financial ruin. But how? And why? In a world shaken by suffragettes, scientists, and the threat of war, what could a girl like Maud do to change anyone's future - or even her own?

This is a mystical adventure about strength, determination and changing times. Full of optimism even in the most desperate of situations, it shows how survival can be achieved through the worst or best experience, depending on the strength within to face whatever you are dealt. A stunning, eye-catching cover equals the fantastic read. Kids' Book Review

This reviewer inhaled this book - I did too. 

Serious themes of grief and loss, gender roles, power and resilience underpin this adventure but never overburden this exhilarating roller coaster read. The writing is assured, rich in historical detail, and enlivened by delightful insights into character. ...  I inhaled this book in one sitting and I think many others will do the same. ... Its high production values indicate the publishers think they have a keeper and I agree with them. Story Links

This story feels like the writing of Charles Dickens. You could share some children's abridged versions of his famous stories with your child after reading The Fortune Maker.

Here are some teachers notes from the publisher. You can read chapters one and two here. 

Companion books:

My Friend the Octopus

The Runaways of Haddington Hall

The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow

The Truth about Verity Sparks

Withering by Sea

Counting on Grace

Shine Mountain by Julie Hunt

"But if the instrument could give, it could also take away, 

 and what it took was harmony."

I am reading my way through the CBCA Notables (Younger Readers). A few of the titles were in my local public library including Shine Mountain. How did I miss this one last year?

One of the things I love about reading is when a book is so inventive, so powerful and so unpredictable I just have to keep reading and reading. I started Shine Mountain one morning and devoured about a third. Then I had to go out but Shine Mountain was calling me home. I just had to get back into the world of Ellie and her friends (human and animal). I left everything when I came home and sat down to read right through to the end.

The opening scenes of Shine Mountain read like a movie. Pop is dying. Unfamiliar family members have gathered at the farm. Ellie and Oma know the time is close and so they are making their preparations. Late in the evening the shine-moth arrives.

"A slab of moonlight fell on Pop's bed and I saw the shine-moth land on the bedhead. It was still for a moment, then it opened its wings and began a slow, steady beating. Pop gave a sigh as the insect took over his breathing. He looked so relieved I thought he might die right then ... "

Pop still has a few hours left. The shine-moth grows bigger but there is time for Pop to write his will.  All of this goes along as expected with gifts for various family members but then Pop asks for a box which is under his bed. Pop asks the family to bury this box with him in his grave.

"I thought it was a little jewel box at first. It was a pretty thing with a pattern of leaves carved on what seemed to be the lid, but when Tod opened it I realised it was a button-box, a tiny concertina."

Pop plays a tune, sings a song and Oma joins in. They sing about Spring and the music seems to work. Plants start to grow, the ice cap on top of Mount Ossa begins to melt. Pop quietly dies and is buried along with the button box but the lawyer has a greedy eye. He sets off late in the night returning to the city on his horse but on the way he stops at the grave and digs up the button box. Ellie sees him but she cannot get close enough to stop him. The lawyer is drunk. There is an accident. The button box lies broken on the ground. Ellie knows there is a mystery about this old instrument but she has also seen the good effect it seemed to have on the farm and on her Oma. She picks up the pieces and organises for the repairs.

The dangerous thing, though, is that while the music of the button box can bring prosperity it can also bring terrible hardship. As quickly as things became good so they become bad. The heat ramps up. Crops die and Oma is failing. Ellie needs to set things right. She needs to take this button box back through the Palisades to Shine Mountain but this will be a dangerous journey in every way - physical danger of course but also the danger when she discovers the truth about her identity.

There is a link on the publisher web site (Allen and Unwin) to a set of very useful discussion questions to use with Shine Mountain.

I don't talk about covers often enough. I adore this one. It is by Geoff Kelly and he did the map too. I have said this before but I enjoy exploring maps.  Perhaps you have seen one of Geoff's earliest books - Power and Glory by Emily Rodda. It was an amazing book about a computer game. More recently Geoff did the covers for two new Paul Jennings books A different Dog and A different Boy.

Okay here is my BIG request/prediction/wish/plea/hope - Shine Mountain just HAS to make the CBCA short list. YES YES it is that good! If it is not on your reading pile go out and grab a copy now. Are you still with me?  Off you go and find this book - NOW! Fingers crossed for Julie Hunt.

I would link Shine Mountain with The Firework Maker's daughter by Philip Pullman.

I loved so many parts of this story: Luca's gift of weather making; the kindness of the wonderful Meridian and her ability as a Way-Lady; and the idea of map making using dust or dirt from your home. The descriptions are also wonderful. I can just see Harlan's shoes: "His boots had pointed toes and they were laced up at the side with leather thonging."

There are links in Shine Mountain with other books by Julie. An accordion (found in The Coat) and the coat itself worn by Harland: "He wore old-fashioned garb, a ragged frockcoat that hung on his thin frame and a wide hat that was turned up at the back.". If you look at The Coat illustrated by Ron Brooks it looks just like this. I asked Julie about this and she said she seems to have a 'thing' about concertinas, coats and white gloves. The white gloves are a reference to her book KidGlovz.

This is a mysterious magical quest for truth, identity, and reparation. It is designed to shine a light on the importance and necessity of stories handed down over time.  It is a movement of music in four parts. The story is made up of strands of the characters’ lives interwoven with the strongest strand being Ellie, in the middle, to hold it all together. Kids Book Review

Read my earlier post about Song for a Scarlet Runner also by Julie Hunt.

Here is a button Box concertina - click the link to hear it played.

Image source and video of this instrument being played: https://www.buttonbox.com/new-concertinas.html