Ugh! After-school care, again?
Welcome to The Good Times of Pelican Rise, a fun series that explores growing up, finding community spirit, and using your voice to Be the Change!
After many years working as an editor in children’s publishing, Samone Amba is thrilled to debut her middle-grade fiction series The Good Times of Pelican Rise.
Grade sixer Sunday Moon and her besties Ockie, Kirra and Lottie are marooned in after-school care at Club Koala with the karaoke-loving grade twos and nit-infested preppies for company. It’s not exactly the way these legends thought they’d be ending their time at Pelican Rise Primary!
But after the worst summer of bushfires ever, Sunday is determined to use her last year at Club Koala to make a difference: OUT with the headstand competitions and IN with knitting pouches for injured wildlife!
When Mr Guclu tells the grade sixers to build a legacy project for their final year of primary, Sunday and her friends decide to keep the good times rolling with a website that will spread the word about their pouch project.
With the help of her friends, a radio station, a whole bunch of wool from the op shop, a LOT of animal memes and their legacy project, The Good Times, Sunday is going to save as many joeys as she can.
Year six: a time where you’re walking the fine line of holding on to your childhood and growing up and starting to discover your place in the world. Save the Joeys showcases the various ways we tackle this rollercoaster ride—ultimately learning to be true to yourself and standing up for what you believe in.
Save the Joeys ignited an inspiration I haven’t felt in a long time. While it may be a work of fiction, it sheds light on some very real and timely aspects of Australia and its community. The book specifically focuses on how bushfires impact Australian wildlife, and how we—as a community—come together to make a difference to our home. Amba demonstrates this through themes of environmental conservation, trust and responsibility, and community spirit in an appropriate way for middle-grade readers aged 9+. I couldn’t recommend it more.
Awesome