Jackie French, Ming & Hilde Lead a Revolution (The Girls Who Changed the World #3), HarperCollins, June 2023, 366 pp. RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781460763445
The timeslip series, The Girls Who Changed the World, continues in book three, when Ming Qong goes into the past to uncover how girls have changed history. Jackie French’s research is thorough and well investigated. She uncovers the true history of how women changed the sheep industry. On this journey, Ming joins a ship carrying the royal Saxon sheep to an unknown destination. She befriends Hilde and the shepherdesses on the ship. It becomes evident that they are all travelling to Mr Montjoy’s farm in the colony of South Australia in the 1840’s. Ming is destined to be a governess for Mr Montjoy’s son Edmund while Hilde and the shepherdesses will care for the royal sheep there.
We discover that Hilde and the shepherdesses teach the shearers about shearing sheep and looking after them. They will be at the core of developing the wool industry in Australia. Ming shows that young women played a significant role in the shearing economy in the wool industry. The work of the women until now, has gone unacknowledged. Jackie French’s story reveals how women brought a revolution to the wool industry.
As always Jackie French brings her research to life through story. Ming & Hilde enriches the role women has played in history.
Suitable ages 8 +
Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Susanne Gervay
Read Pamela Ueckemann’s review here
