Speed-Barq the Falcon

 

Speed-Barq the Falcon by Judy Wollin & Eman Alblooshi. 2024 Turtle Publishing. MG Paperback RRP $21.89.  eBook RRP $4.99. ISBN 9781764222839

Reviewed by Debra Williams

 Ali and his Australian friend, Dylan, would love to be falconers. The question is, who will help them? Ali’s father sold his bird, and his brother, Rashid, doesn’t want to take the boys to fly falcons in the desert; also, Ali’s grandfather isn’t well enough to do so. However, the grandfather surprises the boys, bringing them closer to their goal.

The boys show what they have learned about handling falcons at home after visiting the Falcon Centre.  

Grandfather, Ali’s father, Abbi and Rashid take the boys on a trip to the desert, including Ali’s younger cousin Tarek, after proving they know what to do. Grandfather allows the boys to handle his own falcon, Barq. But the trip turns into a disaster-almost. Ali loses Grandfather’s bird after he forgets to put on Barq’s hood and fails to secure the falcon’s leg ties to his glove.

The boys take off into the desert dunes to search for Barq, only to get hopelessly lost. However, they will not give up.

Rashid has taken the car to search another area. The boys begin to think they are stranded, but eventually Rashid returns to find them and has located Barq as well. He feels guilty for not looking after Barq better himself, and, after initial anger and a disparaging attitude, apologises and tells the boys that they had proven their love for falcons and were now falconers.

Judy Wollin is a Brisbane-based author who writes action-adventure stories for Middle-Graders. She classifies her stories as Fun.Fast.Reads. Her co-author, Eman Alblooshi, is a prominent Emirati author and educator from Abu Dhabi. Judy & Eman worked closely together in the UAE between 2006 and 2010 and collaborated on this book and on Speed: The Haunted Island.

The story collaboration between Australia and the UAE is wonderful and an encouraging cross-cultural experience, and leads the reader into what life is like for those in the UAE. Both Arabic and English words are used throughout the text.

The shorter chapters are ideal for reluctant readers. Each chapter alternates between the POVs of Ali and his 12-year-old friend, Dylan, from Australia, whose father has gone to work in the UAE. The two boys couldn’t be more different, yet strike up a close friendship that is rigorously tested at times. Within each chapter, the authors have also included several facts relating to life in the desert and falconry.

This book will be enjoyed by those in the target readership, especially by slightly older readers.