Meet Grace

Our Australian Girl - Grace #1

by Sofie Laguna, Lucia Masciullo (Illustrator)

It's 1808 . . .
and Grace is living with her uncle in London. They have no money, and Grace is always lonely and often hungry. The best part of her day is going to Fleet Street to talk to the horses that she loves so much. One afternoon Grace can't resist taking a shiny red apple from a grocer's cart - and then another... Before she knows it, Grace is being chased through the streets! Will she be caught and sent to prison - or worse?

Meet Grace and join her adventure in the first of four exciting stories about a brave convict girl who is given a second chance.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Historical, Animals, Young Adult, Fiction

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 27, 2011

About the author

Sofie Laguna originally studied to be a lawyer at the University of New South Wales, but after deciding law was not for her, she moved to Melbourne to train as an actor. Sofie worked for a number of years as an actor at the same time as completing a Diploma in Professional Writing and Editing at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Sofie is now an author and playright writing for both adults and children.

Her many books for young people have been named Honour Books and Notable Books in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards and have been shortlisted in the Queensland Premier’s Awards. She has been published in the US and the UK and in translation throughout Europe and Asia.

Her picture book, On Our Way to the Beach, was included in the White Raven 2005 annual selection of outstanding international children’s books by the International Youth Library (Associated Project if UNESCO)

In 2008 Sofie released her first novel for adults, One Foot Wrong, to international acclaim. It was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and long-listed for the Miles Franklin Award. Screen rights for the book have been optioned and Sofie has recently completed the screenplay.

Sofie continues to write for a wide readership, from picture books for very young children, to series for older readers, to novels for adults.

Sofie lives in Melbourne with her partner and their young son.

Reviews

[Mrs Child · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives a good account of the life and hardships of an orphan in England in the early 1800's. Easy read, suitable for middle primary.

[Ari (Head in a Book) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading these books in primary school.
I remember loving them since they were set in Australia.
This book focuses on Grace in 1808 who ends up turning to thievery but ends up in jail, but at least she gets a meal every day. She is a convict sent to Australia.

I felt the book portrayed the time period and the suffering of poor children very accurately. I really felt sorry for Grace because she suffered so much and was looking forward to the next book.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten-year-old Grace lives with her uncle in London in 1808. She never knew her father, and her mother died when she was very young. Her uncle cannot work because of an injury, and so there is no money and Grace is often hungry. Her uncle often drinks and is unkind to her, but she has nowhere else to go except the streets. Grace's only happiness comes from going to Fleet Street and seeing the horses. Grace loves horses, and often dreams of having a horse of her own.

One day, starving and desperate, Grace cannot help herself and turns to thievery. She is caught and taken to prison. Life in prison is actually better than with her uncle, because at least she gets a meal every day. But she is afraid she will be hanged, for thieves often are. However, to Grace's surprise, she is given a chance at a new life, and sentenced to be transported to the colony of Sydney Cove, a place so far away some call it "the end of the world."

Meet Grace is the first of four books about the life of Grace, a young convict girl sent to Australia in the early nineteenth century. Grace was a very sympathetic character who suffered so much just from being born poor, for the life of poor children in 19th century London was extremely difficult. It was a bit depressing just reading about how miserable her life was and I hope she is able to make a new start in Australia and have a better life there. I definitely plan to read the rest of the books about her to find out. The Our Australian Girl series seems to be like an Australian version of the American Girls series except for slightly older readers, as there are several different series of books, each about a young girl living during a different time in Australian history. This series will likely be popular among young girls in Australia who are interested in reading about their country's history..

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading this series to my early primary schooler. I get a lot of questions and there are a lot of words and concepts to explain, but she is fascinated. She begs me to read each new chapter. It's a fairly grim depiction of a young girl in poverty, but Grace herself is a kind soul and while its apparent people have died and Grace herself is at risk of death, it's not graphic. My daughter's young enough she had not heard of convicts or their role in Australian history, so this has been interesting for her.

[Isobel Watson Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG!!!!! I can not wait to read this all my friends have and I am going to start right now I can not wait!!!!!!!!

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a young girl named Grace. It's 1808 and Grace is living with her uncle in London. Grace and her uncle have no money. Grace always loves going to Fleet Street to talk to the horses. One day, Grace takes a red apple from a grocer's cart and then another apple. She is being chased because of eating those red shiny apples, because of this, Grace is sent to Australia!

The main character is Grace. Grace is a ten-year-old girl who lives with her uncle as her father and mother passed away. Grace is very poor and is always lonely and hungry. Grace wore a filthy pinafore and walked around in bare feet. Grace is a brave little girl. She lives in a crowded street. Grace is thought of as a thief and a liar. Grace would love to sell flowers from her horse and cart.

In this book, there are new things children can learn how life was like back in the olden days. Children were hanged for stealing small things. There would be crowded streets. It is an in-depth life story about Grace.

I love this book as it is full of adventures and talks about life back in the nineteenth century. It shows how different our life was compared to Grace's life. This book talked a lot
about how we are so privileged now.

There is nothing I dislike about this book, it was very interesting and enjoyable. If we were to hear more from Uncle Ord, it would make the story more interesting. Otherwise, the story was incredible.

I would recommend anyone to read this book. I would especially recommend this book to children over the age of twelve. This book teaches life was very different back in the nineteenth century.

[Amandajane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful children's series I have started reading to my nine year old daughter. It is about a young orphan girl from London who is transported to Australia in 1808 for theft.

The book is well written with incredibly evocative descriptions without being verbose. Both my daughter and I are completely hooked on Grace's story.

My daughter is familiar with the story of the First Fleet and the convicts as we spend our holidays near a penal colony from that time. This story gives her the perspective of someone her own age experiencing what she has learned about, making it more relevant to her. This is a great and very entertaining way to learn about an important period of Australian history.

[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

After completing the Letty cycle, this is the first in the story of Grace. This is by Sofie Laguna, author of the remarkable The Eye of the Sheep and is a great story of the terrible treatment of people, and young people in particular here in the early 1800's UK and how they were forced to steal food just to live and then transported across the globe to a foreign land.
This first entry is more the prologue to the Australian story, but it is well told, and she is certainly a very skilled author.

[Steph La Greca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading the Australian Girl series way back in primary school and absolutely loving it. Grace was probably my personal favourite, because I felt like I had a lot in common with her personality. I think these books are really good for younger readers, as they give a good insight into living in the 1800s, and the hardships children just like them had to go through. The books are easy to read, but are also really informative, and the characters are all really interesting, so I would definitely recommend this series to any younger children.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 'Our Australian Girl' series was created to create a female voice and presence in historical fiction for young ones. Sofie Laguna & Lucia Masciullo (ill) do a great job in bringing the early days of colonial Australia to life, with 10-year-old orphan, Grace, as the heroine.

Grace is despised by her alcoholic uncle and left to starve. She ends up in prison, convinced she’ll be hanged, but is sentenced to transportation instead. Grace is determined, loyal and caring.
Her desperate life in London will soon be behind her. But what does Sydney Cove hold for her?

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am reading some of these OAG books with my 6 yr old daughter. The writing level is fine for her and they are short books , but some of the themes are a bit mature for her. My 11 yr old read them as quick as a magazine but didn't love them as much. They are simple introductions to different historical events and times, and I like how they include some nonfiction info and photos at the end, so we will keep reading some more of this series and try some of the others.

[Jessica Wren]

Grace is a young girl living in London with her drunken uncle whom is never around and Grace is always left alone hungry and dirty, Grace is one day goes for a walk down Fleet Street where she sees a horse who is hungry, Grace steals a few apples for her and the horse until she is caught and sent to prison, before she knows it she is sent too New South Wales (what Australia was called before becoming a nation) as a convict.

[Willow Stevenson · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a small book and didn't take me long to finish. I liked the description of the 'jail' that grace was staying at and the fact that she was accepted by somebody who was going through the same thing as her. I could imagine how scary it was for Grace as she awaited her trial thinking it would lead to her death. It wasn't an amazing book, but it wasn't bad, just a little short, but I guess that's a part of the book series.

[Erin]

It is an amazing and exciting story. Grace was treated very badly by her uncle because her mother had died. She was forced to work in the river finding stuff in the mud and fighting off the other mudlarks who would steal what she found. Grace's life was very violent and hard but she gets through anything by doing her best and never giving up.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meet Grace, the first of four Our Australian Girl novels about convict girl, Grace, was a joy to read with my eight year old. It's so nice to find such well written junior fiction and a story that doesn't involve princesses, fairies or unicorns! I've requested the rest of the Grace books from the library and am looking forward to reading them as much as my daughter.

[Vivi Vasconcelos · Rating 4 out of 5]

started reading this series as
per my daughter indication ! she loved it so much that made me curious ! and now we are reading book 2 together ! great way to know bit more about australian history !!

[Sofia & Mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a girl who works for her uncle. She works as a mudlark. Then she finds a horse. Then she steals some apples for the horse. Then she goes to Gaol. A few days later she had to go to Sydney Cove as her punishment. On the ship she made a friend.


THE END
- SJ

[Archer Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice sweet book. it was nice to see language from the 1800s and it felt like I was really there! A wonderful perspective and i really enjoyed grace , dorothy and hannah. I am looking forward to the other 3!

[Gabriella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I’m not overly impressed with this book, I will admit that it’s great for introducing the historic early Australia history for young readers. The story series follows a young orphan girl from England to Australia as a convict.

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is amazing very good description

[Anouk Yu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to kids 7+ who enjoy reading historical fiction books.

[Poppy]

This is a great bookmark :)

[Eli Sictt · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think the book was alright could be some improvement but overall pretty good

[Grade56T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked meet grace because it’s a good book it’s interesting

[Tarsha · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book sucks because it won’t let me read it on this stupid website

[ava]

ate that up in like 45 mins, IDC that the print is freaking humongous
PLUS my reading goal is saved 🥰🥰🥰🥰

[Sara Gabai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute "girls' book"

[Sienna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grace is just lonely and wanting to change something to make life better for others and instead ends up getting caught stealing an apple for a horse. She is sent on a long journey from Britain to Australia to become a slave. The book is about her time on the journey to Australia where she meets girls just like her that are nice.

[Melina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interesting ‘series’ (there are actually four groups of four books) for younger readers. Each series showcases one girl at a particular point of Australian history. I got the 1808 (Grace) and 1864 (Poppy) books out of the library first, so I read them before reading the 1841 (Letty) and 1900 (Rose) books – however, so far I’ve only read the first book in each of the series!

Meet Grace introduces us to Grace, a young ‘mudlark’ who scavenges for things to sell from the mud of the River Thames. She lives with her harsh and abusive uncle, but soon finds herself in trouble with the law when she steals apples to feed a starving horse. Before long she finds herself on the way to New South Wales, another convict being sent to a faraway town.

Grace lives in horrific conditions, and the book doesn’t shy away from how hard it could be for a young girl like her. I wonder whether some children, living in a country which expects them to study until they’re at least seventeen, would find Grace’s circumstances to be a bit unbelievable. She has a strong interest in horses, something which I am sure will come into play in later books, and is incredibly sympathetic to the people and animals which have it worse than her.

One of the things I really liked about these books, is that they’re clearly appropriate for younger years, but engaging and well written enough for all readers to enjoy. They’re short, with larger text, but the stories are rich – making them particularly good for children with reading difficulties. These would have been an absolute hit in my classroom, and I would have easily recommended them for a wide range of students. They’d also be great for reading aloud, getting students involved in the time period.


This review originally appeared a Adventures of a Subversive Reader

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

At last I got to "meet Grace" - after having already finished with Rose and Letty, and being 3/4 of the way through Poppy! The story here starts in the slums of London and doesn't reach Australia at all. Grace is an orphan who scavenges for anything she can find in the mud of the Thames, so that her uncle can sell it on... and then drink away all the money and leave Grace hungry. She steals an apple - and gets away with it - but then she goes too far and steals three apples that she wants to feed a horse she's befriended. Then she tries to take off on the horse! And this is what gets her sent to the Colonies - the book ends with her boarding the ship.

It's interesting that of the five Australian Girls series I've read/started so far, only two were born in Australia. Letty came over with her sister (accidentally!) to start a new life, and the first book was the journey over. Nellie, orphaned in the Irish Potato Famine, is sent over on a scheme to give workhouse orphans a better life - and the first book starts just as they're about to arrive in Adelaide. Then this book ends as Grace is about to set sail, which was nicely done - no two stories done twice! I'm guessing that book two will be mostly about Grace's voyage as well, but at least we already know her so it will be different to Meet Letty in that regard.

I'm definitely interested to read more about Grace, although after the first book she's not quite up with Rose, Letty (and now Nellie!) in terms of my favourites.