By Geraldine McCaughrean (author) Part of the Usborne Modern Classics series
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Shortlisted for the 2015 CILIP Carnegie Medal - One of our Books of the Year 2014 - Shortlisted for The Little Rebels Children's Book Award 2014 Award-winning Geraldine McCaughrean captures a far off landscape and a far off time in her fabulously dramatic nineteenth century story interwoven with the magic of the mysterious and stories of the Aboriginal Dreamtime.
With its large and flamboyant cast, McCaughrean proves yet again what a dazzling story teller she is. When Comity’s mother dies after she is bitten by a tiger snake, Comity is left with her father who is the operator of the remote telegraph station. Apart from the two of them there are a few labourers and Fred, an Aboriginal boy who helps around the station.
He is her only friend and, as her father sinks into despair leaving her to do everything – including keeping her mother’s relatives at bay - she turns to Fred for support. To comfort her he offers her the stories and magic of his long dead ancestors. When an assistant arrives to help run the station disaster looms.
Comity has long held all the threads together but can she continue to do so? Geraldine McCaughrean handles a vast landscape and a varied cast with her usual aplomb. ~ Julia Eccleshare
Geraldine McCaughrean on The Middle of Nowhere: “I rather enjoy being alone, but that’s because I don’t have to be. I have a choice. Reading a snippet about the Overland Telegraph Wire, I wondered at the lonely existence of those telegraphers coaxing Morse messages over the endless miles.
To someone like me living on a small, overcrowded island, Australia’s empty vastnesses are almost unimaginable. And yet in their determination to stay in touch with each other, people defeated those great distances with the Wire. (We take communications technology for granted these days, but we shouldn’t).
My first mental image (and there’s always a picture at the beginning) was of a knitter sitting with coloured wool stretching out in every direction, knitting a rainbow. That would be my hero, sitting at a telegraph machine, totally isolated but connected to hundreds of lives. Meddling, probably.
The difference between loneliness and being alone seemed to be in there somewhere, as a theme. Then I started to read up on my subject. (Goodness I love History: people leading such different lives from now and yet preoccupied with exactly the same things.) And there it all ways – just like now – prejudice, hatred and ignorance dividing people from each other more effectively than any wilderness. Another theme – and the tension necessary to power a story.
I never know, until I start writing, quite where a book will take me. So I tend to just jump aboard and go along for the ride: I like surprises. Then it is just a matter of knitting it all into a rainbow, sewing in the loose ends and discovering how it has turned out. Hope it fits.”
When her mother dies from a snakebite, Comity's life in the Australian outback changes forever. As her father retreats into his work, Comity turns to Fred, the Aboriginal yard boy, who becomes her only friend. But then a new assistant arrives who delights in playing cruel games.
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As Fred becomes his target, events spiral dangerously out of control.
Praise for Geraldine McCaughrean
“Geraldine McCaughrean is an awe-inspiring writer with a miraculous talent for bringing to life past times and faraway lands.” Sunday Telegraph
“Everything Geraldine McCaughrean touches turns to gold.” Sunday Times
“McCaughrean is one of the greatest living children’s authors.” The Bookseller
Geraldine McCaughrean is one of today's most successful and highly regarded children's authors. She has won the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Children's Book Award (three times), the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Smarties Bronze Award (four times) and the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award. Geraldine lives in Berkshire with her husband, daughter and golden retriever, Daisy. Read more about the author here .
Anne Fine on Geraldine McCaughrean:
'I reckon Geraldine McCaughrean knocks the socks off every other children's writer today. Everything she does is different and everything works – look at her list of prizes. She must write in tremendous bursts. Some years, she's so prolific the rest of us start joking that the fairies come in at night to do her work for her. Then she'll go quiet, so unlike all those writers who are persuaded by their publishers to come up with something every year, no matter how tired or drab. If Geraldine has nothing fresh to write, she doesn't write it.' ( The Guardian )
Geraldine McCaughrean - our Guest Editor of the Month
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When her mother dies from a snakebite, Comity's life in the Australian outback changes forever. As her father retreats into his work, Comity turns to Fred, the Aboriginal yard boy, who becomes her only friend.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed The Middle of Nowhere and determined it is suitable for children aged 9-12 years old
The Middle of Nowhere features in the following genres: Books of the Month, Recommendations, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Historical Fiction, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Recommended Children's eBooks, Featured Books for 9+ readers
Paperback, Hardback. £7.19, down from the £7.99 cover price. Not Available.
The Middle of Nowhere was written by Geraldine McCaughrean and published by Usborne Publishing Ltd
The Middle of Nowhere has 297 pages
Yes it is part of Usborne Modern Classics series
£7.19, reduced from £7.99. Not Available.
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