The Making of Martha Mayfield

The Making of Martha Mayfield by Jo Dabrowski (Affirm Press) PB RRP ISBN 9781923022928

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

This is one of the most original and well-written middle-grade novels I’ve read in quite a while. It’s the debut of an Australian author whose books I’ll be eagerly seeking in future.

The book’s protagonist, the memorable Martha Mayfield, is a fifth grader who is the painfully shy daughter of an equally shy mother. Instead of speaking directly to other people, including her peers, Martha has created a paper world of people who she uses as puppets that ‘speak’ to one another in the privacy of her own room. It comes as a huge surprise then that Martha decides to stand for the position of school captain in her next year. This requires her to give a speech to the whole school and to promote herself in team situations. It's not at all easy for a shy person to do this, but the author manages to skillfully show Martha’s slow and painful transformation.

Meanwhile, Martha has two other gregarious family members – her sister Iris, and grandmother Stella. Neither of them seems to understand how difficult life is for Martha and her mum to negotiate. Mum, like Martha, is monosyllabic, but also creative (she is a dressmaker). 

An incident in a Japanese coffee shop has Iris creating a very embarrassing situation for Martha who, in a very atypical way, loses her temper and destroys something precious of Iris’s. How the situation is resolved, is very clever and unpredictable.

Dabrowski has a gift of beautifully developing characterisation so each of her characters reflect people that the reader can readily relate to.  While she is very quiet, Martha is also an empathetic listener, socially observant, and when put to the test she proves a strong though quiet leader. This proves, as shy people know, you don’t have to be loud to have great ideas and to lead.

This novel is highly recommended for readers aged 9 to 12 years.