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

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt

Memorable, controversial, wonderful.

Elizabeth Bird SLJ Fuse 8

It's beautiful. It's simply beautiful. Like a love letter to the English language. Appelt's poetic style suits this prose novel achingly well. Becky's Book Reviews

I am not going to retell the plot of this book. If you click the review links above you can read them for yourself.  Instead here are my random thoughts about this book - a book I loved reading.

This book made me think of a series of threads which might begin as separate strands. Gradually a skilled person joins them together in a pattern. One thread, however, is short and disappears into the design very early. Another thread is totally wrong. It is the wrong texture, wrong colour and feels rough and damaged. It cannot be part of the pattern and yet it is now tangled and will be difficult to remove from the final design. One thread also feels wrong but by the time this weaving it finished the maker sees that it is just perfect adding an important dimension to the whole effect.

"The world is made of patterns. The rings of a tree. The raindrops on the dusty ground. The path the sun follows morning to dusk." (Chapter 65)

When you read this book I hope my thread analogy makes sense. To start you off the Calico Cat is the short thread.

Major Characters:
Calico Cat - her life is short but she is essential to the rescue of Ranger
Her twin kittens Sabine and the aptly named Puck
An old hound dog called Ranger
The man named Gar Face whose life is fueled by revenge and hate. "Hatred, like sweat, coated his skin. ... Do not cross his angry path. Do not."
Grandmother Moccasin the old snake trapped for a thousand years "a creature even older than the forest itself, older than the creek, the last of her kind."
The Alligator King - he is patiently waiting for the man to make a mistake.

I adore all the references to trees in this book. "Trees are the keepers of stories." Here are some which I love the sound of. Coming from Australia nearly all are unfamiliar to me. As Elizabeth Bird says through this beautiful writing:

"We hear the wind in the pines and the smell of the water."

Loblolly Pine
Tupelo
Blackjacks
Water Oaks
Sumacs
Longleaf Pine
Weeping Willow
Mulberry
Ash
Sugarberry
Juniper
Maple
Beautyberry
Chestnut

Kathi Appelt is also so skilled with her words on the actions of cats.
Sabine sees her brother step into the sun.  "She had awakened just in time to see her brother step into the sun's dim light, see him roll onto his back, see the beams of sun float onto his tummy. She had seen him smile up at the lovely light, seen his coat glow in the shimmery gold."

Puck is given a freshly killed mouse by the hawk. "Even though the mouse was already dead, he decided to kill it again, just to make sure. So he fluffed up his fur as much as he could ... arched his back to its full kitten height, and pounced on the lifeless body with all four paws. He battered it from side to side and tossed it into the air."

Sabine : "Soon she was completely absorbed in her personal bath, concentrating fully on licking every strand of her silver fur. She cleaned her paws, including between her toes. She reached over and licked her narrow back. She tucked her head and cleaned her soft-as-velvet belly. And every few minutes, she stopped and licked Ranger's long ears. He loved it when she did that."

One aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was all the tension Kathi Appelt created. I knew it would all be resolved and I could hardly wait to find out how.  One tiny example is when Puck finds himself on the wrong side of the river. His fur is coated with mud which hardens in the sun. Finally after many adventures Puck falls into the river. He can swim. He is okay. He sadly finds he is still on the wrong side of the river. "The only good thing to come out of his experiment in sailing was this: The cold water had loosened the last of the old mud, and his coat, though completely wet, was now completely clean."

I volunteer in a small library at a city Children's Hospital and last week I discovered I am allowed to borrow their books. I spied The Underneath by Kathi Appelt and I remembered reading her book Keeper. I am late in my discovery of The Underneath. It was first published in 2008 and won a Newbery Honor but I am very happy to report it is still available. One important point - make sure you read this book yourself first before giving to a young reader. As you can see from my set of labels it is violent and some scenes with Gar Face and his treatment of Ranger and the kittens are extremely cruel. I would suggest this book is for readers aged 10+. You can listen to part of Chapter one here.  Read this review for more story details and a different perspective. Here is the trailer.

Here is a very detailed review by Middle Grade Ninja. I was interested to read the way his review likens the story line to juggling plates. Here is an excellent interview by Uma Krishnaswami author of The Book Uncle and me.

The Underneath, as I said, is a violent story but it is also a love story and a story about loyalty, perseverance and promises. I would follow or pair this with Sounder by William H Armstrong, Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor Reynolds, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls and for a book with a similar setting look for Chomp by Carl Hiaasen or Skink no surrender also by Carl Hiaasen. The evil of Gar Face reminded me of Zozo from Ollie's Odyssey.

Here is one more beautiful phrase from this book:
"And then, as if the lightning were a zipper in the clouds, it opened them up and let the water out. Buckets and buckets of cold rain, sheets of it. Rain that had traveled for thousands of miles."

The Mulberry Tree by Allison Rushby

"It was more like her dad was balancing - balancing on top of a log, with his arms out, trying to keep steady. She had to hold his hand and help him to get to the other side. She knew from experience that the funny thing about balancing on logs was that most of the time you didn't even need that hand. It was enough to know it was there. Just in case."

Do naught wrong by the mulberry tree or she'll take your daughters - one, two, three

The Mulberry tree is indeed a mystery story but it also about healing and forgiveness. A small family are experiencing profound grief.  Immy's dad is a GP in Australia. He recently refused to allow an elderly man to renew his driving licence but this man, called Bob, drives on anyway and then, he is the cause of a terrible accident and a mother and baby are killed. Andrew (dad) is wracked with remorse, guilt and grief so the family of three have moved away - a long way away - to a small village in Cambridge in the hope this change can help them all heal.

After a morning spent looking at 'suitable' properties, Immy spots Lavender House. From the front it looks perfect:

"Her eyes were fixed upon a house of creamy white with the prettiest canary yellow door. Thatch coated the roof like a thick icing and the cherry on the top was a straw pigeon who strutted about on the roof as though he owned the place. The garden heaved with lavender ... "

Moving to the back garden things couldn't be more different:

"Everything was dark and drenched in shadow because of what lay to the left - a gigantic tree that loomed over the entire garden and the house itself. ... Halfway up, arm-like branches began to shoot out threateningly, dividing into stout, black fingers which poked and taunted the house cruelly. It was summer, yet the tree displayed no green. Not one leaf."

This is the mulberry tree of the title. Mystery and superstition abound. Two girls have disappeared. One, a girl called Bridget, in 1795, and the other, a girl called Elizabeth, on VE Day, 8th May, 1945. These disappearances or abductions happened on the eve of each girl's eleventh birthday. Adding to the mystery two knots appeared on the mulberry tree when the girls disappeared.  Immy will turn eleven in just a few days. Is it safe to live in this house in the shadow of this cursed tree?

It will take a determination and courage for Immy to discover the truth about the tree and about herself and these discoveries may help her father on his road to recovery. Her discoveries may even help the people in this village too.

I kept thinking I needed to know more about mulberry trees as I read this book. The tree takes on all the emotions that Immy is feeling but I wanted the family to care for the tree, to feed it, prune it, to ask an expert why it no longer bore fruit, to find out how long these trees live, does the mulberry need a partner tree to fertilize the flowers? Of course the tree itself is a metaphor but I did do some reading and discovered these mulberry tree facts:

• Mulberry trees can grow, if left alone, to 10 metres
• Mulberry trees grow in full sun
• There are four main varieties - Black English, Hick's Fancy, White Shahtoot and a variety that is  purely ornamental called the White Mulberry
• The fruit can be used in pies and preserves or just eaten straight from the tree but the fruit is fragile and the season is short so they are rarely grown commercially

I am excited to discover that this book was only released into shops 14 days ago! I will make a prediction that it will be one of the 2019 CBCA Notables and perhaps even reach the prestigious short list of six titles for our Australian award - Book of the Year Younger Readers. I think this is a book that will be enjoyed by older students who have a well developed level of emotional intelligence.

Here is a review with lots of plot details. You can also click the review quote below.  I think this book has a perfect cover by Rovina Cai. I do hope it is not changed for other markets in the US or UK. The story itself is certain to be enjoyed by readers beyond our Australian shores. Here is a link to Allison's web site.

On a personal note there was an old mulberry tree in my neighborhood but it was in a back garden. One day my friends and I decided to raid the tree for leaves because we were growing silkworms. It was clear that the home owners were absent so we crept up the side path and climbed the tree. Just as we started pulling off the leaves the family arrived home. I still tingle with the fear we all felt as we inched along high back yard fences, scrambling away, hoping not to be caught. We were safe but had dropped all those precious leaves. I wonder how we fed those poor little silkworms.

A strong, stubborn and compassionate protagonist, Immy takes charge of solving the mulberry mystery – as well as saving injured hedgehogs. As she rides the anxiety and angst that come with change and growing up, her innate empathy for others allows her to not only befriend kids in her class, but the lonely tree in her garden. The Reader The Booksellers New Zealand Blog by Rosalie Elliffe.