Away by Megan E Freeman

“For several months, the governor’s office and the Colorado Investigation Bureau have been monitoring a series of credible threats across Colorado. 

On Friday, we received intelligence of an imminent threat jeopardizing the safety of thousands of residents. We immediately launched a noncombatant evacuation operation named Operation Relocate Freedom. 

We do not know how long evacuations will last, and the state remains on emergency alert.”

Each section in this book begins with a definition such as this one:

There are four kids voices in this hybrid verse novel and Megan E Freeman makes it easy to keep up with each kids because they each use a different form of writing. The kids are Ashanti Johnson, aged 12, her mum is a doctor; Grandin Stone, aged 14 - his parents are farmers; Harmony Addams-Paul, aged 12 - she aspires to be a journalist, she has a fabulous teacher and mum her is a pastor; and Teddy Brenkert, aged 11 - he is homeschooled and lives with his grandmother who is a local amateur theatre producer. All of these kids live in Colardo. Ashanti and Grandin use free verse to tell their story; Teddy writes film proposals and scripts and often references famous classic movies and as you would expect Harmony writes as though her pieces are ready for publication in a newspaper. Then comes:

These four kids plus Harmony's little sister Pax, are thrown together when everyone in their area is evacuated due to some unexplained toxic danger. Along with many other people they are taken to a holding camp where they are given food and safety but no one is allowed to use a mobile phone, the authorities do not answer any questions and they are kept there for over two years!

“This is the Colorado National Guard. Mandatory evacuations are now in place for your area. Proceed immediately to designated embarkation zones for further instructions. Local law enforcement will provide additional guidance specific to your location. ... The specific cause of the evacuations is not yet known, but there are unconfirmed reports of a pipeline explosion, possibly multiple explosions. Sources at the state capitol say a major threat could be imminent, and terrorism has not been ruled out."

"Cell phones have been compromised and are not safe to use. As a matter of state security, all cell phones must be deposited in designated receptacles located throughout the station. Compliance is mandatory."

These kids all have talents which when combined are able to work out not just what is going on but also how to inform the adults and how to expose the conspiracy and they also luckily do find a few left-over pieces of technology which they are able to put to good use.

We are going to be muckrakers. Shine a light on what’s wrong in the world. ... Journalists who specifically investigate and report on stories to expose corruption or exploitation or other stuff like that. They rake the muck of society.

As you might expect there are lots of theories and rumors about why whole communities have been evacuated:

One girl said she’d heard a train carrying chemicals had derailed. Another heard there had been explosions in a mine shaft and a dam had broken. Someone else said a pipeline had burst. A kid from the Western Slope insisted “nonhuman biologics” were colonizing remote parts of the Rocky Mountains. One boy said his mom thought it was a nuclear accident, like the ones in Fukushima and Chernobyl. Do we even have nuclear reactors in Colorado? I have no idea.

Publisher blurb: After an imminent yet unnamed danger forces people across Colorado to leave their homes, a group of kids including an aspiring filmmaker and a budding journalist find themselves in the same evacuation camp. As they cope with the aftermath of having their world upended, they grow curious about the mysterious threat. And as they begin to investigate, they start to discover that there’s less truth and more cover-up to what they’re being told. Can they get to the root of the conspiracy, expose the bad actors, and bring an end to the upheaval before it’s too late?

Away is the companion volume to Alone - companion volume means while you do need to read BOTH books the order does not matter. 

Alone

In my review of Alone I said: I did want that all important happy ending but somehow the final three pages let me down. I wanted to know more. I need know why!

And now I do know why because I have read Away.

A couple of weeks ago I had a long ten-hour journey by bus, plane and train. It is always SO good when I have an engrossing and brilliantly constructed book like this to pass the time. I absolutely devoured Away. You can see I have given Away five stars but I do agree with Kirkus who say: The plot and the whole scenario require a major suspension of disbelief, but to readers who can roll with it, Freeman delivers an engaging tale in which young crusaders strive to overcome both parental passivity and corrupt authorities to discover and expose a dastardly scheme.

Here is a long interview with Megan E Freeman where she talks about Away and Alone. You can either listen or read the transcript. 

Awards for Away:

• Instant New York Times Bestseller ​
• Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2025
• Amazon Best Book of 2025
• Barnes & Noble Children's Book Award Shortlist
• Golden Kite Award Finalist
• Reading the West Awards Shortlist
• TOME Society Junior Book Award Winner
• KNEA Reading Circle Choice for 2025
• Colorado Children's Book Award Shortlist
• Horace Mann Upstanders Award

This unique story is about friendship, survival, and how curiosity can lead to revelations, and the power of hope. Away was hard to put down because you need to know what is happening and why. Youth Services Book Review

The voices of the different characters are all very unique, and they are easy to tell apart. ... This is a good choice for readers who like dystopian books ...

The voices of the different characters are all very unique, and they are easy to tell apart. Ashantae doesn't use capitalization and references lots of mythology, Grandin is very matter-of-fact, Teddy often frames scenes as storyboards or film scripts, and Harmony's point of view is delivered in letters or news reports. The evacuation is realistically portrayed; if someone came to my door and told me I had to leave, and I saw all of my neighbors packing up, I probably would, too. Camp Rogers slowly evolves over the long time that people are there, with everyone pitching in to help out. ... This is very different from Alone, but readers who picked up that story will find it interesting to see what the experience of others who were not abandoned was. Ms Yingling

Radiant by Vunda Micheaux Nelson

Sometimes 

I want to be white. 

White— 

like new snow 

or angel wings. 

White— 

like fresh milk 

or cumulous clouds. 

White— 

like just-washed sheets 

dancing on the clothesline. 

White— 

a full moon on a clear night.

Cooper is named after her Grandfather. I do like to think about names. Her name could be a source of teasing or worse but no, the bullying all relates to the colour of her skin mainly from one boy in her class. She is having a hard time in school - firstly with a dreadful bully named Wade Carter and also with her teacher Mrs Keating. But Cooper has a goal to shine:

I look up “shine” in the dictionary. It means a lot of good stuff. The kind Mama means: “To radiate. To give off light. To be made bright by polishing. To sparkle and shimmer with luster." It means brilliance and splendor. —That’s what I want. I want to shine. To be brilliant. To be radiant. “Radiant” is one of the words.

To shine at school means scoring good grades and 'winning' over Mrs Keating. At times this seems to be an almost impossible goal.

Then there is Wade who takes every opportunity to be so nasty to Cooper. Spoiler alert - in stories (and maybe in real life too) there is often a deeper reason for the bullying - and in this book it is true that Wade is going through some very tough stuff at home but I have to say I found it very hard to be sympathetic (even when his mum died). 

I wish Wade hadn’t heard me say I want to shine. I wish I hadn’t said it out loud. I do want to shine. I want to shine so bright, so bright that I blind Wade. Color blind him.

I wonder, is Wade scared? Scared of me? Or is he just mean?

Cooper, quite rightly, would like different colours for Crayola crayons - different colours to use for skin tones. This could be a good discussion point with a reading group. 

And why does my skin matter so much? Nobody cares if I wear a red blouse or a blue one. Why should they care if I wear black skin or white skin or purple skin?

Then for Christmas Cooper is gifted a small transistor radio and she also discovers the famous pop group - the Beatles. 

Kate and I read about John Lennon Paul McCartney George Harrison and Ringo Starr (with two r’s). We learn some new British words, like “gear” and “cuppa” “lift” and “kip.”

It is also an important turning point for Cooper when another 'black' student arrives in her class. I loved this boy - he is confident, he is kind, He is so proud of his heritage and most of all he is so friendly to everyone. 

There are references to other books in Radiant - The Wizard of Oz; Charlotte's Web; and Langston Hughes poetry. 

Australian readers will be unfamiliar with many of the historical references in this book - the assassination of JFK, Martin Luther King Jr, and the Klu Klux Klan along with all the references to racial discrimination but many kids will identify with Cooper's need to find herself, her voice, her own place in the world and her desire for representation - where are the kids like her in stories and films. They will also cheer as she conquers school and gains good results on her end of year report card. I would share this verse novel with mature readers aged 10+.

Publisher blurb: As school begins in 1963, Cooper Dale wrestles with what it means to “shine” for a black girl in a predominantly white community near Pittsburgh. Set against the historic backdrop of the Birmingham church bombing, the Kennedy assassination, and Beatlemania, Radiant is a finely crafted novel in verse about race, class, faith, and finding your place in a loving family and a complicated world.   Cooper’s primary concern is navigating fifth grade, where she faces both an extra-strict teacher and the bullying of Wade Carter, the only child of a well-to-do white family, whose home Cooper’s mother cleans for extra income. How can she shine when her mother works for the meanest boy in school? To make matters worse, Cooper quietly wishes she could be someone else. It’s not all bad, though. Cooper and her beloved older sister have fallen for the Beatles, and Cooper is thrilled to have something special they can share. And what she learns about her British idols adds new complexity to Cooper’s feelings about race.

This verse novel examines complex themes of identity, forgiveness, self-love, and self-actualization through writing that’s accessible to young readers. Nelson intentionally and deftly uses details to situate the novel with history, and she’s crafted an endearing, three-dimensional protagonist in Cooper, whose voice and authentic struggle to make sense of her experiences will resonate in a work that presents fertile ground for discussion. Kirkus

Companion books:

One Crazy Summer

Blended

Ten years ago I read another book by Vunca Micheaux Nelson - Possibles.

Once upon Tomorrow by Karen Comer

 "She was not sure if her tapestries of truth could restore the kingdom."

There are three voices in this YA verse novel. Miri aged 18 lives in 2025; Aleita aged 16 lives one hundred years into the future in 2125; and Sylvie is a girl from the famous fairy tale - Rumpelstiltskin. She is called The Girl at the Threshold. She is tasked with weaving a tapestry for the King.

"Fairytales, I whisper. Fairytales in a hundred years, no matter how messed up the world, whether there's another pandemic or bushfires over half the world or there are no polar bears left, people will still need stories - and fairytales are the truest of stories."

Sylvie's story:

"I am here to weave the King's three tapestries, to show past, present and future of the kingdom .... But you must know this: it is dangerous for a girl to tell the truth."

The king is displeased with the first tapestry - he throws her into a dungeon. She spins the straw and ...

"The straw flowed into fibre, into .... gold. She was spinning gold. The brittle straw became pliable strings of gold through her hands, around the stone, around the stick.. Gold - she had turned her craft of truth into gold."

"You have made me a hero and therefore, I will make you a queen. But should you make me a fool with the third tapestry, I will make you a grave"

Aleita's story:

The imagined future in this book is a dreadful place. Women live in fear of assault and rape; people have a chip in their brain and are regularly jolted with advertising. When Aleita, for example, looks in the mirror it tells her she is using too much shampoo and that orange makeup does not suit her face. Aleta 2125 works at EveNet . They are working to counteract beauty jolts, consumerism calls, home jolts (household and childcare duties) fertility jolts (to increase the declining population).

"Jolts ... they're getting more invasive, you know, particularly for women. A jolt to stop at a bar and have a drink by yourself, just when a football match has finished and there's a crowd of men looking for ... "

"It is illegal to send jolts without an accompanying vibration". 

"I'm seriously considering deactivating my implant as soon as I turn eighteen. I'll go and find a group of non-neurals, live with them on the margins, knit scarves in exchange for food."

The jolt has - "urged me to test for a new virus, suggested I trial an herbal tab for emotional healing. I try to imagine receiving jolts only a couple of times a day. What I could do with clarity of mind, focus, hours and hours between jolts, to create and daydream and think. Gold."

"If my implant is responsible for my most shallow, surface thoughts, then technically I should be able to find some depth - and my own thoughts - without it?"

Once upon Tomorrow is also a Love letter to libraries of all kinds! 

"Libraries are safe havens - legislated to protect humans from neural implant jolting and personal data harvesting. Libraries are one of the last places you can talk freely. You can be yourself in a library."

"More people should spend time in libraries so that the atmosphere of possibilities and problem-solving and perseverance can soak into more people"

Other reviewers are sure to talk about the symbolism of gold and weaving which appears all through the story. For example there is a mention of a gum tree in WA (2025) that has traces of gold in its leaves and of course Sylvie weaves straw into gold. And there are echoes of weaving in the 2025 setting in the wool shop which people visit to seek advice about their knitting.

And there are feminist themes too: "the miller's daughter, although praised for her talent, was still known by her father's occupation."

Here are some of my random details about the invented words used in this book, the setting and more:

• Transport: louzes are a form of high speed on demand possibly robot driven or automated vehicles and a MOT is a photo.
• Other terminology: online is called onliq. I guess we might call this social media. There are also matribots and sisbots - or robots programmed by external organisations. Hali is a robot - a sisbot - who is assigned to work with Aleta.
• Setting: Melbourne - Yarra River and Castlemaine.
• Contemporary issues from 2025 Mushroom murders; and the role of VCE (exams) in the lives of High School students
• Contemporary book authors - Charlotte Wood, Helen Garnder, Marcus Zusak, Sally Rooney, Tara jane winch, Tim Winton, Nagi cookbook
• Human burial in 2125 - is composting - cremation too much carbon, very few coffins are used "instead we allow our loved ones to compost, to nurture the Earth, to grow a tree."
• CJ, a boy from 2125, is sent to work at Honeycomb childcare - we are told they only want perfect babies now. We learn this place used to be a woollen mill and the carers are called matribots. 
• As well as the fairy tale of Rumpelstiltskin this story has references to Jung and also the three fates: "Clotho, the spinner who weaves together the thread of life; Lachesis, the allotter who decides how long the thread will be and Atropos, the cutter who snips it."

One of the most dreadful scenes in this book happens near the end (spoiler alert). The authorities who control Hali (the sisbot) instruct Aleta to cut her own flesh

"I grip those scissors, open them up as wide as I can, hold my left arm upright, run both points down the skin on the inside of my arm. Up and down, up and down, up and down. The blood runs from my wrist to my elbow, onto the floor, onto the remains of Mum's scarf. ... Hali is still watching me, eerily quiet."

The audience for this book is Young Adult readers aged 16+. Once upon Tomorrow has 360 pages of fairly small print but more than that I am sure my rambling comments here demonstrate that this is a very complex story. It did capture my attention for several days and even now, a few weeks later, some of the scenes are still on my mind. I think mature readers who have reading stamina are sure to find the ideas in this book intriguing and engrossing. It is due for publication in late April 2026. Thanks to Gleebooks Kids for sharing their advanced reader copy with me. 

Publisher blurb: Miri, an eighteen-year-old hopeful Jungian student, discovers she's pregnant in 2025.

Aleita, sixteen, shelters in the library, the one place free of jolts to her digital implant in 2125.

Interwoven between them stands Sylvie, spinning tapestries to save her life and the kingdom. Sylvie exists in the pages of a mysterious fairytale titled The Girl at the Threshold. Miri, Aleita and Sylvie each need to make a choice in their search for the truth. All three are connected through time by heartbreak, a desperate need to save the environment and a search for family and community. An expansive verse novel about the parallel journeys of three extraordinary girls carving out their own histories - and each other's.

Before reading Once upon Tomorrow it could be helpful to read a few versions of Rumpelstiltskin.  

After reading Once upon Tomorrow, I found a couple of other books for a YA audience based on this fairytale.

I have also read these books by Karen Comer.

Grace Notes

Sunshine on Vinegar Street

The idea that people have chips implanted in their brains was explored in this book from 1984 - it is a story that still haunts me.

I am Ray's Imaginary Friend by Brian Moses illustrated by Bethan Welby

Ray needs help. That is the purpose of an imaginary friend and that is why Jacob arrives. Ray is desperately upset because his family are moving away from their small village to a larger town. Ray loves his house and his school and his friends. Change is hard and Ray is determined to make his parents change their minds but nothing seems to be working. Jacob cannot makes things better he can only listen and watch and this is especially awful when Ray runs away. 

The family do eventually move and even though Ray would not admit this it is all not quite as bad as he expected. His dog likes the backyard, the kids at school let him join in with their soccer game and he actually scores a goal. Over the days and weeks Ray begins to settle in and then the war in Ukraine begins and mum and dad decide to help by offering two of their spare rooms to a woman and her son.

When I saw I am Ray's Imaginary Friend (released March 2026) in a large chain bookstore the cover caught my eye and then flipping the book open I saw it was a verse novel and I really love that form. I read the first page and then thought - no I am not sure about this book (I will explain this in a moment) but the cover kept drawing me in so I quickly (in the store) googled a few book reviews and when I read one of the reviews I have quoted below I knew I had to read this book.

I did enjoy I am Ray's Imaginary Friend but it didn't quite have enough of an emotional impact for me. It took me until page 110 to really settle into this story. 

Initially with the focus on the humour found in the name of the village in which Ray’s family live, Pratt’s Bottom, the reader expects this to follow a particular route. However within a few pages this gradually develops into a story with a focus on anxiety and empathy and with the wise, witty and appealing imaginary friend narrating offers hope and guidance to young readers who may feel as Ray does. The big themes incorporated into the story are dealt with in an age appropriate and gentle manner increasing the encouraging and comforting tone of the writing. In addition to the potential house move, the experience of a homeless man and a Ukrainian family seeking refuge feature in the plot but this never feels like an “issues” book that may overwhelm youngsters. A Library Lady

The village where Ray lives is called Pratt's Bottom and I thought oh no this will be another 'toilet humor' story but NO I was wrong. In the UK villages are called ... Bottom because this word means bottom of the hill or bottom of the valley. Here are some real villages with this name: Green Bottom (Cornwall); Hammer Bottom (Sussex); Scratchy Bottom (Dorset); Paradise Bottom (North Somerset); and Honey Bottom (Berkshire).  There are lots in the USA too!

And Pratt's Bottom is a real place: Pratts Bottom is a village in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. The village's name is derived from the Pratt family who lived in the area in the 14th century, and "bottom" in this context refers to a valley or hollow. Prior to the 19th century, the village was even on a toll road between London and Hastings, frequented by smugglers and highwaymen, with Dick Turpin himself a rumoured patron of the local pub.

Australian readers aged 9+ might ask about the football (soccer) aspect of this story. Ray is fiercely loyal to Manchester United or Man U. The kids in his new school go for Man City (Manchester City) or Arsenal or Liverpool. 

Quietly brilliant, this is a book that explores coping with change and becoming mentally stronger and the powerful influence of empathy. The latter in particular is brought out beautifully in Bethan Welby’s black and white drawings. It’s a must read ... Red Reading Hub

Read an interview with the author. I do love the illustrations in this book by Bethan Welby. Her work reminded me of our wonderful Australian illustrator Ann James. 

Here are some other books about imaginary friends that I highly recommend:

O'Diddy 

(My most favourite read aloud about an imaginary friend but sadly long out of print)

Leo and Ralph

Bob

Crenshaw

Tish

CBCA Predicting the 2026 Younger Readers Notable titles

Trapped

Song of a Thousand Seas

Spud and Snowball

The CBCA 2026 Notables in five Book of the Year categories will be announced at various events around Australia next week on Tuesday 24th February. I love attending these events - it is so exciting to discover books I have not yet read and also to see many books that I loved reading during 2025. 

I was honestly very disappointed, though, with the CBCA Younger Readers choices and winners in 2024 and 2025. I do hope some of the titles in this post have been entered and that they 'make the cut'.  I have put my top three above. I used three of our Australian Standing order services as a way to remind myself or hunt out Younger Readers (ages 7-12). Lost in a Book may not be eligible because it is a sequel, but I think it can stand alone and I loved it even more than the first installment. 

I gave four stars to Oceanforged; Danger Road; The Keeper of the Octopus; Little Bones; Promises and other Lies; The Silken Thread; How to Sail to Somewhere; and Willow Bright's Secret Plot. 

The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner

Twelve weeks. 

46 peaks. 

Finish by Labor Day 

and all the charges go away.

A local youth has been arrested for vandalizing St. Mary’s Cemetery over the holiday weekend. Lake Placid Police responded to a complaint of someone kicking headstones shortly after 4:00 p.m. on Friday.

• Why did Finn do this?
• What will be the consequence?
• What do we know about the grave?

School is not easy for Finn either. And now he is told he has to complete catch up work for English and PE. Here is his English assignment:

Poetry Project: What Makes a Hero?   Assignment: Draft, revise, and edit a collection of at least twenty poems about people you consider to be heroes. You may write about anyone who inspires you, living or dead. Your collection should begin with an introduction poem and must include at least five different poetic forms (haiku, sonnet, acrostic, concrete poem, found poem, riddle poem, erasure poem, free verse, magic 9, ode, pantoum, sestina, villanelle). Be sure to make use of poetic devices such as alliteration, onomatopoeia, similes, and metaphors. Have fun!

Finn's dad is famous in this town because there is a photo of him rescuing a girl after the tragedy of 9/11. Of course that was years ago. 

I see that photo in my sleep. 

Every detail. 

Dad’s black coat white with ash. 

His hair. 

His face. 

Like a statue carved in cold gray stone, 

lines chiseled in his forehead, 

around his eyes. 

Muddy tear streak down his cheek 

as he ran from the North Tower. 

He had a survivor! 

He was carrying her in those strong statue arms. 

Her leg was bleeding and she wore 

one red shoe, 

the other lost somewhere 

in the ashes, smoke, and screams.

The punishment for the vandalism is to climb 46 mountains. Finn is angry about his dad - but what has happened? You will adore meeting all the people who climb the mountains with Finn - they are compassionate and wise and quietly help him to make sense of his life and his personal tragedies. Oh and the dog is wonderful! I also loved the way Kate Messner structured this story. 

You will NOT be able to put this book down. It is such a page turner. Highly recommended for readers aged 10+.

Blurb from the author page: Finn Connelly is nothing like his dad, a star athlete and firefighter hero who always ran toward danger until he died two years ago. Finn’s about to fail seventh grade and has never made headlines . . . until now. Caught on camera vandalizing a cemetery, he’s in big trouble for kicking down some dead old lady’s headstone. But it turns out that grave belongs to a legendary local mountain climber, and her daughter makes Finn an unusual offer: climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks with her dead mother’s dog, and they can call it even. In a wild three months of misadventures, mountain mud, and unexpected mentors, Finn begins to find his way on the trails. At the top of each peak, he can see for miles and slowly begins to understand more about himself and his dad. But the mountains don’t care about any of that, and as the clock ticks down to September, they have more surprises in store. Finn’s final summit challenge may be more than even a hero can face.

Here are some text quotes:

She’s the prosecutor in charge of my case. There might not be a court appearance after all, she says, and I’m so relieved I miss what comes next but I snap to attention when she rattles off the price of the headstone I busted: $2,600 for a weathered hunk of rock.

It’s called PTSD. (That’s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, in case you’re wondering.) But if you’re a 9/11 firefighter’s kid you already know those letters, learned them with your ABCs, when you learned not to ask questions in September. When you learned how to make your own lunch and sign your own permission slips, and pretend everything was all right.

Some Awards:

• New York Times Bestseller
• USA Today Bestseller
• National Indie Bestseller
• Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2025
• School Library Journal Best Books of 2025
• Kirkus Best Books of 2025
• Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books, 2025
• 2026-2027 Texas Bluebonnet List Nominee
• 2026 Charlotte Huck Honor
• 2026 NCTE Notable Novels in Verse
• Best Kids’ Books about Mental Health 2025, Child Mind Institute

The first-person narration vividly conveys a disgruntled teenager’s feelings, including moments of humor and contemplation. The novel wrestles with loss and legacy intertwined with weighty events, challenges, and themes—PTSD, alcoholism, toxic masculinity—and their resulting impact on Finn’s emotional well-being. The supporting characters are encouraging adult role models. Characters present white. An adventurous work whose authentic voice celebrates the outdoors and everyday heroism. Kirkus Star review

As I read this book, I was in awe of Messner’s skill. She combines so many disparate elements into a book that feels organic and beautiful. Her use of a verse novel format makes so much sense here, allowing us to feel what Finn does even as he is in denial about much of it. His poetry project weaves its way through the verse, capturing his voice and rage. Finn can’t see himself through most of the book, can’t see the people around him and their support, can’t see his father and the truth about him, can’t find his way through. This is a book about what nature can do for a person who is lost and not looking to be rescued. It is a book about the various ways that heroes enter our lives, the forms they take that are unexpected and sometimes drooling dogs, the connection that can result in shared experiences. It is about so much at once and yet again, is superbly focused and deftly written.  Waking Brain Cells

Companion books:

Not Nothing

The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla

I thought my summer would be safe. 

That I’d left all my troubles behind in Texas. 

But maybe troubles trail along with me like sparks along a fuse. 

Maybe I’m the trouble. 

Bad luck all the way around. 

What if there is no safe place for me to be?

Maudie spends term time with her mum and dangerous step father and holidays with her dad in a different part of the US. Her time with her dad is joyous and calm but just as she arrives a wildfire breaks out, her dad's cabin is burnt to the ground and so Maudie and her dad are forced to move to a caravan part at the beach in California. The park is in the area where her dad grew up. Dad finds it hard to get work which means money and food are scarce but Maudie discovers she can surf. At the end of summer this town hosts a famous surfing competition and one category is beginner. The prize money would certainly help Maudie's dad - so now she has a goal - to win!

Maudie has a very dysfunctional mother (and as a said a dangerous and abusive step father). Her mother is all about fame and appearances. She tolerates her but it is so clear that she wishes Maudie could change into the perfect daughter she imagined. Her mother fancies herself as a star of social media. 

I remember once Mom told her viewers, “Imagine if your only child refuses to give you so much as a hug,” which was a lie. Mrs. Jills, my therapist, trained me up to hug. So I’ll do it. But Mom told the camera: “Having a child like Maudie? I confess, while I love her dearly, sometimes it feels like God is testing me.” Well, I sort of think maybe God is testing me, too. The year I was ten, Mom put lots of blush on my pale cheeks so I would look healthier and made me come on her show with her. She said to the camera, “Maudie’s growing up so much! We hardly ever have to deal with her meltdowns or tantrums anymore. She’s so much more under control!” Then she grabbed my hand and swung it up, as if we’d won a race. Which was weird.

Obeying Mom was my job. Obeying Mom. Obeying Mrs. Jills. And now, I guess, obeying Ron.

A perceptive, poignant tale of self-discovery. Kirkus

I like the use of the word perceptive in the Kirkus review final sentence. Maudie does have autism but she is also deeply self-aware and this helps the reader gain a deeper insight into her reactions to other people and to the changes in her life. One thing you will quickly notice is that the autism makes Maudie hyper aware of smells and sounds. 

The Australian distributor has the first five chapters of The Fire, the Water and Maudie McGinn on their webpage. One of the great features of this book for readers is that while there are 72 chapters each chapter is only a page or two. This book is also a hybrid with verse novel sections interspersed between the narrative pages.

Here are a few text quotes:

I hate it when Mom calls Dad a lump of clay. If that’s what he is, then Mom’s a beautiful shard of glass: so pretty, you forget about her sharp, jagged edges. I’d rather be clay, like Dad. If you’re clay, you can mold and adapt to the new. And that’s what I always do. Mold myself into this or that kind of kid. Adapt. For teachers, for Mom, for Mrs. Jills, for Ron, for the other kids at school . . . I try hard to be the right kind of Maudie for each situation, for each thing. I’ve always felt sort of ashamed of this, but maybe it’s also a skill. To remold, instead of shatter. So yeah, there may be different versions of me for different times and different people, but they’re all made from the same clay of me.

I remember Ron swearing and swooping me off the step. Don’t remember much of anything else. Just a sort of tornado of rage. His hands grabbing my arms. His blood-red face. And I remember feeling like I deserved it all. That I was a dirty, broken kid. Not a nice, capable, normal kid. That’s why my mom had to hide herself, close herself off from me. She was ashamed of me. She had given up on me. That’s why we needed Ron, I guess. Because I was too much trouble for Mom to handle alone. I was too big a disappointment.

About why Dad and I understand each other so well and have a special bond. He hyperfocuses on woodworking, I hyperfocus on reading or writing or surfing. Dad gets overwhelmed sometimes, and so do I. He has a scatter-brain about some things, and a hyperorderly brain about other things. So do I. And we both are deeply uncomfortable around new people and new situations. . . . My insides are all squiggly with strange new feelings. I’m a little irritated, to tell the truth. I wish Dad had talked more to me about this before now. It would have helped me to feel less alone.

If I still worked in my former school library I would be very keen to share this book with Grade Six students because that school was located beside the beach and many of the students were keen surfers. In The Fire, the water and Maudie McGinn, Maudie learns to surf, displays some talent, and she is mentored by a surfing champion. Every surfing scene felt so authentic.

Before I know it, I’ve paddled out past the break, my arms pumping like machines. It’s choppy out here, but I turn and watch the horizon, watch the sets, and I find my waves. I pounce on everything I can possibly ride. I feel supercharged, like I’m in some kind of high-energy trance. I fall a few times, but I definitely get in a few good runs, too.

Awards:

• American Library Association Schneider Family Book Award
• Children’s Literature Council of SoCal Juvenile Fiction Award
• Publishers Weekly Starred Review
• NY Public Library Best Book
• Bank Street Best Book (starred for outstanding merit)
• Cybils Awards Finalist
• Oklahoma Sequoyah Award Finalist
• Alabama Yellowhammer Award – Honor Book
• 2024 Dog-Eared Book Award Winner
• “Reading MG” Top 15 Books of the Year
• Imagination Soup Best Books of the Year
• Mr. Colby Sharp’s Best Books of the Year

Bookseller blurb: Maudie always looks forward to the summers she spends in California with her dad. But this year, she must keep a troubling secret about her home life—one that her mom warned her never to tell. Maudie wants to confide in her dad about her stepdad's anger, but she’s scared. When a wildfire strikes, Maudie and her dad are forced to evacuate to the beach town where he grew up. It’s another turbulent wave of change. But now, every morning, from their camper, Maudie can see surfers bobbing in the water. She desperately wants to learn, but could she ever be brave enough? As Maudie navigates unfamiliar waters, she makes friends—and her autism no longer feels like the big deal her mom makes it out to be. But her secret is still threatening to sink her. Will Maudie find the strength to reveal the awful truth—and maybe even find some way to stay with Dad—before summer is over?

Read this detailed review from Ms Yingling. And here is an audio interview with the author.

Here is a quote from the interview:

I wanted it to be a book of hope and overcoming and realizing how important it is to speak out. And I guess maybe that’s partly from my own. I got diagnosed on the autism spectrum as an adult, and it took me a while to be able to speak out about it myself. And once I was able to talk about all the failures and the struggles of my past and what brought me to this point and all that stuff, it’s just so healthy to be able to talk about that, just to be open.

Given the physical and verbal abuse Ron has apparently dished out regularly, being trashed by waves is kid’s play for Maudie. It sure feels like Maudie has found her passion, and it is easy to imagine her and Dad together full-time, living in this great coastside town. Could that ever really happen? You can’t help wondering and hoping for a big break for Maudie and Dad (and a few broken bones for Ron). A Book and a hug

I picked up The Fire, the Water and Maudie McGinn because I previously really enjoyed this book by Sally J Pla:

The Someday Birds

The House at the Edge of the World by Nadine Aisha Jassat illustrated by

"A memory knocks on the door of my own chest

the leaves outside the library on our last day.

The one I'd held in my hand

as I wished for hope. ...

Did I call Hope House to us? ...

Or did the house call us to it?"

Amal and her sister Sara have been forced to leave their home which was in a small-town library run by their parents. Just as it seems the family of four will have nowhere to live a letter arrives telling them they have inherited a house.

This house is, as you would guess from the title of this book, quite spooking looking. Turn the cover upside down to see the house itself. The people from the nearby town of Middle Morrow do not hold back telling the family all the legendary ghost and horror stories they associate with this house over its century long history. 

None of this adds up though because the house itself seems so welcoming of the new family. They awake to find the kettle has been boiled and the fire is lit. Over their first few days the walls appear freshly painted and somehow the ragged curtains are repaired. 

Then two very shady people arrive and tell the family that they will be evicted because they have no claim to this house - they are not related to the late owner who died ten years ago. Now the race is on. The family, and especially Amal and Sara, have thirty days to solve this mystery and prove that they should be able to stay in this house which now feels like home.

I have had this book on loan from the library where I work as a volunteer for over two months. I keep renewing the loan and then not getting on to reading it.

Today I started this 306 page book (it is a verse novel of sorts) and I finished it this afternoon. If I still worked in my school library this is a book I would heartily recommend for readers aged 10+. Kids love to look like they are reading 'long' books and at 300+ pages this book look impressive but because of the verse-novel style setting out it is a very quick read. This book is called a verse novel and that is the format but really it felt more like a regular narrative with short lines - that's not a criticism just an observation.  You can see more books by Nadine Aisha Jassat here. 

The story is presented in a verse format with eye catching ‘chapter’ headings. This creates an impression of immediacy, of easy access to reading and would indeed attract many. However, much of the verse narrative could be presented in the more conventional prose format creating a more familiar flow without losing any momentum. Books for Keeps

This book also contains (and I am happy to say all of this feels very natural) a blended family. Mum is Muslim dad is Christian. Amal grapples with fairly serious mental health issues - she has the awful anxiety messages in her mind of 'what if' which always extrapolates to bad outcomes but she also has some terrific coping strategies. I should also mention Amal's sister Sara. I have read way too many books where teenage sisters treat their younger sisters so badly. It was so wonderful to read the opposite in this book. Sara is so kind and supportive of Amal and she understands her anxiety at a deeply intuitive level. This makes a natural partnership of the two sisters as they work together to solve the issue of who should own this special house. I also love their little dog called Po Tato.

Publisher blurb: When Amal and her family unexpectedly inherit the enchanted clifftop home, they can't believe their luck. But their joy is short-lived when a mysterious couple arrives, claiming the house is theirs and giving Amal's family just thirty days to pack up their stuff and leave before they demolish it completely. The clock is ticking, and Amal is determined to save Hope House from destruction. How will she unravel the secrets of the house and its mysterious benefactor in time to save it?

Companion books:

Out of the wild Night

The Swallowtail Legacy

The Parker Inheritance

Here is the Kirkus review

Song of a Thousand Seas by Zana Fraillon

Days are for watching listening playing planning but

nights are for adventure

Houdini the octopus is a girl but in the world of this book, which we see through her eyes, she refers to herself as we (due to the fact octopuses have nine brains).

Not Welcome

Our nine Octopus brains have a lot we'd like

to say to the Waves of People who

come every day to stare and gawk to

squeak and squawk to squeal to bang on our glass

we'd have a lot to say if only they

knew how to listen

The first thing we'd say is

GO AWAY!

Houdini lives in an aquarium. It is not large and I find that so awful:

We want to say that in the day we

do not hunt at all. The Sea is so very

big so very full but our tank is so

very small so

very empty.

Far too empty

for too small for

hunting.

Like being safe is all

that matters. Like a tank two arms long in

all directions is

any kind of Home. Like

the bubbles from the pump

are enough of an ebb and flow to make us happy

when we know

to be happy is to be free.

Her keeper (is that the right term) is named Paul. In fact I dislike that title keeper - and I am not a fan at all of animals in captivity so I come to this story with a high level of empathy and also quite a bit of rage. Have you twigged about the name Houdini - yes she is an escape artist and who can blame her. Octopuses are not meant to languish in an aquarium for our (human) viewing pleasure. She needs to get back into the ocean - think about the title - her heart needs to hear the song of a thousand seas. 

Luckily Houdini is very clever and yes she can escape but she also knows she has to be very careful of Paul because he is sure to 'fortify' her tank even more and then escape might be impossible. Then we discover Houdini has two human friends, Joe the cleaner and Juno, Paul's daughter, and they do have enough emotional intelligence and also enough understanding of the plight of animals in captivity to know Houdini needs her freedom. I think this is because Joe and Juno also have experienced pain. 

Every night Houdini tries to find her way to the pipes in the bathroom because they lead to the sea but she doesn't quite make it before she needs to be back in the water and so Joe carefully carries her back to her tank. As a reader I was holding my breath hoping that she would make it and be free again. 

Zana Fraillon is one of Australia’s most interesting writers for young children, experimenting with form and voice and offering layered and intelligent narratives. ‘Song of a Thousand Seas’ is a lyrical verse novel of homecoming and friendship focusing on Houdini the octopus who lives in an aquarium, but she misses her home in the wild sea. This is a thought provoking and compelling story ideal for readers aged 8-12, and a great read aloud for teachers. Paul Macdonald 

Here are some very detailed teachers notes.

Do you ever think about author names? I think the name Zana Fraillon is a perfect one for an author. It sounds exotic and mysterious to me. Also I am giving this cover by Aviva Reed top marks - it is fantastic. Australia is a relatively small country and yes I agree we do have some really good authors who write for children but there are a few that are way beyond just good - authors whose work can stand up with the very best in the world - one of those authors is Zana Fraillon. Make sure you pop this book onto your library shelves - the readers in our lives and libraries deserve to read the very best books and this is one of them.

You can see Zana Fraillon talking about her book on this video. Houdini was a real octopus - you must share this with the readers in your library. Thank you to University of Queensland Press (UQP) for sending an advance copy of Song of a Thousand Seas (due for publication 2nd September 2025)

LAUNCH - Song Of a Thousand Seas will be officially launched! Come join the wonderful @kmildenhall and me in conversation @readingskids in Carlton on Saturday the 6th of September from 2pm. There will be sea stones to decorate, awesome octopus tattoos, cupcakes and an octopus quiz with octopus prizes so be sure to brush up on all those octopus facts! All books signed will include the one of a kind ‘signature’ by the real Houdini. Tickets are free, but registrations are necessary.

I have talked about lots of verse novels here on this blog - click that search term on my sidebar.

Companion books:

My Friend the Octopus

Odder

The One and Only Ivan (look for the sequels too)

In 2018 Zana Fraillon's book The Bone Sparrow was our IBBY Australia Honour book title. This means her book goes into a very important international book catalogue and also becomes part of a travelling exhibition. 

Zana Fraillon is an internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning author of books for children and young adults. Zana's books have won the Amnesty CILIP Honour Award, the ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children, the Readings YA Prize, NSW Premier's Literary Awards and the CBCA Honour Book Award. The Bone Sparrow was chosen as the biennial book to represent Australia for the International Board on Books for Young People. Zana was born and lives in Naarm (Melbourne) but spent her early childhood in San Francisco. She has degrees in history and teaching and is undertaking a PhD in Creative Writing at La Trobe University.

Other books I have talked about by Zana Fraillon:

The Way of Dog

A small collection of Happiness

This should be the CBCA Younger Readers Book of the Year 

but alas it didn't even make the notables list - I am still in shock about that.

The Raven's Song

Very young readers might also look for another book by Zana Fraillon called Etta and the Octopus illustrated by Andrew Joyner.