Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck

Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck written by Michelle Gillespie with illustrations by Sonia Martinez (Fremantle Press)
HB RRP $24.95
ISBN 9-781-921-696-008
Reviewed by Neridah McMullin

Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck is an evocative and compelling true story about the daring rescue of the passengers and crew of the shipwrecked SS Georgette off the Western Australian coastline in 1876.
Stockman Sam Isaacs is out with his horse tracking stray cattle when he suddenly hears the cries of shipwrecked people in the wild sea off Calgardup Bay. Sam gallops back to the homestead to tell the Bussell family (whom he works for) what has happened, and their young daughter, Grace Bussell, races out and jumps on her horse. With ropes in hand, 16-year-old Grace Bussell returns with Sam to see what they can do to help. 


By this time, most of the lifeboats were breaking up in the rough sea. Urging her horse into boiling surf, beyond a line of roaring breakers, Grace and Sam reach the boats where the women and children are in great peril. With as many women and children clinging to Grace and the horse as possible, she makes for the shore, landing them safely. Sam and Grace do this over and over again until they’re exhausted. It took four hours to rescue 50 people.


Sam Isaacs and 16 year-old-Grace Bussell performed amazing acts of courage. They were awarded medals from the Royal Humane Society for their efforts and Grace's legend lives on through the name of the coastal hamlet of Gracetown, north of Margaret River in Western Australia, near the wheat belt town of Lake Grace. 


This picture book is fast paced and makes a great ‘read aloud’ book. “There is something about this morning—a quiet in the hills, a shiver in the air—something that prickles the nose of the stockman’s horse.”
It’s quite dark at times, and you can definitely feel the ‘intensity’ of the situation and the unpredictability of the rough sea. The illustrations are dramatic and unusual, involving mixed media collages, combining computer generated images with oil paintings. The images are powerful yet perfect for this amazing story.


Pitched at older primary-age children, this book should make an excellent resource for teachers and librarians trying to encourage young readers to learn more about Australia’s history. Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck has it all - adventure, bravery, history and horses! 


Neridah McMullin is the author of three books for children. Her next book is an Indigenous folklore story called 'Kick it to me!'. It’s an ‘aussie rules’ story that’s being endorsed by the Australian Football League. Neridah loves family, footy, and doing yoga with her cat Carlos (who also just happens to love footy). www.neridahmcmullin.com

Amazing Grace: An Adventure at Sea

Amazing Grace: An Adventure at Sea by Stephanie Owen Reader (National Library of Australia)
HB RRP $29.95
ISBN 9780642277435
Reviewed by Vicki Stanton

This book is absolutely outstanding from the story created around the factual evidence to the presentation and production quality.

In December 1876, sixteen-year-old Grace Bussell (and others) risked their own lives to save passengers and crew from the shipwrecked Georgette. A fictionalised account of the rescue is interspersed with paintings, newspaper clippings, photographs, eyewitness accounts and other historical documents from the National Library of Australia's own collection. A true sense of pioneer life at the time is built up.

The author is a master storyteller, able to draw the reader into the thoughts of feelings of passengers, crew and rescuers. Grace is shown as a capable and affable, but not extraordinary country girl, who nonetheless does not hesitate when action is needed. Other rescuers such as the Aboriginal stockman Sam Isaacs, and James and William Dempster are given due credit for their bravery.

A list of characters, glossary, short chapters and plentiful illustrations and further information ensures that the story can be followed by competent younger readers as well as being enjoyed and appreciated by older readers and even adults.

I highly recommend Amazing Grace and it should find a place on all bookshelves.

The Blue-Eyed Aborigine

The Blue-Eyed Aborigine by Rosemary Hayes (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)
PB RRP $16.95
ISBN 978-84780-078-7
Reviewed by Heather Zubek

There was almost a sniff of indignation when I learned that not only was the writer of this book not a Western Australian but not even an Australian. Indeed! After reading the book though all is forgiven. The Blue-Eyed Aborigine is based on the diaries of the Commander of the ship Batavia. Those who are unaware of the story are not prejudiced when reading the book. The background story is cleverly and subtlety revealed.

Rosemary Hayes, from Cambridgeshire, UK, recaptures some of maritime history’s most horrific moments through both factual and imagined events. These events are viewed through the eyes of young Dutch sailors Jan Pelgrom and briefly through Wouter Looes.

Those interested in Australian history will be fascinated by the story and the theory that some of today’s Aboriginals in Western Australia are descendants of the survivors of the Batavia. At the time of going to press initial DNA tests confirm that some of these Aboriginals carry Western European blood raising the question about the legacy of the shipwreck survivors. Rosemary Hayes fills in the missing years intuitively and sensitively. We follow the fate of young Jan as he takes to the way of life of the Aboriginals effortlessly and wholeheartedly. The reader begins to feel sorry for the sailor and views his actions during the mutiny as ones borne of survival rather than of a dark heart. 

After reading The Blue-Eyed Aborigine I read a story about the Batavia describing Jan Pelgrom as murderous and cruel. I felt an injustice had been done describing him in this way. It seemed as though they were describing someone else. One will never know I guess. I would like to think that Jan did survive on the shores of Western Australia and become part of the Aboriginal culture. I enjoyed the way the writer concluded the story with visions of blue-eyed Aboriginals coming home from the hunt. It was a fitting end to a rather gruesome tale.

Note: The publishers suggest a reading age of 13+ but I feel that parents should be aware of the adult themes contained in the book.