Received from the Publisher
From the BLURB:
Molly has a strange life. Her mama collects
herbs at dawn and makes potions, her father and brothers have gone away, and
her house feels like a gypsy caravan.
Molly doesn’t want to know anything about herbs
and potions. She wishes she could be more like her best friend, Ellen, who has
a normal family and a normal house. But she is also secretly interested in Pim,
who is inquisitive and odd and a little bit frightening.
When Molly’s mama makes a potion that has a
wild and shocking effect, Molly and Pim look for a way to make things right,
and Molly discovers the magic and value of her own unusual life.
‘Molly and
Pim and the Millions of Stars’ is the new middle-grade/juvenile fiction novel
from Australian author Martine Murray.
Something
really interesting happened this year, with Hardie Grant Egmont’s Ampersand Project
(which seeks out new voices in youth literature) – they opened the prize up to
more than just Young Adult manuscripts, but also middle-grade (books for 8 to
12-year-olds).
I think
that’s really interesting because for a while there, Australia had high-quality
children’s picture books, great junior fiction (for 5+, think Sally Rippin and
Anh Do!) and of course our young adult scene is out of this world (14-18,
roughly) but in the past we had less Australian middle-grade on offer, and had to rely on US and UK authors to fill the gap (I’m thinking of ‘Wonder’ by RJ
Palacio, everything by Rebecca Stead and Hilary McKay).
But in the
last five years or so, I’ve seen the tides turning – Ampersand’s inclusion of
middle-grade manuscripts is yet another example of the Oz Publishing scene
recognising the need for more Australian voices writing to this age group. Equally
amazing has been the establishment of The
Readings Children’s Book Prize, awarding stellar emerging authors who have
been writing for this readership.
So – with
all that in mind allow me to celebrate this gorgeous and wondrous book from
Martine Murray, which is a real gift for the middle-grade readership.
This novel
is filled with magical realism and whimsy, while still having its feet just
firmly enough on the ground. It’s a story about friendship – and about the
curious incident that sees Molly’s mother turning herself (accidentally!) into
a tree, and the repercussions that follows …
Friendship
is a big part of the novel – Molly is friends with Ellen and Pim Wilder, the
latter of whom is a boy “always worth watching” who offers up the strangest
sorts of facts about the natural world and outer-space;
Molly was secretly fascinated by Pim Wilder. He didn’t move with the pack. He wasn’t drawn by the cool talk and the latest fads. And this made him interesting, and a little intimidating too. Ellen was afraid of him. But Ellen was easily afraid. She would never walk in the woods on her own or rescue a spider from the bath. If Molly told Ellen about her mama’s herbs and potions, Ellen might even find this too strange and scary.
I loved the
fact that Molly is grounded with these very real problems in her life, having
to be very careful about the sides of herself she shows to the rest of the
world, and being drawn to a new friend who sparks her sense of wonder and
adventure … and at the same time, HER MOTHER IS A TREE! I think young readers
will be at once tickled with the whole concept, and very connected to the
complex character of Molly, her friendship woes and identity crisis.
There are
sweet little illustrations throughout the book, drawn by Martine Murray who
also did the cover illustration.
They are like little treasures between the pages, and a real delight in
a book that’s already choc-full of them in story!
Here is a
middle-grade novel that sees beauty and magic in the environment around us, and
celebrates seeds of friendship which grow deep roots. I loved this charming and
whimsical novel, and young readers will too!
5/5
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