Louder than Hunger by John Schu

What does it feel like to eat without worry? 

Without a voice constantly 

quacking and crying 

inside your head? 

A voice 

pound, pound, pounding

yell, yell, yelling

ALL DAY.

Foreword: What if someone was brave enough to tell you the truth? What if someone dared to reveal their heart to you? The book that you hold in your hands tells a painful truth. It reveals a beautiful, broken heart. Jake’s heart. Jake is thirteen years old, and he has an eating disorder. You and Jake are about to go on a harrowing journey together; by the time you finish this book, you will be friends. Reading Jake’s story will change you. You might find that you want to reveal your heart, tell someone your truth. Telling your story can save your life. It may save someone else’s life, too. Jake knows this. John Schu knows this. That is why he wrote this book. For you. —Kate DiCamillo

Jake is thirteen. He has a voice in his head that is truly awful and it is voice that controls his actions and thought and he cannot seem to 'turn it off' or ignore it. The voice tells him he is ugly and fat and so he stops eating. He wears really baggy clothes to disguise his body and he weighs himself compulsively.

Grandma: You’re too thin. I worry. I see it even when you’re always wearing those baggy sweaters over your overalls. I don’t think you’re eating enough. You’re a growing boy. 

Me: I eat enough. I promise.

Elementary school was good, high school is torture. Jake takes some comfort though, from musicals. Louder than hunger is an autobiographical story. I used to follow John Schu when he was an ambassador for Scholastic and every time he visited a different city he would talk about the musicals he had attended - often seeing the same show many many times. This used to make me smile but now I know why. Visiting his grandmother is also a comfort. They both love musicals and the same television shows. Finally a former teacher who he visits in the nursing home where he goes as a volunteer alerts his mum that Jake is ill and after a visit to the doctor he goes into a mental health facility for adolescents. In The Pines he meet Kella

I love the way John Schu weaves into his story so many fantastic children's books (of course I would have expected him to do this!) such as Sarah, Plain and Tall; Shiloh; The Giver; Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry; and Where the Sidewalk ends. Jake also quotes poems by Emily Dickinson - I recently talked about this picture book for an IBBY Australia presentation:

Some reviewers list this book for readers aged as young as 12 but this book is so raw and distressing, I think it better suits mature readers aged 15+. The scene where Jake is fitted with a feeding tube is absolutely harrowing. My own connection to this story comes from around 1975 when I visited a mental health facility like the one in this book and I saw teens not much younger than me who were suffering like Jake - that moment had a profound impact on me. 

Written in a combination of non-rhyming poetry and prose, this elegant and unique verse-novel is propulsive and compelling. ... This visceral and raw memoir type book instantly draws the reader in and spits us out at the other end – in the best possible way. Kids' Book Review

Here is a podcast (one hour) where you can hear John Talking about his book.  You can read an extract on the Candlewick publisher page. 

John Schu (Schumacher) has made a career out of advocating for the people and things he cares about most: kids, books, and the people that connect them. He was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker for his dynamic interactions with students and his passionate adoption of new technologies as a means of connecting authors, illustrators, books, and readers. He is the children’s librarian for Bookelicious, a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University, and shares his love of reading with countless educators and students around the world. He served as the Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic Book Fairs for almost 6 years.

You know that I am not a fan of endorsements but so many very famous authors have said such profound (and true) things about this book:

“Louder Than Hunger is a powerful and important book, giving readers entry into the world of a sensitive teen struggling physically and emotionally with crippling anxiety and anorexia. Through his free verse voice, we accompany Jake into his honest, raw, vulnerable world. I think readers of all ages will empathize with him, worry for him, and root for his journey to understanding, recovery, hope, and joy. Those who know the author, John Schu, and have witnessed his boundless enthusiasm and legendary passion for reading and the transformative power of story will connect on an even deeper level upon learning that Jake’s story parallels John Schu’s own. From troubled teen to author and speaker surging with compassion and joy and willing to share it all with the world—that is John Schu.”   —Newbery Medalist Sharon Creech

I read Louder than Hunger on my Kindle but I wanted to show you the way the verse in this novel is set out - it is so sparce and so very powerful. Louder than hunger has over 500 pages but you can see from this example that you can fly through this book and you do fly through because if you are like me you just wanted Jake to feel well again and for that dread anorexia voice to at least quieten down if not completely turn off:

This is not quite the final page but I hope reading these words from Jake will help you see that he will be okay:

I say to Dr. Parker, Thank you for “forcing” me to share complicated, hard-to-think-about thoughts. You helped me see anorexia nervosa isn’t really about food.

One Day by Michael Rosen illustrated by Benjamin Phillips

"A true story of courage and survival in the holocaust"

Begin here where Michael Rosen talks about his book.

Michael Rosen was commissioned to write this book. He had been researching what happened to his father's uncle and aunt in France during the holocaust. "They didn't come back."

Publisher blurb: “Get through one day and then on to the next. One day at a time. One day after another.” Eugène Handschuh was a Jewish member of the Resistance in occupied Paris. After he was captured by the Nazis, he was placed on a convoy to Auschwitz. Against all the odds, with the help of strangers and fellow members of the Resistance, Eugène and his father escaped the convoy and survived – when so many others did not. Former Children's Laureate Michael Rosen was inspired to tell this story after discovering his father’s uncle and aunt were on the same convoy as Eugène but never returned. With powerful illustrations from Benjamin Phillips, whose work has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration, this sensitive true-story picture book reminds us of the best of people, in the worst of times.

Rosen uses a refrain to capture the determination of Eugène and his fellow prisoners: ‘Get through one day and then on to the next. One day at a time. One day after another.’ Elsewhere, Rosen celebrates other forms of courage, for instance the French couple who put themselves at risk to hide Eugène’s father. ‘I’ve never forgotten them,’ Eugène tells us, inviting us also to pause and reflect on their selflessness. This would be an excellent book to share with readers across the primary age range, particularly around Holocaust Memorial Day: for younger readers it introduces the topic in a safe and respectful way, and might lead into discussions around how we treat those who are different from us; for older readers it might inspire further research into Handschuh or other members of the Resistance. Just Imagine

Companion books:

Let the Celebrations begin

White Bird

I am also keen to find Stone Angel by Jane Yolen; The Whispering Town by Jennifer Elvgren; What Rosa Brought by Jacob Sager Weinstein; and The Harmonica by Tony Johnston.

The In-Between by Katie Van Heidrich

when you’re in between where you want to be and where you are, when you’re in between what you previously had and what you so desperately want to have back, when you’re in between thoughts and feelings and wonderings of what’s even okay to think and feel, when you’re in between your parents, always of the mind that you should be on one side or the other, always of the mind that you should be in one place or another, but having to straddle multiple places at once, always in the messy middle of something, perhaps currently in the messy middle of the notoriously messiest years of adolescence, trying to figure out if you want to unload your mess on your friends whose lives aren’t as messy as yours—

Katie, her mother and two siblings are forced to move from their rented apartment. They find themselves in a 'long stay' motel. There are so many issues - it is one room, one bed, one tiny bathroom and this place means Katie now lives outside her school district. It is the second semester of seventh grade for Katie and the second semester of six grade for her brother. Their little sister is in her final semester at her elementary school. 

Until now Katie has had one best friend to rely on - Mia but that has now ended. We "traded elaborate notes, mutually overjoyed that we have each other, that we aren’t alone, especially considering we are the only two Black girls in this class."

Katie and her siblings spend every second weekend with their father. Life in his home is so different but there is no way they can spend longer there because mum will never give up custody. Oddly though, even though their father does have plenty of room, the kids share a pull-out couch in the guest room and two other bedrooms remain empty upstairs. Dad has a new wife and the house is kept spotless and the cupboards are full of supplies as though they are preparing for a future crisis. (Note there is a hint that his wife was a victim of modern slavery which is why I suggest this book is for readers aged 12+).

This book is a true story - a memoir - "In the early 2000s, thirteen-year-old Katie Van Heidrich has moved more times that she can count, for as long as she can remember. There were the slow moves where you see the whole thing coming. There were the fast ones where you grab what you can in seconds. When Katie and her family come back from an out-of-town funeral, they discover their landlord has unceremoniously evicted them, forcing them to pack lightly and move quickly. They make their way to an Extended Stay America Motel, with Katie's mother promising it's temporary. Within the four walls of their new home, Katie and her siblings, Josh and Haley, try to live a normal life--all while wondering if things would be easier living with their father. Lyrical and forthcoming, Katie navigates the complexities that come with living in-between: in between homes, parents, and childhood and young adulthood, all while remaining hopeful for the future."

Which cover above do you like? There is a great lesson here you could use with your students around their preference for one cover over the other. The publisher list this book for grades 5-8 but I think it will better suit a Young Adult reader aged 12+.

The In-Between is a verse novel so these lines are set out in free verse but when I copied them from my Kindle I was unable to retain that formatting:

As we tumbled out of the Mountaineer, which seems to be on its last leg, to stretch our arms and legs, to gather fast-food wrappers and empty soda cups in gas station plastic bags, to grab our bags from the trunk and make our way upstairs and to our door, an unexplainable pit appeared in my stomach and continued to grow as we climbed the stairs. And though I couldn’t have possibly known it then, I somehow felt that we were walking into a much bigger disaster than anything we’d already managed to survive.

It’s not so much that being here is the end of the world, but somehow the thought of going to school from here, the thought of carrying out the very normal routine that is going back to school from this rather abnormal place, feels apocalyptic.

It’s a notice reminding families that it is against the law to have your child enrolled at a school they are not districted for and that proof of residence can be requested at any point during the school year.

In my opinion, there are three kinds of teachers in this world: The ones who fly by the seat of their pants, whose classrooms always smell like last-minute, frantically made copies, the ones with meticulous plans who use every last second of class as if their very lives depended on it, and the ones who are clearly recycling material they “perfected” twenty years ago, who make minimal efforts to make class interesting or fresh.

But I know better than to think their relationship is all good. After all, they’re so, so different— even beyond the obvious, with Mom being Black and Dad being white ...

I pause and consider the weight of what I’m holding. A bundle of bananas. A gallon of milk. A loaf of bread. Sandwich meat. There’s more, and these are good things, I know, but somehow this just doesn’t feel right. After all, we’re still at this hotel and Dad is still going back to his house, the one that still has the two empty, unfurnished bedrooms upstairs. Perhaps there is more to this than I can possibly understand right now. Perhaps I’m missing the bigger picture or simply wouldn’t get it.

Her mother is Black; her father is White, and her stepmother, whose English is limited, is from Thailand. As her mother bounced between jobs and states in search of new opportunities, Katie strived to support her, suppressing her own emotions. But her mother’s avoidance of the reality that she cannot provide for her children makes it increasingly difficult for Katie to remain silent about her feelings. Complex character development will engage readers, and vivid descriptions of the physical landscape bring the text to life. Van Heidrich masterfully describes her childhood emotions as well her mother’s confusing choices and mental health struggles with compassion and nuance. Stellar writing, perfect pacing, and a sophisticated treatment of universal themes make this a must-read. Kirkus Star review

There are some discussion and extension questions on the publisher webpage. 

Companion books:

Shelter

Hold Fast

Paper Things

Earlier this year our Sydney Morning Herald had a feature story in their Saturday magazine about the people who use storage facilities and their reasons for leaving their possessions in these places - sometimes for many many years. Reading this broke my heart and then when I read Katie lost all her things when no payment was made for their storage my heart broke all over again. I would love to share some quotes from this, but I do not have subscriber access.

Faceless by Kathryn Lasky

"She realised she had entered the twilight world of evil, and at its very center was the dark heart of hatred. A hatred that was seeping through everything good, everything honorable. This was to be her mission now. Her war. To find out the secrets of this evil Nazi regime and report them to His Majesty's secret service."

Blurb: Over the centuries, a small clan of spies called the Tabula Rasa has worked ceaselessly to fight oppression. They can pass unseen through enemy lines and “become” other people without being recognized. They are, essentially, faceless.  Alice and Louise Winfield are sisters and spies in the Tabula Rasa. They’re growing up in wartime England, where the threat of Nazi occupation is ever near. But Louise wants to live an ordinary life and leaves the agency. Now, as Alice faces her most dangerous assignment yet, she fears discovery, but, most of all, she fears losing her own sister.

There are moments reading this book that I am sure, like me, you will begin to think perhaps all of this is real - perhaps this is the way spies work - perhaps the Tabula Rosa was a real resistance organisation in World War II. Of course, there is no way children were used like this for espionage let alone as part of the plan to assassinate Hitler, but other parts of this story are linked with just enough history of this period and so it will appeal to Young Adult fans of historical fiction.

The story begins in London early in 1944 and the final scenes come with the news in 1945 that Hitler is dead. Alice and her mother and father travel to Berlin. Her father gains a job as a motor mechanic working on cars for high-ranking Nazi officers. Alice goes to school with the idea of becoming a perfect student so that she too can get close to the German authorities. She has to learn the culture, the language, and above all she has to be completely 'forgettable'. She also has to know every part of Wagner's Ring Cycle - a favourite of Hitler. Later she even has to perform parts of this for Hitler himself. 

Here is the full review/plot summary from Publisher's Weekly (quoted by Kathryn Lasky on her blog):

Set during WWII, Newbery Honoree Lasky’s intense historical drama follows a white family of spies whose tradition of serving Great Britain dates back to Henry VIII. Thirteen-year-old Alice Winfield has for years trained for her first A-level mission, and her celebrated older sister, Louise, once promised to be her guide. But when Louise opts out of the family business, only Alice and her mother join the teens’ undercover father on a secret mission in Berlin: taking down Hitler. Upon arrival, Alice becomes Ute, a German girl “certified to be... Aryan, with no contamination of foreign blood.” As Alice works to achieve high marks in school and remain as unnoticeable and unmemorable as the “tabula rasas” from which she is descended, she finds herself dangerously drawn to an unhoused boy. With a well-detailed historical backdrop and a puzzling familial mystery, this novel delivers intrigue via tense scenes involving Hitler himself. Albeit fictional, this up-close glimpse at the historical figure’s inner circle and last days centers an unnervingly calm protagonist maintaining an elaborate ruse while navigating the increasingly dangerous streets of Berlin, where knowing who is friend and foe determines survival.

Fascinating and riveting, especially for history buffs and spy aficionados. Kirkus

Take a look at this review from the Jewish Book Council and this one from the Historical Novel Society.

I did enjoy Faceless but it is a long book with nearly 300 pages of very small print. I think it will best suit readers aged 12+. Parts of the plot from Faceless do overlap with the two books I have put as companion titles - All the Beautiful Things and Max in the House of Spies (or more specifically the sequel Max in the Land of Lies). 

Kathryn Lasky comes from a Jewish family. Here are three other Young Adult books she has written about World War II and which can be linked with Faceless.

Companion books:

All the Beautiful Things

Max in the House of Spies

Kathryn Lasky has a huge and impressive body of work - over 100 books. I think the first book I read by Kathryn Lasky was Night Journey. In 1985 in one of my first school libraries the Principal (without reference to the Teacher-Librarian) ordered nearly every book from the Puffin Books catalogue. The Night Journey was published in 1981 so it was among the books that arrived from a distant bookshop. In some ways having him order all of these books was very frustrating but now I realise it gave me the opportunity to read so many fabulous 1980s children's books such as The Night Journey which is where I read about the samovar for the first time.  I also had her Show and Tell Bunnies picture book series in my two of my previous school libraries and all of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole books. On this blog I recently talked about the first book from the Glendunny series. 

The Secrets of Glendunny

A Strange thing Happened at Cherry Hall by Jasmine Warga

I LOVE books with twists and turns and gasp aloud moments and there are plenty of those in A Strange thing Happened at Cherry Hall.

Here are some text quotes which will give you an idea about the plot of this book:

The day the painting was stolen from the museum was the warmest day that Maple Lake had had so far that year. The sun beamed down on the garden. That heat and goldenness radiated into Agatha’s burrow.

The stolen painting was called Untitled. Literally. That was its name. Its name was its lack of name.

The girl didn’t speak like most of the kids he knew from school. And there was a lilting quality to her voice. It reminded Rami of something from an old movie. It was then that Rami noticed the girl’s feet. She wasn’t wearing any shoes. Which would’ve been strange enough on its own, but upon second glance, it was obvious that her feet were not touching the floor. She was floating. Barely. But she was floating. Rami screamed.

So who is this girl? How is she connected with this theft? How can Rami prove his mother is not involved? Why did someone take this fairly obscure painting? Who is the artist? Is there a way Rami and his new friend Veda can talk to her? The museum director is acting suspiciously - is she the thief? And how is a turtle part of this intriguing story?

Listen to an audio sample here. This review from Ms Yingling has plenty of plot details. 

Publisher blurb: A painting has been stolen…! When Rami sees a floating girl in the museum, he knows he has seen her somewhere before. Then he realizes: She looks just like the girl in the painting that has gone missing. But how does her appearance connect to the theft? Agatha the turtle knows—she has been watching from the garden. But she can’t exactly tell anyone…can she? Will Rami, with the help of his classmate, Veda, be able to solve the mystery? The clues are all around them, but they’ll have to be brave enough to really look.

Colby Sharp has talked about this book SO enthusiastically and last year he read it as a class read aloud. Sadly, here in Australia it is way too expensive for your school library BUT I am certain a paperback will appear soon.

I loved the little observations by Jasmine Warga:

(He also frequently wondered if things would be better for him socially if his name ended with a y instead of an i.)

She had that accent that most rich people do, where it’s impossible to know where they are originally from, but you know that they are fancy and well educated.

Talking with Veda sometimes felt like drinking straight out of a hose—it all came at you very fast, at full blast. But he was finding it was pretty nice to be in the splash zone.

A slowly unfurling delight. Kirkus Star review

"Warga’s lighthearted mystery [is] tempered by witty banter, a touch of whimsy, and just enough suspense to make it a page-turner." — Horn Book Magazine

Other books about art theft and thieves:

The Calder Game

Masterpiece

From the Mixed up files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler

I previously read this book by Jasmine Warga - FIVE STARS.

A Rover's Story

And this one:

Other words for Home

The Worlds we Leave Behind by AF Harrold illustrated by Levi Pinfold

"They hadn't invited her, hadn't forced her, hadn't encouraged her, hadn't wanted her to come, but there she was, a little kid suddenly in their care. 

And now they were in the woods and it had all gone wrong."

Imagine you have hurt another child - you are a child yourself - and you most certainly did not mean for this to happen. Now think about the reaction of the older sibling of this child. Their anger spills over. You already feel so much guilt. But what if you meet someone who offers to remove one of the people from this event? To wipe out all trace of them. 

The little girl is Sascha. The boys are Hex and Thommo. Sascha follows the boys down to the river. The boys are there to ride on a rope swing. Sascha begs them for a turn but she is stuck and accidentally knocks into Hex. He is an impulsive boy who never thinks about consequences. He picks up a lump of mud and hurls it at the little girl. She falls and there is a snap as we hear her arm break. Thommo and Hex (Hector) have been friends forever. When Sacha falls Thommo runs away. Hex thinks he has deserted him but actually he has gone for help. When the older brother and sister of Sacha arrive, Hex leaves quietly knowing an ambulance is coming. That night, though, he feels terrible. On Monday he visits his old friend Thommo but he is turned away. He decides to revisit the rope swing but when he arrives Sacha's sister Maria arrives and in her anger she lashes out at Hex. 

He runs away and finds himself in a strange part of the woods outside a small cottage. He meets an old woman and her dog. She offers him comfort and more:

"How many were there? ... 'Two' he said. 'Yes. And look, you are just one.' ... 'Don't you wish you could do something? ... I can help. I can even the score. I can make it so they never hurt you again."

Revenge. Retribution. The woman offers to make the world forget the kids who caused him harm. 

"Only you would know they'd ever existed at all. And your world will heal, reshape itself around the hole ... No one will miss them or remember them. No one will be hurt by their loss ... "

The woman gives him an acorn. He is told to crush it if he wants these kids removed. What he doesn't know is that Maria, Sascha's sister, has also visited the old woman and she also has an acorn.

And what about Thommo - it seems he has totally forgotten Hex ever existed and yet every now and then he gets a niggling feeling that something is wrong. 

This is one of the strangest, most disturbing, and yet intriguing books I have ever read. And I need to say there is no neat resolution. Older readers might link this story with a fairy tale such as Hansel and Gretel but this tale is way more sinister and it has no happily ever after. 

Blub from publisher page: Hex never meant for the girl to follow him and his friend Tommo into the woods. He never meant for her to fall off the rope swing and break her arm. When the finger of blame is pointed at him, Hex runs deep into the woods and his fierce sense of injustice leads him to a strange clearing in the woods – a clearing that has never been there before – where an old lady in a cottage offers him a deal. She'll rid the world of those who wronged him and Hex can carry on his life with them all forgotten and as if nothing ever happened. But what Hex doesn't know is someone else has been offered the same deal. When Hex's best friend Tommo wakes up the next day, he is in a completely different world but he only has murmurs of memories of the world before. Moments of deja vu that feel like Tommo's lived this day before. Can Tommo put the world right again? Back to how it was? Or can he find a way to make a new world that could be better for them all?

Compact and disquieting: a horror story with plenty of food for thought. Kirkus

... this isn’t a blood-and-guts-type horror story. Instead, it’s a nuanced story of friendship, social nuances, betrayal and eventually vindication. There’s magic, mystery and things that lurk in the dark. Cracking the Cover

Harrold’s solutions to the alternative worlds that might be produced by the children’s absences are thought provoking, and the explanation he provides for the witch’s intervention in the children’s lives owes as much to a vintage American tv series as to the brothers Grimm. It’s a handsomely produced tale about the darkness that can come to any of us on any day, the decisions that we take or avoid, and the possibilities, for good or ill, that stem from those choices. A perceptive and disturbing book. Books for Keeps

The book is illustrated throughout by Levi Pinfold’s beautiful black and white drawings which create a haunting atmosphere, reinforcing the author’s narrative and sometimes reaching even further into a world of horror and the supernatural. Just Imagine

I have a bit of a 'love hate' relationship with books by AF Harrold. I found The Song from Somewhere else difficult to read because of the violent bullying and I shudder whenever I see The Imaginary in a bookstore. That book disturbed me SO much. On the other hand, is earlier books about Fizzlebert Stump were all terrific. 

Here are two other books illustrated by Levi Pinfold who now lives in Queensland. His book Paradise Sands is truly spectacular.

Paradise Sands

The Secret Horse of Briar Hill

Bigfoot vs Yeti: a love story by James Foley

"The Bigfoot say it started when a Yeti threw a snowball across the rift. The Yetis say it started wen a Bigfoot threw some fruit across the rift."

Think about the word 'rift'. It can mean a large crack in the ground or a serious disagreement that separates individuals. In this book both meanings apply. 

Late one night two younger community members are left to guard the edge of the rift - a Bigfoot named Bevan and a Yeti named Yolanda. Yes, we have a boy and a girl. There is of course no way to cross the rift it is way too wide but "does it really go on forever?" After days of their journey Bevan and Yolanda finally come face to face and instead of fighting they help one another and "and slowly, ever so slowly, the rift began to narrow." Yes, this is a love story and the end does contain a heart-warming twist but for me the interesting part comes before this scene when it is clear there are still some community members Bigfoot and Yeti who "could neither forgive or forget." 

They were sent back "back to the village and the mist and the rift. And they're still there to this day, hurling insults into the wind."

As I was reading Bigfoot vs Yeti by James Foley I thought of these books (see below) which I used to share with my Grade Five students as part of a conflict resolution theme. Notice the title of Bigfoot vs Yeti also says - A love story. The ending reminded me of a favourite book - Clancy the Courageous Cow. 

The Two Giants

The Seed

Bigfoot vs Yeti (trailer)

Blurb: The Bigfoots say it started when a Yeti threw a snowball across the rift. The Yetis say it started when a Bigfoot threw some fruit across the rift. Who could say for sure? One night, a young Bigfoot and Yeti decide to find the end of the rift so they can finish the feud – once and for all. 

“So very clever! The buildup in this story and the unexpected (but perfect) change of colour from black and white to colour … James Foley has given us a story to remember and perhaps learn from too.“

– Dr Belle Alderman AM, Emeritus Professor of Children’s Literature, Director of the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature

This link will take you to different teachers notes for Bigfoot vs Yeti. Readings Melbourne list three reasons to read Bigfoot vs Yeti. Here is the Storylinks review.

This picture book is so clever on many levels. Big, serious themes such as conflict, culture, racism, war, history and social norms are all explored in an accessible and humorous manner but will invite deep discussion. ... The graphic novel elements, used for the most part in the book, will appeal to many readers, and the final page is a surprising, humourous and delightful ... Reading Time

Look for this wonderful book by James Foley:

Stellarphant

Trapped by Julia Lawrinson

Joe (Giuseppe) Varischetti has come with his father from Italy to a remote part of Western Australia to work at a gold mine. Joe cannot help at the mine because he is too young. His father wants him to learn English, so Joe is forced to go to school where he encounters bullying and racism. The year is 1907.  This story is presented in a diary format from 19th March to 28th March with a few flashbacks to life in Italy, the trip to Australia, and Joe's early days at school.

Torrential rain hits the area and the deep mine is flooded. Every man gets out safely except for Joe's papa Charlie (Modesto) Varischetti.

This gripping and powerful verse novel is based on the true story of an Italian migrant worker known as Charlie - who spent over 200 hours or ten days trapped under ground. Rescuers had to wear deep diving gear so at least they were able to give papa some food, clothes and a lamp but he was wet and cold and surrounded by terrified mice. I held my breath through so many scenes. It just seemed so impossible that he could be rescued. 

This is an amazing look at Australian life in the early 1900’s, the hardships, the racism and the need to persevere to make a better life for yourself. It is an intriguing and remarkable survival story, that shows how the whole state was fascinated by this event and invested in bringing Charlie back to safety. It will best suit readers who enjoy reading about historical factual events. It is an intriguing story, that is easy to read and suitable for those in upper primary and lower secondary. Lamont

I took this book on my train journey today and I read the whole book before I reached my destination. This true story is one that will completely absorb you. You can hear Julia Lawrinson talking about her book. Julia suggests ages 8-12 but I would think this book better suits a reader aged 10+. I also have a strong connection with this story because I once worked in a coal mining town and over my nine years of working in that community there were several terrible accidents - hearing sirens always put the people in the town on edge. Sadly, there was one terrible accident which took the lives of three miners. 

I am sure this book will feature in our 2026 CBCA Notable lists but will it be in Younger Readers or Older Readers or Eve Pownall? Here are the teachers notes from the publisher. 

Readings Melbourne list three reasons to read Trapped:

Three reasons to read it: 

1. All the miners escape except one, and it just so happens to be Joe’s dad. Can you imagine how scary and confusing that would be? Joe is stuck above ground, trying to figure out what happened. Why didn’t his dad come up with the others? Is he okay? And how on earth will they reach him in time? There’s a huge mystery to solve and a desperate rescue mission ahead, and you get to be part of it from the first page. You’ll be biting your nails (maybe literally!) and rooting for Joe and the rescuers every step of the way.

2. The story is inspired by something that really happened back in 1907 in a mining town called Bonnie Vale in Australia. That means the characters, the danger and the rescue are all based on real people who faced something incredibly scary. Lawrinson took this slice of Australian history and turned it into a gripping tale that makes the past feel totally alive. Reading this book isn’t just fun, it teaches you something amazing about bravery, survival and the strength of a small town during a big disaster.

3. Trapped moves fast. You can probably read it in a day or two, but the story and the feelings it gives you will stay with you long after you finish. It’s perfect for readers who like stories that grab you right away and never let go. And since it’s packed with vivid descriptions, cool historical details and an intense rescue mission, your imagination will be working overtime. When you turn the last page, you’ll be thinking about what happened long after you close the book, and maybe even looking up more about the real-life event.

Background reading:

• Western Australia Museum
• State Library of WA 4 minute video tribute
• Pearl Divers in the Goldfields
• Shire of Coolgardie
• Australasian Mine Safety Journal
• Wild - Stories from WA's past (scroll down through all the choices) - 17 minutes
• Goldfield Stories of Western Australia

On day nine, the divers gave the miner more food, shared cigarettes with him, tied a rope around his waist and started the arduous walk through waist-deep water and knee-deep sludge. At one stage, Varischetti’s mouth and nose only just cleared the water. He staggered to the surface on March 28, after 206 hours underground. He recovered to return to work underground but died of fibrosis at 57.

Tunneling to get him out or pumping out the water would have taken too long and Varischetti would have died before he could be reached. The mine inspector Joshua Crabbe had an inspired idea. He was familiar with pearl diving in the North West and made enquiries about getting divers to rescue the trapped man. Two divers (Curtis and Thomas Hearn) were found holidaying in Perth and as luck would have it they had their gear with them. A special train was organised to get them to the goldfields (taking 13 hours and 10 minutes to arrive) setting a new speed record which was to last for the next 50 years. By the time the divers had arrived Varischetti had been trapped for 3 days. The divers had no knowledge of the flooded mine and during the first attempt to reach Modesto, Curtis became entangled and was lucky to survive.

Here is an interview with Julia Lawrinson. 

Companion book:

Town by Sea (Scroll through this post)

I previously read these books by Julia Lawrinson:

Chess Nuts

City of Light

You might also have these books in your school library. I do wish the Aussie Bites, Aussie Nibbles and Aussie Chomps series books were still in print - I discovered so many book treasures in these three Australian series.

Here is another book (for a younger audience) that also tells a story from Australian history using the format of a verse novel:

The Riding Gallery