I am so wonderfully, gratefully thrilled that this little book has not gone completely un-noticed as it's a very special book to me. Today, doing a bit of an internet-search/procrastination, I found these judges comments, which provided a little more bubbly excitement for a dreary Monday morning. I will be flying up to Sydney on Nov 30th for the awards night, so be sure to tune in after that to hear about all the glitz and glam.
JUDGES' COMMENTS
Jelly is disheartened that her family has moved ten suburbs away from her friends. Even worse, she must endure another dreary visit from her relations over Christmas. But then Jelly and her cousins discover something in the local creek that changes everything. A bird? No, it seems to be an angel — a baby angel with a broken wing. Suddenly there is a magical focus for their enforced time together, and, in caring surreptitiously for the enigmatic creature, they find a different way of being together — and of growing up.
Told with evocative prose, this well-paced original story blurs beautifully between realism and fantasy: is the angel real or not? Perhaps readers never know for sure, but there is no doubt about the well-drawn characters and the believable family dynamics in this quietly compelling novel. A myriad of relationships subtly criss-cross the narrative like the strands of a spider’s web, practically invisible, yet giving the writing a quiet strength and integrity. As the story gently addresses issues of responsibility and different kinds of love and care in relationships, it pulls readers along with a compelling, suspenseful story.
Oh hooray, I'm glad you're going up too! We should have a good Melbourne contingent. Penni and I are flying up on Friday too. Fingers crossed one (or two) of us get lucky, but at least we should get a lovely dinner ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh how fun. Will be lovely to see you both there. :-)
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