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»Younger Readers»Plenty

    Plenty

    0
    By Admin on January 19, 2015 Younger Readers

    plenty

    BRAXTON-SMITH, Ananda Plenty Black Dog, 2014 139pp $14.95 pbk ISBN 9781742032429 SCIS 1671936

    Ten year old Maddy is terribly angry because her parents have decided that the family will move from their inner city house to a rural place called Plenty.  The author describes Maddy’s attachment to her neighbourhood and friends in deeply personal terms.  We are given a sense of Maddy’s identity being connected to her surroundings with ‘She was Maddy Frank, Keeper of the Street and Queen of the Back Lane.  Friend to Dogs.  Runner of the Fence Line’.  Her territory is Jermyn Street in inner city Melbourne.  Then ‘The moment they’d told her, she’d become nobody.  Maddy Frank, Homeless Person.’ Her parents have valid reasons for the move – to be near Nana Mad who is getting old and also to give Maddy the chance to grow up near farms, mountains and trees.  How will she survive without her friend Sophie-Rose who was born on the same day and had been her best friend ever since?  The feelings of isolation and homesickness run deep and Maddy takes time to settle into Plenty.  Her journey brings her delights and frustrations, new interests and a new friend who might just understand what it means to be uprooted and relocated unexpectedly but on a much more profound level.  The ending balances the themes and ends hopefully.  A well written story for middle and upper primary readers.

    reviewed by Julie Long

    Belonging Homesickness isolation Moving house

    Related Posts

    Specky Magee

    Dear Greta

    Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables Join Forces

    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
    • A Human for Kingsley
    • Dirt Circus League
    • Dark Rise
    • Bear and Rat
    • Grumble Boats
    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....