The Silken Thread by Gabrielle Wang

Gabrielle Wang has woven together an intriguing story in her book The Silken Thread. I use the word woven because there are several story threads and yes there is also an important reference to silk and silk threads from silkworm cocoons but really the strength of this book comes from both the way she weaves in and out of the past and present lives of these two children who live thousands of kilometers apart and the way she weaves in and gives us an insight into their complex family lives.  

I am not usually a fan of timeslip stories or ghost stories. In this case, though, The Silken Thread is not quite a timeslip in the usual way because Moonie, living in Melbourne, meets Little Dipper from China so it is not a different time just a different place. 

Little Dipper lives in poverty in a small village in China. He is a clever boy and the local school principal has identified him as a student who should go to school even though he is needed at home to help with the raising of silkworms and even though the family have little or no money. Little Dipper has two, much older, brothers but more importantly he did have a precious sister. Sadly Little Tian died in an accident. Little Dipper carries a great sadness about this, but Little Tian is never far away - he is still able to talk to her. Is she a ghost? His family are very superstitious, so he keeps her visits a secret.  When he travels to his lessons with his English tutor he has a set of instructions about how to deal with two spirits - the Slurp Slap Ghost and the even more terrifying Will O' the Wisp. His grandmother gives him special food packets and his brother tells him how to avoid the danger of the marshland. You could read Chapter 20 as a way to book talk The Silken Thread - this is when Little Dipper is trapped by the Will O' the Wisp.

Moonie lives with her older sister and two younger brothers in inner city Melbourne. Her grandmother lives with them too. Her father DeDi works at the local food market selling vegetables. The year is 1932 so Australia is in the grip of the depression. Moonie's mother MaMi has become very ill and has been sent away. Moonie and her siblings do not know where she is or when she will return. Things become even harder when a strange woman moves into their house. She seems to have bewitched DeDi and she is horribly cruel to Moonie's brother Floppy (Philip).

Moonie's Melbourne house is very old and Moonie has always been able to see ghosts of the former residents so she is not too shocked when a young boy appears in her room - is he a ghost too? 

Why has Little Dipper come to visit Moonie? Is there a way these two kids can help each other? 

I expect we will see The Silken Thread on the CBCA 2026 Younger Readers Notable list. Listen to an audio sample here. 

Publisher blurb: Moonie lives in Melbourne and dreams of designing dresses for movie stars. Eight thousand kilometres away, on Chongming Island in China, peasant boy Little Dipper cares for the silkworms on his family’s farm and hopes to learn English. On the day Moonie’s beloved Ma Mi goes away, Little Dipper appears in her house. Before they can speak, he is whisked back home. Aided by a magical silk cocoon, Little Dipper’s visits become a regular event and although neither knows how or why they are connected their bond grows each time. Will the silken threads of friendship be enough to help Moonie bring Ma Mi home, or to save Little Dipper from the troublesome ghosts who stand between him and his dream of learning English?

Things I enjoyed about this book:

• The references to food especially towards the end of the story.
• The pattern of three which is how many times Little Dipper has to journey to Teacher Sun before he can finally enter her house.
• The beautiful old water buffalo named Long Ma who takes care of Little Dipper
• The descriptions of each family especially Little Dipper's family and the way they care for one another.
• The alternating voices and stories of the two main characters.
• The scene (spoiler alert) when Little Dipper defeats the 'evil' Miss Yip.
• I am intrigued by the idea of 'rural school' in Melbourne in 1932.
• There are some great little history snippets in this story about life during the Great Depression.

Here is a quote to give you an idea about life during these times:

"One of my chores is to wash the potties in the morning. Another is to cut up squares of newspaper and thread them on a string to use as toilet paper. If there is a photo of a person though, I throw that page away. I wouldn't like it if my photo was in the newspaper and someone wiped their bottom on my face. MaMi taught us to scrunch the paper up first to make it softer. Rich people, who have telephones in their houses ... use pages from old telephone books as toilet paper ... it is so luxurious ..."

Highly recommended for readers who love historical fiction, and stories of warmth, friendship and a touch of magic. Reading Time

I think this is my new favourite of Gabrielle’s books and readers from around Year 4 upwards will love it too. Just so Stories

This is an outstanding novel, full of warmth and interesting issues. A combination of linking stories within stories. The chapters are presented in alternate voices – Moonie’s and Little Dippers’. Through these individual narratives, we learn about the boy’s family life, his surroundings, dreams, and his character. The same applies to Moonie’s narrative. Beautifully introduced are Chinese customs, culture and traditions, beliefs, philosophy, and the role each person plays within the family structure. Kids' Book Review

‘The Silken Thread is a beautifully evocative sunshine burst of magical realism, illuminating the harsh and joyous realities of life in China and Australia during the Great Depression, while celebrating the hidden lives of Chinese Australians. Rich in detail, complex in theme yet delicately drawn, the novel celebrates the strange ties that bind us across cultures, time and language, highlighting the importance of learning, friendship, family and community. An enchanting pocket treasure to lose yourself in.’ – Rebecca Lim

Read this review from Storylinks which gives more plot details.

Gabrielle Wang was the 2022-2023 Australian Children's Laureate. I talk more about this here. Companion books:

Bronze and Sunflower

Two Sparrowhawk's in a Lonely Sky (five stars)

The Kite Rider

A Glasshouse of Stars

All Four Quarters of the Moon

Ties that Bind, Ties that Break

Moonboy by Anna Ciddor

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

I was almost the same age as the boy in this story, Keith Arthur Watson, who is living in Australia in 1969. What happened in 1969? The moon landing. I well remember there were all sorts of newspaper booklets to collect and I also vividly remember sitting in a crowded classroom and peering at a small television screen to watch those steps on the moon.

Moonboy is a timeslip story. Charlotte is staying with her grandmother. Her dad tells her to look inside a box in her room. When she opens the box she finds newspaper clippings from 1969 all about the Apollo moon landing and also some other things that belonged to Keith, her grandfather, when he was a boy. A big of marbles, some footy swap cards and an old footy sweater. This sweater is very significant because it is the conduit that takes Charlotte from 2025 back to 1969 and straight into ten-year-old Keith's bedroom and life. 

Sadly, in 2025, Keith (Charlotte's grandfather) is suffering from dementia. He seems to be unable to speak or recognise his wife or granddaughter. But then Charlotte takes some of the newspaper clippings to his aged care home and for a moment or two he seems to 'come back to life'. 

This book covers time from about 9th July to 25th July 1969 and 2025. Keith and Charlotte will both have a birthday on 23rd July. Gran wants it to be special but she also wants to hold it in the Aged Care Home. At first Charlotte finds the state of many of the elderly people quite confronting and upsetting but over the two weeks of her daily visits she comes to see each person as an individual and so her eventual 'moon landing themed' birthday party in the lounge room of Diamond House is, to her surprise, a very happy event. 

Here is a video of the television broadcast watched by Keith in 1969 and again by Charlotte in the aged care home with her grandfather in 2025. 

My only tiny quibble with this story comes from the way Charlotte knows nothing about the moon landing - that's okay - but I kept wondering why she didn't try to research these events either in her school library or on Google. She is filled with worries about every tiny aspect of this momentous event - will they reach the moon; will the astronauts actually walk there; will they get home safely; and worst of all what if Keith's sister Gwen wrecks everything because she has gone to help her aunt at uncle at Honeysuckle Creek. This true aspect of the Australian connection to the moon landing is explained at the back of the book. It's quite a fascinating side story. I was also a little concerned with the way Charlotte was able to change history. She stops Keith setting off some dangerous fireworks and so his fingers are not damaged and yet the grandfather she has always known did have missing fingers and now his hands are fine.

I did enjoy Keith's colloquial sayings: crikey; how the blazes; are you a few crumbs short of a sandwich; strike a light; ridgy didge; holy moly; fair dinkum; and stone the crows.

When Charlotte travels back to Keith's Grade six classroom she writes a terrific poem about the moon landing. Sadly the teacher rejects it because it doesn't rhyme - even in 1969 I hope this would not be the reaction of a teacher. I really like her poem:

I can't believe it!

We've landed on the moon!

Through the window

I can see grey dust

And craters

I can't belive it!

My fee

Will be the first

To ever touch the moon!

Open the door,

I'm ready

Here I come!

This book could be a jumping off point for kids to research more about the moon landing and especially the involvement of Australia. Behind the News could be a good starting point. If you are using this book with a class you could investigate a KidsNews free subscription. The BBC also have some good resources. 

Sensitive readers may find Charlotte's reactions to the elderly people in the aged care home a little confronting. I related to this because my precious little Nan was in an aged care home when I was about the same age as Charlotte. More recently I watched young children visiting elderly relatives in a care home where my mother sadly spent her final years. I suggest you could look for Newpaper Hats which is a picture book by Phil Cummings as a way to talk about the effects of dementia and memory loss. 

Here is a video review from Kid Lit Joy. Anna Ciddor has some background photos that link with this story on her webpage. You could make use of these in a book talk with your library group. Read the blurb and review page from Lamont Books.

Anna Ciddor’s story explores history and family in delicate and emotional ways in this book, getting to the heart of Letty’s relationship with her grandfather, what he means to her and what knowing her in the past meant to him as well. The Book Muse

Thank you to Allen and Unwin for sending me a review copy. Moonboy was released yesterday. 

Companion book:

Footprints on the Moon

Here are some other books by Anna Ciddor. I especially loved one of her very early book - Runestone.

52 Mondays

Andromache Between Worlds by Gabriel Bergmoser

 

"I'll guess you're using some kind of portal device to jump between worlds. 

And based on the fact that you're here, I'm going to guess it's guided by DNA."

In the opening scene of this book Andromache Peters is expelled from her prestigious private boarding school after being falsely accused of a series of thefts. She has in fact been set up by the class bully but in reality Andromache is very happy to leave this place (with the dreadful sounding name of Alabaster's Academy for Ladies). She is not happy, however, about meeting up with her mother. Andromache and her mother have a very fraught relationship. Her parents were highly awarded intrepid news reporters. Her mother has written several books about their exploits and she has become a minor celebrity. 

"My mother no longer looked much like the famous photos, but that didn't make her any less of an impressive figure. She might had traded in her goggles and leather jackets and gyrocopter for rectangular glasses and suits and limos, but there was still a presence that she practically radiated, somewhere between a sun you didn't want to get too close to and a planet drawing you in. Maybe it was the knowledge of everything she had done. Maybe it was the fact that she was my mother."

Andromache does not appreciate having to live in the shadow of her famous parents and she is constantly aware that her mother is disappointed with her. There is also the mystery of her father who she has been told died when she was just two years old - twelve years ago. 

On her return home from the school, Andromache overhears a telephone conversation between her mother and a man called Cavanaugh Rogers. She knows this is about her father. He died when she was so young and her mother never talks about him but Andromache really wants to understand what happened. Late that night, with the help of another rebellious school friend Rylee, Andromache heads off to Precipice Laboratories - the place where her father, she's been told, died. 

Very quickly things escalate in the laboratory. Andromache meets Cavanaugh Rogers and he shows her his invention which can take a person to another parallel world. Why is this hugely significant? Because her father is not dead - he is in another world. There are thousands of other universes but with the addition of DNA the device can take Andromache to her father - of course this is not straightforward. The concept of other worlds is a complex one but it all about possibilities. 

Think about key moments in history: "If humankind never discovered fire. If Alexander the Great had lived longer and kept conquering. If William Shakespeare had never published a word. If, at a key point, history had chosen a different fork in the road. What would those worlds look like?"

The time travel device is called the Locksmith. It pierces Andromache's skin and then it latches onto her body. She and Rylee and Cavanaugh's apprentice Tobias step through the doorway that opens when the Locksmith is activated. Their mission is to find Andromache's father. They meet giant crabs, pirates, ferocious dinosaurs, London in a very different form (think steam punk) and a megalomaniac Pharoah. They find themselves in enormous danger, in prison cells and Andromache meets "other" versions of herself. The DNA idea is a curious one. Yes, Andromache shares her DNA with her father but there are others too. Surprises are in store. Luckily, it is easy to return to our world using the Locksmith until they reach the tech-powered new world in Egypt. 

There is a huge twist at the end of this story which I am sure most readers will not anticipate and the very final scene is perfect - no need for a sequel - the story is complete.

Here are a few text quotes to give you a flavour of this writing:

"She was familiar. Really familiar ... It had taken far longer than it should have to recognise her. But then. I had never once seen myself looking like that.  ... she was older. Not by a lot, maybe three or four years, but she stood a little taller than me and the way she carried herself was more ... adult, somehow. Looking at her, I felt like a gawky, clumsy kid. But as intimidating as she was to take in, there was also a weird kind of rushing exhilaration to it. Was she what I would grow into?"

"I had to know more. Not just about the other me, but about this world. It seemed incredible so far; beautiful and strange with wild technology and laws that looked as bizarre as they did brilliant."

"Everything I'd grown up believing had been destroyed, and I had nothing to take its place. Maybe, maybe, I could live with knowing my parents weren't good people. Maybe part of me would be relieved by it, because it would shatter the impossible stories I'd always had to live up to. But worse than that, was what I had discovered about myself."

Just a trivial point - The arch villain in this book is named Vincent Black - I kept thinking of the Harry Potter character Sirius Black. 

Perhaps you are wondering about the name Andromache - it is pronounced An-drom-mack-key. Listen here. 

• In Greek mythology, Andromache was the wife of Hector. Hector is one of the major characters in the Illiad.
• The name means 'man battler' or 'fighter of men' or 'man fighter' (there was also a famous Amazon warrior named Andromache).
• In Greek mythology, the people of Athens were at one point compelled by King Minos of Crete to choose 14 young noble citizens (seven young men and seven maidens) to be offered as sacrificial victims to the half-human, half-taurine monster Minotaur to be killed in retribution for the death of Minos' son Androgeos. Andromache, daughter of Eurymedon was one of the victims.
• It can also mean courage.
• And it is "a really annoying name that parents should think twice about naming their child."

Huge thanks to Three Sparrows Bookshop for this Advance Reader copy. I actually didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. Why? I thought it was a Young Adult title but now I would say it is for 11+. And I am not usually a fan of timeslip stories but this one is very well constructed, intriguing at times especially with the way the time device works, and it's an engrossing story. The writing really put me right inside each of the alternate worlds especially the one with the vicious dinosaurs! Andromache Between Worlds is due for publication in February 2024 (Harper Collins). Gabriel Bergmoser talks about his book here. You can read the publisher blurb in my recent blog post. 

The first timeslip story I remember reading where the characters went back to various times in past history was this very old, long out of print, junior, funny book:

Luna by Holly Webb illustrated by Jo Anne Davies

Hannah and her family visit a Christmas market in Dresden. Hannah sees a small bear puppet toy and the seller shows her how the bear can dance. Hannah finds this quite upsetting, but she convinces her father to buy her the little bear. In the middle of that night Hannah finds herself in a different place and time - a barn with two bears - one huge and one cub. She meets a young boy who is trying to rescue the cub. He has witnessed the hunters capturing the wild creature to use in their dreadful dancing act. Hannah is a stranger, but she is able to help Matthias. Even though the mother bear has been killed the new friends find another bear in the forest who immediately bonds with the little cub - giving readers the promise of that all-important happy ending.

This book was a generous gift from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything and it reminded me of an Australian picture book from many years ago. 

Here is the Kirkus review

Luna has a junior looking cover and only 176 pages with illustrations but the topic of cruelty to animals which is explored in this book and the timeslip format mean this book is better suited to readers aged 10+.

Holly Webb needs more than one shelf in a library - she says: "Quite often people ask how many books I’ve written. At the moment, it’s 156!"

The Big Brass Key by Ruth Park illustrated by Noela Young.

 

I am not usually a fan of time switch stories but of course our award winning Australian author Ruth Park (1917-2010) does this SO well. Her idea of having a small dog move to the 'wrong' time is a brilliant story device which gives the plot momentum creating an urgency for Eliza (who lives in our time zone) to find a way back to Bethie who is living next door in 1914.

Eliza and her sister Paulina have moved to a new house in the Sydney suburb of Manly. The house is one hundred years old with a large garden. Next door there is a block of neglected holiday units and a very unfriendly man who owns the building. Exploring under their house, a place they have been forbidden to visit, Eliza finds a large old key. The sisters try to fit the key into various doors but with out success and then one evening the timber fence beside the house changes.

"Behind her was no fence at all, but a high, stone wall that bordered the street. A rose waved a long feeler over the top, and she saw a tall camellia tree with dark pink flowers beside the slate roof of the cottage. What cottage? Where was the block of flats owns by the cranky old man?"

Eliza hears a dog barking on the other side and then she discovers her key opens a door in the wall. Stepping through she meet Bethie and her small dog. She also meets Bethie's nasty brother Matty. When she flees back through the door little Tot follows her. Mum and Dad have said no pets. They don't have extra money right now after buying the house. Eliza needs to return Tot but when will the fence become a wall again?

"The enclosing stone wall looked as if it had been chipped out by convict stone masons in the long ago. Fishbone ferns and nasturtiums tumbled down the crevices. Once the wall had stretched across the bottom of the garden as well. Anyone could see that. But now there was a paling fence topped with spiteful barbed wire."

"All at once she heard horse ambling along Addison Road. There was a quavering hoot from an old, old car. And a stream whistle as the Manly ferry drew away from the jetty."

I love the line drawings in this book by the late Noela Young. She illustrated another famous Ruth Park book - The Muddle-headed wombat. Ruth Park is the author of another famous Australian historical fiction title -  Playing Beatie Bow (for readers aged 14+). 

The other strength of this book comes from the very rich vocabulary. Ruth Park is not writing down to her younger audience even though this book only has 71 pages.

Here are some examples:

• disdainful
• leprous
• swineherd
• joists
• thunderstruck
• antiquated

I also love the character descriptions:

"Elizabeth was always called Eliza. She had a cheerful face and eyes like blue crystals. Her fairish hair was nibbled short. She nearly always went barefooted."

"Right in front of them was a little girl in a brown pinafore, an astonished look on her face and a skipping rope in her hand."

The only really dated reference comes when Paulina and her friend use a cassette player for some dance music. I guess we don't use the term shortie pyjamas but a modern reader could easily guess the meaning. This book was first published in 1983 and so it has long been out of print. The copy I borrowed from a library is now quite yellowed and stained so I guess it will now be weeded. The small font, purple cover (different from the one above) and the old-fashioned looking girl on the cover most certainly mean this book will just continue to languish on the library shelves. It was last borrowed over a decade ago. 

My February Reading Pile

 

This post is a little late and I have actually started (or even finished) a few of the books on my February book pile (middle grade).

Advance copies - thanks to Beachside Bookshop

 Crook Haven: The School for Thieves by J.J. Arcanjo Hodder Due for release March 2023

Publisher blurb: 13-year-old Gabriel is a brilliant pickpocket, a skill which he uses to keep his often empty belly not quite so empty. And then one day, he's caught. But instead of being arrested, he is invited by the mysterious Caspian Crook to attend Crookhaven - a school for thieves. At Crookhaven, students are trained in lock-picking, forgery and 'crim-nastics', all with the intention of doing good out in the world, by conning the bad and giving back to the innocent. But ... can you ever really trust a thief? With a school wide competition to be crowned Top Crook and many mysteries to uncover, Gabriel's first year at Crookhaven will be one to remember...

I am up to page 197 of 313 pages and I am thoroughly enjoying this book. It will greatly appeal to fans of Harry Potter. In fact if someone out there is writing their PhD thesis on books with plot lines that are either reminiscent or derivative of good old Harry Potter then I suggest you add this book to your reading pile. Having said that I am not usually a fan of school for wizards stories but this one is actually very engrossing, inventive and clever. I will talk in detail about this book, the first in a planned series by a debut author, later this week.

Montgomery Bonbon: Murder at the Museum by Alasdair Beckett-King Walker Books released February 2023.

I have already finished this one - read more here.

Running with Ivan by Suzanne Leal A&R released February 2023

Publisher blurb: Thirteen-year-old Leo Arnold hates his life. He doesn't want a new school, a new house or a new family. And he definitely doesn't want to be sharing a room with his new stepbrother, Cooper. What Leo wants is to be somewhere else, far away. So when he uncovers an old music box and turns the key, he is astonished to find himself in Prague, surrounded by whispers and fears of a second world war. A war that ended decades ago. In Prague, Leo meets Ivan, a Czech boy, and the two become friends. But when World War Two finally erupts, the unimaginable becomes real and the boys are imprisoned. Fearing the worst, Leo and Ivan frantically search for an escape. A search that sends them running. Running against time. Running for their lives.

I am always interest in reading books set during World War II but I am not a huge fan of time slip so I will be interested to see how this book transitions from the present to the past. 

Fritz and Kurt by Jeremy Drondfield illustrated by David Ziggy Greene Puffin due for release January 2023.

Publisher blurb: When everything is taken away from you, love and courage are all you have left. In 1938, the Nazis come to Vienna. They hate anyone who is different, especially Jewish people. Fritz and Kurt's family are Jewish, and that puts them in terrible danger. Fritz, along with his father, is taken to a Nazi prison camp, a terrible place, full of fear. When his father is sent to a certain death, Fritz can't face losing his beloved Papa. He chooses to go with him and fight for survival. Meanwhile, Kurt must go on a frightening journey, all alone, to seek safety on the far side of the world. In this extraordinary true story, Fritz and Kurt must face unimaginable hardships, and the two brothers wonder if they will ever return home . . .

I have started this book but knowing it is about the holocaust (based on a an adult book The Boy who followed his Father into Auschwitz) I am sure reading this true life account will take some courage. I already know I would pair this book with The Happiest Boy on Earth: The incredible story of The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku. I will talk about this important and very moving book later in the year. It is a new Australian picture book.

Books I purchased for February (see list below of completed books too):

Gold Rush Girl by Avi 

I am a huge fan of Avi - I loved the Poppy book series. Gold Rush Girl (2020) has been on my book shopping list for a long time.  Kirkus said this book is: A splendidly exciting and accessible historical adventure.

Blurb: Victoria Blaisdell longs for independence and adventure, and she yearns to accompany her father as he sails west in search of real gold! But it is 1848, and Tory isn't even allowed to go to school, much less travel all the way from Rhode Island to California. Determined to take control of her own destiny, Tory stows away on the ship. Though San Francisco is frenzied and full of wild and dangerous men, Tory finds freedom and friendship there. Until one day, when Father is in the gold fields, her younger brother, Jacob, is kidnapped. And so Tory is spurred on a treacherous search for him in Rotten Row, a part of San Francisco Bay crowded with hundreds of abandoned ships. Beloved storyteller Avi is at the top of his form as he ushers us back to an extraordinary time of hope and risk, brought to life by a heroine readers will cheer for. Spot-on details and high suspense make this a vivid, absorbing historical adventure.

Without even opening this book I know I would pair it with The Ballad of Lucy Whipple.

Borrowed from the library:

Greenglass House by Kate Milford 

Blurb: New York Times Bestseller * National Book Award Nominee * Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery It’s wintertime at Greenglass House. The creaky smuggler’s inn is always quiet during this season, and twelve-year-old Milo, the innkeepers’ adopted son, plans to spend his holidays relaxing. But on the first icy night of vacation, out of nowhere, the guest bell rings. Then rings again. And again... Soon Milo’s home is bursting with odd, secretive guests, each one bearing a strange story that is somehow connected to the rambling old house. As objects go missing and tempers flare, Milo and Meddy, the cook’s daughter, must decipher clues and untangle the web of deepening mysteries to discover the truth about Greenglass House—and themselves.

I have already started this one. I do enjoy books set in hotels and this one seems to be quite an intriguing and atmospheric mystery. 

This month I have also read:

Cop and Robber by Tristan Bancks

The Lorikeet Tree by Paul Jennings

The Girl who talked to Trees by Natasha Farrant illustrated by Lydia Corry

Finally in a few days I will talk about this splendid poetry book.  I have borrowed it from a friend but now I think I might need to purchase my own copy! Nosy Crow always deliver such beautifully designed books - this one even has one of those book mark ribbons.

Bed Time by Accabre Huntley

Can I stay up five

minutes more let me

finish this book

Can't I finish this

castle

Can't I 

stay up

five minutes or four

three minutes or two

minutes one minute more.

The Ship of Doom by M.A. Bennett

A number of learned adults gather at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich in 1894. This is the place where you will find the Meridian line. "It is from this line that all the time in the world is measured."

These eminent men and women have invented a train-like machine that, when placed on the Meridian Line, can take its passengers forward in time. Their purpose is to bring back inventions and technology from the future. It has been decided that they will send three children because children are easily over looked. A ship (yes it is the Titanic) is about to set sail in 1912 and on board is the famous Guglielmo Marconi and his amazing new invention. The problem is this is THE Titanic and the three children - Luna, Konstantin and Aidan are set to arrive on board just a few days before the fateful sinking. 

These three children cannot drown because they have their time machine but what will happen if they try to alter history and steal the wireless radio transmitter?

The author has done a great deal of research for her book.  Here are a few facts which have been woven into the plot:

Less than an hour before the Titanic hit the fateful iceberg and began to sink, another ship nearby, the Californian, had radioed to say that it had been stopped by a dense ice field. If the Titanic had paid proper attention to this message from the Californian they may have been able to avoid hitting the iceberg. However, the message did not begin with the prefix ‘MSG’, meaning Master’s Service Gram, so the captain was not obliged to directly acknowledge receiving it. Titanic’s radio operator, Jack Phillips, decided that the message was not urgent and therefore did not pass it along to Captain Smith.

On a ship there are designated lookouts, whose job it is to keep watch for danger, such as icebergs. So, why didn’t the lookouts on the Titanic spot the huge iceberg that the ship was travelling towards? Well, the Titanic had 2 lookouts, Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee, that were located in the crows nest, 29 meters above the deck. These lookouts were missing one crucial tool: their binoculars. On the night that the Titanic sank, the conditions were pretty calm, which actually made the iceberg harder to spot. This is because, if the water had been choppier, the lookouts may have seen the waves breaking at the bottom of the iceberg. Titanic’s second officer, David Blair, had possession of the key to the binoculars’ storage box, but he was transferred off the ship before it set sail for New York. Blair forgot to hand over his keys before being transferred, so the lookouts on the Titanic were left without binoculars.

MA Bennett (Marina Fiorato) is the author of several Young Adult titles such as the five book STAGS series. 

If you do know your history you may have detected an error above. Marconi's device was installed on the Titanic but the man himself actually travelled on a different ship, the Lusitania, three days earlier to New York. Read more here. Marconi built his equipment and transmitted electrical signals through the air from one end of his house to the other, and then from the house to the garden in 1895. These experiments were, in effect, the dawn of practical wireless telegraphy or radio. Linking back to the Titanic - the radio operators were able to use Marconi's invention and Morse code to send an SOS saving the lives of some passengers. Don't worry that MA Bennett has made an historical mistake - she hasn't. This is a book about time travel and the butterfly effect. There will be a way to save Marconi - you need to read this book to discover the clever way the children manage this.

This book is one from a new series which explores the implications of the butterfly effect. The second book will be released in October:

I talked about this idea previously in relation to a picture book - And ... by Philippe Jalbert.

Companion read on the topic of altering history through time travel:

The Titanic sank on 15th April, 1912 so this week it is the 110th anniversary of this catastrophic event. My friend at Kinderbookswitheverything alerted me to the date with her post this week. In a serendipitous link I read The Ship of Doom earlier this week. 

Here are some other middle grade novels (and one longer picture book) based on the sinking of the Titanic:

And here is a book by Australian author Gary Crew illustrated by Bruce Whatley that I would like to find published in 2005.

I would also like to read this book based on Wallace Hartley who used the power of music to comfort thousands of people during a catastrophic situation.

Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds The Mirrorstone by Michael Palin illustrated by Alan Lee

 

In 2020 the CBCA slogan Curious Creatures Wild Minds neatly matched with the book Where the Wild things are.  Someone posed the question a few weeks ago asking for a single book which could be used to explore the theme this year (Old Worlds, New World, Other Worlds) and so I have been thinking about this.  Last night I had a light-bulb moment and thought of a couple of perfect books. The Mirrorstone is one of these. This links also with a post I shared yesterday exploring books which involve a time slip or movement through a portal to another world.

The Mirrorstone by Michael Palin is from 1986 and of course it is out of print but it is sure to be in many school libraries - at least I do hope it is.  This is such a wonderful book to read aloud and I would suggest you could use it with any primary class from Grade 3 up to Grade 6. This book contains amazing holograms by Light Fantastic which add an extra, very appealing layer to the beautiful art by Alan Lee. 

Paul is home alone late one afternoon. He looks in to the bathroom mirror and sees something strange.

It is not his own face which is looking back at him. He reaches out and touches the mirror and finds himself transported to different world. 

"The bathroom he knew so well began to disappear, the light became brighter, the wind blew stronger and the next moment Paul found himself, blinking, in the middle of a strange city. It was full of towers topped with flags which swirled in the breeze. He recognised nothing and no one. It was like a picture in a history book."

Paul is a good swimmer but what he doesn't know is that someone needs his skill. This man has seen Paul. His name is Salaman and his purposes are quite sinister. 

"The man's hair was long and matted as though it hadn't been washed for years. His face was lined and wrinkled, as if he'd been through a dozen lifetimes, but the eyes that stared at Paul were bright and piercing."

"I am, in my humble way, a genius. I have spent my lives studying glass, reflections ... mirrors... the movement of light on surfaces, and I have in my researches discovered the formula for the perfect mirror. A mirror that would show people themselves as they really are. Outside and inside."

Salaman shows Paul a globe. Looking into the globe Paul can see an underwater world. There is an amazing stone that looks luminous. Salaman wants this stone. 

Paul is terrified. He runs out the door and away down the street but he doesn't see the gleaming puddle in the alleyway. As he steps into the puddle he finds himself sinking into the underwater world he had seen in the globe. He sees a palace and swims inside and into air. There is a window and he can see Salaman looking at him. Paul is somehow inside the globe he saw in the old man's room.  Paul is ordered to dive back into the water and retrieve the stone but just as he reaches it the whole rock comes to life. It is an enormous sea monster. Paul is held down and your young reading companions will be holding their breath as Paul struggles to reach the air. Paul does retrieve the Mirrorstone but when Salaman looks into it he does not see the face of a genius. In shock Salaman drops the globe and it smashes onto the floor. Paul is set free. 

I have read this book to groups of students for over 30 years. It takes two sessions but I love to leave the group of listeners desperate to hear the ending. Michael Palin (yes the famous one) has written a wonderful story which I think perfectly matches the 2021 CBCA slogan. 

Mr. Palin has done a splendid job, but the real hero of this enterprise is Alan Lee, the illustrator. His carefully researched, intricately detailed watercolors are just right for illustrations that must be naturalistic enough to complement the images in the hologram. New York Times

Here is the blurb from the back cover of the book:

"The first time Paul saw it was at the swimming baths. The face staring at him from the mirror wasn't his own. Then, at home, even stranger things began to happen and so began an enthralling looking-glass adventure of time, space and imagination."

When this book was released it was one of a pair designed by Richard Seymour.  I read have also been reading The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup to groups of students for over thirty years.