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bushfire: Surviving Black Saturday
Amy is staying in Marysville with her grandmother, and help in the garden and clean out her gutters. It is, after all, bushfire season. As summer arrives, so do the fires, and Dad is busy helping control the flames in bushfires that have started burning in Victoria. But it is early February 2009, and the Black Saturday bushfire is about to encircle Amy and her family, and teach Amy first-hand about tragedy and survival.
- GenresRealistic Fiction
Unknown Binding
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About the author
Sally Murphy
62 books27 followersSally Murphy is an Australian author of over 30 children's books. She's also the slightly crazy mother of six beautiful kids. You'll find bits of her buried somewhere in every one of her books. She loves reading, writing, and speaking about reading and writing.
PEARL VERSES THE WORLD won the 2010 Australian Family Therapists’ Award for Children’s Literature as well as the 2010 Australian Speech Pathology Book of the Year Award for Best Book for Language Development. It was also an Honour Book in the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Awards.
TOPPLING won the children's book category of both the Queensland and Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, and was short-listed in the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Awards.
PEARL VERSES THE WORLD won the 2010 Australian Family Therapists’ Award for Children’s Literature as well as the 2010 Australian Speech Pathology Book of the Year Award for Best Book for Language Development. It was also an Honour Book in the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Awards.
TOPPLING won the children's book category of both the Queensland and Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, and was short-listed in the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Awards.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 6, 2019
Amy has an older brother who has just moved to London to live for a year, she misses him terribly. Then her mum is sent to Europe for 3 weeks with her work, to attend a climate change symposium. Amy’s Dad is a volunteer firefighter who is often called away for work.
With no-one else home, Amy spends 2 weeks of the Summer holidays with her Gran in Marysville. It is so hot, she spends her time at the local swimming pool with her new friend Jackson and helping Gran prepare for bushfire season.
Ever since she learned that the Thredbo landslide occurred on the day she was born, Amy has been obsessed with natural disasters. She is fascinated by the extraordinary actions of everyday people when faced with disaster, the heroes, she just never imagined she would ever be one.
Read pages 82- 84 to hear about one of the heroic stories that interests' Amy.
(Junior fiction)
With no-one else home, Amy spends 2 weeks of the Summer holidays with her Gran in Marysville. It is so hot, she spends her time at the local swimming pool with her new friend Jackson and helping Gran prepare for bushfire season.
Ever since she learned that the Thredbo landslide occurred on the day she was born, Amy has been obsessed with natural disasters. She is fascinated by the extraordinary actions of everyday people when faced with disaster, the heroes, she just never imagined she would ever be one.
Read pages 82- 84 to hear about one of the heroic stories that interests' Amy.
(Junior fiction)
September 8, 2020
Great read about the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. Would be a good introduction to this historical event as well as Australia's history with bushfires for middle primary readers.
December 25, 2022
I remember this day. Since it’s been published we’ve had worse fires over 2019-2020 where over 19 million hectares were burnt over the course of months with fires that just wouldn’t go out, but these Black Saturday bushfires in 2009 sparked into uncontrollable instant blazes that caught many people unaware. Even those who had prepared and done everything right died, as the fires destroyed entire towns and the roads were blocked and the ash and smoke so thick in the air that visibility was zero. And I don’t think this book fully captures that.
The first fires are mentioned on page 112, and only relevant to the MC fire info starts coming at page 140. There were only fifty pages to go! The pacing was just off for the main topic. I understand dialling it down for younger audiences, and it does have a section of heightened danger, but it’s a very brief section. With how many other details were in here about watering the garden and playing with photoshop at her friend’s house, I expected it to be a more drawn out and detailed account of Amy’s encounter. It’s quite brief in the end. This is more a slice of life Australian story, where a bushfire just happens to come through at the end. There’s more information in here about having a professor as a parent than about the bushfires.
The book actually takes places over a few months, and starts in the previous year. I’m not entirely sure when, but Christmas is chapter 7, and Amy’s at school and getting an assignment when it starts, so maybe November?
Oddly too, for an Australian book by an Australian author, it uses odd words and phrases that I’m assuming were to make it work for a larger audience, but feel out of place. (We don’t call it a lolly shop. There were a few things sprinkled in there that stuck out), but I can see the non-fiction recounts of past disasters appealing to the sorts of kids who would pick up this book.
The emails didn’t need to be in here because they add literally nothing to the plot (the entire older brother character in general doesn’t need to be there)
It’s a little bit preachy about climate change, but it was enjoyable. I just wish the build-up was shorter and the event a bit more expansive than it ended up being.
The first fires are mentioned on page 112, and only relevant to the MC fire info starts coming at page 140. There were only fifty pages to go! The pacing was just off for the main topic. I understand dialling it down for younger audiences, and it does have a section of heightened danger, but it’s a very brief section. With how many other details were in here about watering the garden and playing with photoshop at her friend’s house, I expected it to be a more drawn out and detailed account of Amy’s encounter. It’s quite brief in the end. This is more a slice of life Australian story, where a bushfire just happens to come through at the end. There’s more information in here about having a professor as a parent than about the bushfires.
The book actually takes places over a few months, and starts in the previous year. I’m not entirely sure when, but Christmas is chapter 7, and Amy’s at school and getting an assignment when it starts, so maybe November?
Oddly too, for an Australian book by an Australian author, it uses odd words and phrases that I’m assuming were to make it work for a larger audience, but feel out of place. (We don’t call it a lolly shop. There were a few things sprinkled in there that stuck out), but I can see the non-fiction recounts of past disasters appealing to the sorts of kids who would pick up this book.
The emails didn’t need to be in here because they add literally nothing to the plot (the entire older brother character in general doesn’t need to be there)
It’s a little bit preachy about climate change, but it was enjoyable. I just wish the build-up was shorter and the event a bit more expansive than it ended up being.
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March 7, 2022Things I liked about this book:
*I liked the mentions of and the comparisons being drawn with the 2003 Canberra Firestorm, which I was caught in the centre of, and which is often forgotten. It's amazing that Australia's capital city burning is so often overlooked in discussions of our natural disasters.
* It was good to start the story with the everyday, with the implication that with climate change and the fire threat this could happen to so many Australians.
* It's unfortunate, but also helpful that with climate change this is a story that has already repeated itself across much of the country in recent years. New generations of children will be able to identify with it.
* I think this would make a good class read for students from about year 5 to year 8.
Not-so-positive points:
* I felt like the story took too long to get going. By the time the fire arrived I thought we'd spent too much time reading about everyday life and school situations. The story went around in circles a bit to reach the interesting parts.
* Some of it came across as a bit preachy. A main character whose mother gives climate change talks? And the main character is obsessed with natural disasters? It was all a bit too conveniently connected to the bushfire that was to come.
* While the information about other real disasters was interesting, I don't think it should have been placed as "educational" inserts inside the story. It was odd, and gave the whole thing a "school textbook" feel to it.
I think this was a great idea for a middle grade book, but it felt more like an assigned class read than a story designed to grip young readers.
*I liked the mentions of and the comparisons being drawn with the 2003 Canberra Firestorm, which I was caught in the centre of, and which is often forgotten. It's amazing that Australia's capital city burning is so often overlooked in discussions of our natural disasters.
* It was good to start the story with the everyday, with the implication that with climate change and the fire threat this could happen to so many Australians.
* It's unfortunate, but also helpful that with climate change this is a story that has already repeated itself across much of the country in recent years. New generations of children will be able to identify with it.
* I think this would make a good class read for students from about year 5 to year 8.
Not-so-positive points:
* I felt like the story took too long to get going. By the time the fire arrived I thought we'd spent too much time reading about everyday life and school situations. The story went around in circles a bit to reach the interesting parts.
* Some of it came across as a bit preachy. A main character whose mother gives climate change talks? And the main character is obsessed with natural disasters? It was all a bit too conveniently connected to the bushfire that was to come.
* While the information about other real disasters was interesting, I don't think it should have been placed as "educational" inserts inside the story. It was odd, and gave the whole thing a "school textbook" feel to it.
I think this was a great idea for a middle grade book, but it felt more like an assigned class read than a story designed to grip young readers.
August 1, 2019
I love realistic contemporary middle grade and this delivered. I also love historical fiction and this had a hint of historical in it. It was set in Australia 2009 and it was about a young girl who experiences Black Saturday which was a natural disaster, (bushfire) that happened in Australia in 2009.
The character relationships in here where so realistic and I loved the theme which was that bravery comes out of you when you most need it and you are actually brave when you are scared.
My only critique is that it was a bit slow-paced and the inciting incident only happened at the 50-page mark. Basically the entire beginning 50 pages could have been cut.
I loved the deep conversations about bravery that the characters have with each other. That really touched me and it really made me proud to be an Australian.
The character relationships in here where so realistic and I loved the theme which was that bravery comes out of you when you most need it and you are actually brave when you are scared.
My only critique is that it was a bit slow-paced and the inciting incident only happened at the 50-page mark. Basically the entire beginning 50 pages could have been cut.
I loved the deep conversations about bravery that the characters have with each other. That really touched me and it really made me proud to be an Australian.
April 6, 2023
Amy loves natural disasters and keeps newspaper cutting, pictures and looking for information everywhere. Her Grandparent’s house was nearly burned down in the Canberra bushfires, and Grandma now lives about half an hour away in Marysville.
The Summer school holidays finally arrive, and with both her mother and brother away and her father fighting bushfires, Amy goes to stay with her grandmother in Marysville.
The Summer bushfires rage out of control, and Amy, her grandmother, and her friend fear for their lives as ash and smoke surround the house. Amy’s quick thinking saves them all. What does she do?
I enjoyed the day-to-day tone, language and world setting. The mix of fact and fiction resulted in a richly moving, well-told story.
Recommended for all readers aged ten years or more.
The Summer school holidays finally arrive, and with both her mother and brother away and her father fighting bushfires, Amy goes to stay with her grandmother in Marysville.
The Summer bushfires rage out of control, and Amy, her grandmother, and her friend fear for their lives as ash and smoke surround the house. Amy’s quick thinking saves them all. What does she do?
I enjoyed the day-to-day tone, language and world setting. The mix of fact and fiction resulted in a richly moving, well-told story.
Recommended for all readers aged ten years or more.
February 12, 2019
The Black Saturday bushfires were devastating. This book gives you a sense of just what it might be like when you are literally running for your life. The majority of the story is about family, friendship and community where that community is your lifeline in times of need. While the bushfire connection plays a small part in this story it is entirely appropriate for the intended age of the audience.
August 21, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Being 40 years old and remembering Black Saturday as a moment in history and exactly what I did on that day. A group of students in my class are reading this as their book, and when they started this I knew that I wanted to read it too. I am glad I did. It is definitely for upper primary onwards. These students don't even know what Black Saturday is and they are now enjoying finding out what happened in Victoria because of this book.
June 12, 2019
This is a really engaging novel for middle school readers about Amy, a girl who loves to read about real life heroes, who becomes a hero herself when she and her Gran face the great Australian summer horror story - a bushfire far too close for comfort. Highly recommended. I’ll be suggesting this one for the book room for sure.
May 9, 2019
More like 3 1/2 stars
April 21, 2019
Written for middle primary students, this book showed the devastation of Black Saturday without going into too much detail of that horrific day. An enjoyable read.
January 29, 2025
This story is written in the eyes of a 10 year old girl during the Black Saturday Fires. There are important lessons to be learned about being prepared for emergencies.
April 8, 2019
Sally Murphy's narratives, whether prose or verse, promise an emotive experience and this fictional account of one of the worst natural disasters in Australian history is no exception.
Although much of the first half of this book was utilised as the set up for young Amy's story, the second half ripped along at heart-stopping speed all the way to the arresting end, Black Saturday.
Amy's father is a vollie fire fighter. Her older brother Aaron has just left for a gap year in Europe, closely followed by her scientist mother for a climate change symposium, leaving Amy to face her new school year in the middle of a blisteringly hot Australian summer virtually alone. Thankfully Gran is on hand to keep an eye out for her and introduce her to a new friend in the small township of Marysville. Unfortunately, it's this same town that, like many others on that fateful day in February 2009, succumbs to the horrific fury of the Black Saturday bushfires. It is completely obliterated.
Despite the despairingly bleak subject matter, Murphy injects a strong undercurrent of hope and positivity throughout the tale via Amy's backstory about feeling meek and cowardly and then finally harnessing her fear and transforming it into courage when it's needed most. A touching experience for middle grade readers to undertake.
Although much of the first half of this book was utilised as the set up for young Amy's story, the second half ripped along at heart-stopping speed all the way to the arresting end, Black Saturday.
Amy's father is a vollie fire fighter. Her older brother Aaron has just left for a gap year in Europe, closely followed by her scientist mother for a climate change symposium, leaving Amy to face her new school year in the middle of a blisteringly hot Australian summer virtually alone. Thankfully Gran is on hand to keep an eye out for her and introduce her to a new friend in the small township of Marysville. Unfortunately, it's this same town that, like many others on that fateful day in February 2009, succumbs to the horrific fury of the Black Saturday bushfires. It is completely obliterated.
Despite the despairingly bleak subject matter, Murphy injects a strong undercurrent of hope and positivity throughout the tale via Amy's backstory about feeling meek and cowardly and then finally harnessing her fear and transforming it into courage when it's needed most. A touching experience for middle grade readers to undertake.
May 9, 2019
Really 3 1/2 stars
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews