Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Reading Time
    • Home
    • Reviews
      • Highly Recommended
      • CBCA Short Listed
      • Early Childhood Books
      • Younger Readers
      • Intermediate Readers
      • Older Readers
      • ANZAC books
      • Great Read Alouds
      • Information Books
      • LGBTQIA+
      • Picture Books
      • Professional Development
    • Interviews
    • Suggestions
    • News
    • Meet The Review Team
    • Contact Us
    Reading Time
    You are at:Home»Reviews»Highly Recommended»The Minnow

    The Minnow

    0
    By Admin on October 7, 2014 Highly Recommended, Older Readers

    minnow

    SWEENEY, Diana The Minnow Text Pub, 2014 263pp A$19.99 NZ$26.00 pbk ISBN 9781922182012 SCIS 1660643

    Tom has lost her family in a flood that has devastated her little town.  As her community tries to heal, its citizens do the best they can to support each other.  It’s seen as a kind gesture when Bill takes in Tom but his eventual abuse of her reveals a dark side that frightens Tom.  Now pregnant, she moves in with her gentle friend Jonah.  With support from Jonah and his grandfather, her spry and loving Nana in residential care, and even the concerned local policeman, Tom is able to grow as The Minnow grows within her.  Mother and daughter are bonded by language and emotion that enables them to converse, in a similar way to which Tom talks to her dead Papa and a fish called Oscar.  She is able to ‘see’ her dead sister and, poignantly and finally, her.  The death of her Nana at the end of the book seems almost too much but it’s The Minnow that gives life to Tom by providing her with love and a future.

    Tom is a character who will burrow into your heart and make you forever wonder about her.  The symbiotic mother-baby love, her spiritual connections with family and animals, gives her an unusual strength in the face of her many tragedies and despite a sweet naivety.  This is a sophisticated book, with disturbing themes and an underpinning sense of sadness, but readers should find themselves changed for knowing Tom.  Highly recommended.

    reviewed by Pam Harvey

    Flood Mothers sexual abuse teen pregnancy

    Related Posts

    It’s Up to Us

    The Bravest Word

    The Ghost Locket

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    • Themes
    • Curriculum
    Action adventure Airplanes Alphabet Anxiety autism Bullying CBCA Awards Coming of age Dystopian emotions family fantasy friendship grief Historical humour magic Mystery Post apocalyptic Readers Cup reluctant readers school Sci-Fi series of books siblings Sport Starting school Teacher Notes
    ANZAC Australian animals Australian history Biography Culture & Diversity Disabilities First Nations Geography health Humanities mental health Poetry Reconciliation resilience Science STEM Stolen Generation sustainability Wordless books



    Recent Comments
    • Cherie on Elephant Island
    • Patricia Tilton on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Jilanne Hoffmann on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Penelope Pratley on The Secret of Sapling Green
    • Emily Flint on Walk of the Whales
    Recent Posts
    • It’s Up to Us
    • The Bravest Word
    • The Ghost Locket
    • The Ghost Locket
    • Enough Love?
    Recent Comments
    • Cherie on Elephant Island
    • Patricia Tilton on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Jilanne Hoffmann on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Penelope Pratley on The Secret of Sapling Green
    • Emily Flint on Walk of the Whales
    © Copyright 2021 The Children’s Book Council of Australia - All rights reserved

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Posting....