It was when Wren and her family were visiting an old coal mine that her little brother, Finch, went missing. She was busy taking photos with her camera, her mum and dad distracted.
Finch would be 12 years old now. Except he’s not here. Wren had always been a little bit jealous of Finch. He was fun and silly, and everyone loved him. He shone and she didn’t. He loved musical movies and Hawaiian pizza with barbecue sauce. He loved historical sites. It was his idea to go to the coal mine.
Finch wasn’t the only child to go missing that day. A little girl went missing too. No clues to what had happened to them, making it all the harder.
Wren knows she needs to move on but she still feels Finch is there by her side, like a shadow. But sometimes the shadow speaks to her. Sometimes she talks back. As she starts her first day at high school she holds her mum’s hand. Finch would be telling Mum to go home and running off ahead.
‘The girls’ would be there. Friends of Wren’s whose friendship has fallen apart since Finch disappeared. When she meets a tall awkward girl, Freddie, she finds she has at least one friend. Freddie comes from a rich family who stifle her. In the playground Wren notices a young girl who looks withdrawn and sad, always alone.
As Wren and Freddie’s friendship grows, the sad lonely girl goes missing from school. Freddie encourages Wren to investigate who the young girl is and what has happened to her. The result of which turns the handle on a twist to the story.
Reviewed by Emily Ross
Age Guide 11+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Gordon grew up in a small town by the sea in Tasmania.
Her first book, Three Things About Daisy Blue was published in the ‘Girlfriend’ series in 2010. Her second book, Thyla, was published in April 2011 and her third book, Vulpi, the sequel to Thyla, was published in April 2012. Kate was the recipient of 2011 and 2012 Arts Tasmania Assistance to Individuals grants.
Writing Clementine was published in June 2014 by Allen and Unwin. It received the 2016 IBBY Ena Noel Award. In 2018, Kate was shortlisted in the Dorothy Hewett Awards for an Unpublished Manuscript, and was commended in the 2018 Vogel’s Awards.
The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn was published in 2020. Megan Daley called the book “’Just exquisite’. It was a CBCA Honour Book in 2021. Its companion books, The Ballad of Melodie Rose and The Calling of Jackdaw Hollow were published in 2021 and 2023.
The Juno Jones, Word Ninja books are a junior fiction series about books, friendship, alien lizard men, killer mermaids and an adventurous girl who definitely does not like reading.
In 2019, Kate had her first picture book, Bird on a Wire. Her second picture book, Amira’s Magpie, was published in 2021.
Aster’s Good, Right Things was published in November, 2020. The companion novels, Xavier in the Meantime and Indigo in the storm were published in 2021 and 2023.
Whalesong was published in 2022, following Kate’s residency at the Maritime Museum of Tasmania.
Kate continues to write novels and picture books from a cottage overlooking the river and the mountain, on the Eastern Shore of Hobart. She is excitedly planning her passion project – her first work of literary fiction for (gasp!) adults. But don’t worry – she’ll always return to her first love, children’s books. She has two daughters and a very silly labradoodle. Her elderly cat, Mephy Danger, went over the rainbow bridge in 2024 and is forever loved.
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