Black Sunday

Black Sunday by Evan McHugh (Omnibus Books) PB RRP $16.99

ISBN 978-1-74362-799-0

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

When Nipper is asked by his teacher to keep a diary he thinks it is a waste of time. But what emerges over the period during which he records his life is an evocative (fictional) account of the twelve month period between June 1937 and 1938 as Australia emerges from the Depression and thunderclouds of World War II appear on the horizon.

Nipper has no intention of continuing school after he turns thirteen. All he wants to do is follow in his Grandpa Jack’s footsteps and become a life saver. Living in Bondi and secretly training to achieve his goal, the beach and ocean are his whole world.

Gradually, over the year, he begins to understand more about Grandpa Jack, about himself and about the world around him. And then one hot Sunday in 1938, a day which was to become the infamous Black Sunday, he gains insight into the nature of true heroism and whether he has it inside of him.

When a novel is written in diary form you get to be right inside the head of the main character. While this gives an immediate intimacy, you also need to feel a connection or empathy with them for it to work and hold interest. Black Sunday did this incredibly well. Nipper was real for me, even though he grew up in a world very different to me.

And this world rang true. The language, attitudes and way of life were all authentic to the setting of Australia and Bondi of the early 1930s. Other characters in the book came to life too. Nipper’s family, particularly Grandpa Jack, Nipper’s childhood friend Damo and his new friend Rachel (from a Jewish family who newly immigrated from Germany), teacher Mrs Kearsley and Arthur, an elusive aboriginal man who the three children try to befriend.

The writing was in keeping with Nipper’s voice and contained wonderful descriptions of the sea, Nipper’s greatest interest.

‘The surf today was all confused. It was a bi grey and windy, and the waves were coming from about three different directions at once, all choppy and changey.’

Some days, the surf or the weather were all that Nipper wrote about in his diary, other days there were small or larger events for him to record. I loved his descriptions of the promenading on the pier which families took part in on Sunday evenings in the summer.

Black Sunday is story about a normal boy going about his daily life in the 1930s, but in capturing a snippet of Nippers life, this book also captures a slice of Australian history (and not just the history of the live saving movement) in an evocative, readable and very accessible way.

This is a thoroughly entertaining book in the My Australian Story series which will be enjoyed by boys and girls alike from the age of ten years.

Letters to My Father

Letters to My Father by Ann Budden (Pacific Books) PB RRP $14.95 pp $6.00 through contacting abudden@bigpond.com ISBN: 9780987066039

Reviewed by Ellie Royce

 

Letters to My Father is firstly the story of three sisters growing up in Ipswich Queensland while the Second World War rages in the near north. The girls and their mother run the farm while their father is away fighting the Japanese. Secondly, this book offers an interactive element in the form of a workbook, containing discussion ideas and questions, background information to the story and even wartime recipes. 

The story is told through the eponymous ‘letters’ from Ruth to her father, focusing on life at home in a small town and contrasting diary entries by their father which describe (sometimes quite graphically) his experiences as a Prisoner-of-War. A thoroughly researched, thought- provoking and visually pleasing publication, this book would be a useful and engaging classroom tool. As stated, however, some of the diary content is very graphic and should probably be assessed for suitability on a case by case basis by teachers and librarians.

The book is recommended for readers between 11-14 years.

Letters to My Father

Letters to My Father by Ann Budden (Pacific Books) PB         ISBN 0 780987066039

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

At only 39 pages, this is a short book, but it covers a lot of terrain. Illustrated with archival black and white photos, the story is presented from two points of view. One are letters written by a girl, Ruth, to her father who she believes is overseas fighting in the way; the other are diary entries by said father who is imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp. At no time does father or daughter make contact. Thus the reader learns how Australian civilians and combatants fared during World War 11.

Ruth lives on a farm with her mother and two sisters, Beatrice and Edith, where they work hard, milking a hundred cows a day and tending to their vegetable plot. They are better off than most during the war as they supply their own food. But life is not easy, especially when Ruth’s grandfather dies. Ruth tells in her letters to her father of her fears, such as the Japanese bombing Darwin, and of local friends whose sons and fathers are in the war. She also recounts incidents in her life, like having to drink castor oil each week and practicing air-raid procedure. Her father, on the other hand, writes in his (undated) diary about the terrible conditions in his prisoner-of-war camp – the cruelty of the guards, the unrelenting hard work, the lack of food. Both writers give a clear and detailed account of life during war-time. It is not clear if Ruth’s letters ever reach her father; one assumes not.

The book, which would be invaluable for a child studying World War 11, also provides factual information. There is, for instance, a glossary of almost 30 words which include, for instance, explanations of coupons, the Geneva Convention and the land army. As well, the author provides information (from the Australian War Memorial Encyclopedia) about the system of rationing – how many rations were given, for instance, for clothing, tea and meat. A bibliography is provided as well as background information with statistic, for example, of POWs and numbers of soldiers captured. There are also four recipes for war-time food.

Finally, in the acknowledgements’ section, the author thanks a former Changi POW, Cyril Gilbert OAM, National President and Secretary of the ex-POW Association of Australia, on whose experiences the father’s letters in the book are based. Edith, Beatrice and Ruth are real people – sisters who did grow up on a farm in Ipswich.

Despite its size, this is a comprehensive and fascinating book which is sure to be enjoyed by any reader aged from 10 and up.