The Secrets We Keep

The Secrets We Keep by Nova Weetman, (UQP)

PB RRP $16.95

ISBN 978 0 7022 5421 5

Reviewed by Elizabeth Kasmer

It’s been six weeks since a fire burnt down Clem’s home and now her Mum and her old life are gone. The few things she has managed to salvage are tainted by the smell of the fire and painful memories of losing her mum. Clem and father can now no longer afford to stay in the neighbourhood and are forced to move into a tiny flat so they can be closer to her father’s work and Clem’s new school.

On her first day of school Clem meets Ellie and in an effort to fit in, Clem lets a secret slip about what happened to her mum which she immediately regrets. As Ellie’s mum is in hospital dying of cancer, Ellie immediately bonds with Clem over common ground of losing a mother. This connection places Clem in the awkward situation of coming between Ellie and her oldest friend Tam who becomes jealous of Clem. To Clem’s credit she is able to put herself in Tam’s shoes and wonders how she would feel in the same situation.

Clem is helped through her struggles by her ever optimistic father who works at the botanical gardens and wears a big jacket that Clem buries her face in so she can smell his earthiness. Maggie, the neighbour in the flat upstairs, provides a refuge for Clem, offering tea, freshly baked treats and also a sense of purpose by giving her the job of feeding and caring for the fish whilst Maggie is away for work.

Clem is a runner and the track is where she can be her true self, it is where all her problems float away. It is interesting to watch how Clem learns to recognise, and return to, the things in her life that bring her joy (such as running). But will Clem continue to run from her problems? Or will she find the strength to face the truth about what really happened with her mum and the fire?

Reading this book brought back strong memories of my own primary school experiences; the emotions, school yard dynamics, politics and rivalries. My eleven year old self was right there beside Clem on her first day of school peering into the school playground.

“And I’m out here. Looking through holes in the wire, wondering how I’m going to do this.”

Nova Weetman does a beautiful job of shining a light on what it’s like to feel lost and having to fit into new surroundings when everything familiar is gone. This is a wonderfully relatable book that has strong appeal for middle grade readers. When I closed the book there was a real sense of sadness not only that the story had come to an end but that it had been resolved so beautifully.

Elizabeth Kasmer is a Sunshine Coast based writer of children’s and young adult fiction. www.elizabethkasmer.com

The Secrets We Keep

The Secrets We Keep by Nova Weetman (UQP) PB RRP $16.99

ISBN 978-0-7022-5421-5

Reviewed by Joanne Pummer

 This novel by Nova Weetman, is highly recommended for all children (9 yrs+), but it's especially relevant for children feeling anger towards a parent who's struggling with depression, mental illness or addiction.

Written in the first person, by eleven year old Clem, the story starts on the first day at a new school, when Clem and her Dad are living in a flat because their house has burnt down. The fate of her mother is a mystery; 'Mum was asleep' is all Clem tells us. This is the hook that entices the reader.

Clem's new friend, Ellie, is inquisitive about the reasons she has shifted schools.  'My mum died,' Clem says. Three words she'll live to regret. Ellie, believing she's found someone who understands, tells Clem her mother is dying of cancer.

We feel for Clem when she has flashbacks of her mother before the fire, in bed, crying, unable to cope with housework, the signs of depression. Ellie's mother dies and Clem is unable to face the funeral.

A turning point comes when Clem receives a letter from her mother and refuses to read it. Clem is angry, believing it was her mother who started the fire, When Ellie finds out she flees in tears, because Clem has lied to her.

I had a lump in my throat when Clem, eventually, between sobs, reveals her shameful secret. She wished her mother had died in the fire because it's easier to talk about a dying mother than one who's unavailable. My tears came at the last page, when Clem sees her mother at the school athletics carnival, with her 'arms out and ready' and Clem says ''Mum''.

Warning: Copious amounts of sugar were eaten by the characters, during the writing of this book.

Fire

Fire by Jackie French, illustrations by Bruce Whatley (Scholastic Press)

HB RRP $24.99

ISBN 978-1-74283-817-5

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Jackie French and Bruce Whatley have once again produced a beautiful, evocative and powerful picture book where text and illustrations blend together creating a moving experience. Fire is a simple story, told in smooth rhyme, of a bushfire, hungry and intense, sweeping across the land. It speaks of the brave fire-fighters, the affected people and the cyclical nature of our earth.

The words used to tell the story are not only poetic and evocative, but they also create a build up in the intensity to match the flames. As the fire increases in power, short, sharp text controls the reading speed, increasing the urgency:

   Time to run, to try to flee

   Gulping smoke and singed debris.

Then, as the emergency lessens, so too, the text calms and softens:

    Riches are a loved one’s hand

    Safety from the flame-fed land.

The words themselves force you to slow down.

The illustrations are amazing. The way the fire has been captured, with flicks of paint adding to the swirling ash and dirtiness of the landscape, creates a tense atmosphere. Whatley’s illustrations capture emotions, the panic, the claustrophobia, choking fullness of the fire and the poignant grief and despair of the aftermath.

The ending, full of hope and regrowth, balances the story nicely. As does the cockatoo, through whose eyes we see the beginnings of the fire, and the beginnings of the recovery.

This story would be suitable for four year olds and older. The rhythm and the way it sounds when read out loud is very engaging and exciting. It is intense, but not scary and the language is easily accessible for them:

  Fire trucks, a barricade

  Arched hoses of the fire brigade

  Holding the red monster back

  Facing each high blazed attack.

For young and old, this picture book will encourage many important conversations - fire, living in the bush, and the cycles of nature, among others. I would encourage older children to read it too. Fire shows beautifully how poetry, words and images can create incredible emotion. And anyone who has been close to such an experience (and bushfires are not uncommon in Australia) will relate to this story.