Bea has a long summer ahead of her. Usually, her uncle Byron comes to stay during the summer holidays, in the small fishing village she calls home. But this year he won’t be coming. In fact, he’s never going to come again and that really hurts. Bea’s parents leave the house early for work and come back late, so somehow Bea must fill her days herself now the fun-loving, adventuring, Byron is gone.
One day, she crosses paths with popular girl Arabella. Although Bea feels intimidated, Bea and Arabella start to spend time together and they soon uncover a mystery involving an island, Somewhere, within sailing distance from their home. Somewhere seems to hold the key to happiness for them both.
How to Sail to Somewhere, is a beautiful middle-grade novel with a whimsical olde-worlde feel. I enjoyed the lack of technology in this story – Bea doesn’t appear to have a phone and when the girls need to look up information, they ride their bikes to the nearest town to search a library rather than googling. Themes of family breakdown and grief are addressed in a subtle, gentle way and don’t overshadow the warm tone and happy memories of previous summers with Byron. This is a story about friendship, family, love and sorrow, with a little bit of magic, wrapped up in respect and love of nature.
Ashleigh Barton has written a truly lovely book.
Reviewed by Amanda Brinkman
Age Guide 8+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashleigh Barton is a children’s author and content and copywriter based in Sydney, Australia. This means all her working hours are spent on her own creative projects or crafting copy for clients in various industries all over the world. No two days are the same – just the way she likes it.
Before writing full-time, she pursued my love of books (children’s books especially) by working in some of Australia’s biggest publishing houses. She ran marketing and publicity campaigns for globally-renowned authors and illustrators, including some of myher all-time favourites.
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