The Sea-wreck Stranger
Ness, Ty and their cousin Sophie live in a post-apocalyptic island community that has turned its back on the sea, and its own past. When the arrival of a stranger forces all three to question the world they know, a world dominated by superstition, fear and loss, they each have a ... read full description below.
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Full details for this title
| Interest Age |
12-15 years |
| Reading Age |
12-15 years |
| NBS Text |
Young Adult Fiction |
| ONIX Text |
Young adult;Young adult |
|
| Number of Pages |
192 |
| Dimensions |
Width: 130mm
Height: 197mm
|
| Weight |
213g |
|
| Dewey Code |
823.3 |
| Catalogue Code |
31299 |
Description of this Book
Ness, lives with her brother and their cousin's family on Dunnett Island. The island people live a life close to the land: they are ruled by the seasons, but live in constant fear of all things that come from the sea. In the past they lost many of their folk to the ocean's toxins, and to illness brought by the occasional refugee who managed to land on their shores, seeking help. The adults in this community have been hardened by fear, loss and superstition: as a result Ness and the other young people live a restricted, hard-working life. However, the three teenage cousins - Ness, Ty and Sophie - defy the adults' orders about keeping away from the sea and whenever they can escape unnoticed, they explore and forage in a concealed cove. It's there, in the cove, where they discover a body washed ashore; a man who has been shipwrecked. Delirious and injured, he is barely alive. The three are uncertain: terrified of what might happen to the man, and to them, if he is discovered by their elders. Yet Ness - whose father was a fisherman, before the sea turned traitor - quickly realises that his very existence heralds the possibility that there are other lands, other survivors, and also the possibility that the world's seas are healing. She undertakes a foolhardy, courageous gamble when she decides to keep the stranger concealed and alive. All too soon she risks everything, including her own life, to help him escape when her close-minded, 'witchhunting' community discovers her secret. Ness is an imaginative, independent young woman who questions and seeks meaning in a world her elders would drain of all variety and joy. Gothic in setting, The Sea-wreck Stranger is a gripping post-apocalyptic novel.
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Awards & Reviews
| Awards |
Shortlisted for LIANZA Children's Book Awards: Esther Glen Award 2008.
|
| NZ Review |
Finalist for 2008 Lianza Children's Book Awards |
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Author's Bio
Anna Mackenzie has written several young adult novels. The Sea-wreck Stranger, the first volume of her trilogy, won an Honour Award at the NZ Post Children's Book Awards, was joint winner of the 2008 Sir Julius Vogel Award and was awarded a prestigious White Raven Award for outstanding children's literature. The book has been published in both Australia and France. Ebony Hill, the sequel was published in 2010 to high acclaim.It was a CLF Notable Book of 2010 and was shortlisted for the 2011 NZ Post Children's Book Awards, Young Adult Fiction category. Finder's Shore, the final book in the trilogy, is to be published in June 2011. Anna is also the author of Shadow of the Mountain. Anna lives in on a farm the Hawke's Bay with her family. She works as a magazine editor and teaches creative writing.
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