Bailey Finch Takes a Stand

by Ingrid Laguna

Bailey’s mum had always said that being by the creek with Bailey and her dad was as good as it gets. She had shown Bailey sap glistening on tree trunks. They had crouched together to nudge a beetle onto a leaf. They had sat on the creek’s edge with their bare feet in the water.

It’s one year since Bailey’s mum died. And her dad doesn’t seem to care much about anything. But Bailey still spends afternoons by the creek with her dog, Sheba.

Until Sheba gets sick—very sick—from something she must have swallowed while swimming in the creek. And Bailey notices all the rubbish polluting the waterway.

Between visits to Sheba in the vet hospital, Bailey tries to find a way to make the creek safe for Sheba and other animals. And through her unexpected friendship with Israel, a quiet boy who knows about endangered species, Bailey Finch finds the courage to take a stand.

Bailey Finch Takes a Stand is a moving story about love and loss, about caring for the environment and standing up to make change happen.

224 pages, Paperback

Published August 31, 2021

About the author

Ingrid Laguna is an author, teacher and Education Advisor for the Melbourne Writers Festival. Her memoir, Serenade for a Small Family (A&U) was awarded a Varuna Fellowship and, after publication, The Age Non-Fiction Book of The Week. Songbird (Text Publishing) was Ingrid’s debut children’s fiction novel, and was released in May 2019. It was given Notable recognition by the Children’s Book Council of Australia and shortlisted for Speech Pathology Australia’s Book of the Year Award 2021. It has been published in Australia, NZ, the UK and the US. The companion novel and sequel, Sunflower, was released in August, 2020 and was long listed for the ABIA. Bailey Finch Takes a Stand is Ingrid’s latest middle grade novel. She has written for numerous publications including The Monthly, The Age, Magpies Magazine and the AEU magazine.

Reviews

[Annazkelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bailey Finch Takes a Stand is an inspirational and action packed book about cleaning a creek which made me hope that there will be more sequels. Bailey and Israel have inspired me so much that I want to clean up Merri Creek myself!

~ Heather aged 9

[Text Publishing]

The following reviews have been shared by Text Publishing - publisher of Bailey Finch Takes a Stand

'Sparkles with hope…I cheered and cried for Bailey, who is adventurous, brave and determined to change the world.'
Fiona Hardy

'Bailey Finch reminds us that change is possible when good people take a stand. A beautiful, inspiring tale about a true hero.'
Penny Tangey

‘A gentle story with some positive messages around caring for our environment, thinking globally and acting locally, the power kids can have when they’re passionate about making a change in the world. It’s well written with believable, interesting characters and authentic relationships…A good tool to get kids interested in looking after their local area. Recommended.’
Magpies

‘A beautifully written story about love, loss and the realisation that you can make a difference in the world…weaving caring for our environment into a story about caring for each other.’
2022 Environment Award for Children’s Literature judge Nat Amoore

‘This novel incorporates the important topics of grief, environmental activism, pets, and friendship so beautifully in a novel that is both gentle and hard to put down.’
SAETA

[June Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Publication Feb. 14, 2022

I wanted to give Bailey Finch a big hug. Several hugs, actually, plus some ear scratches to Sheba. Heck, the father needed a few hugs, too, so I guess I spent a good portion of the book imagining a hug-fest. 

Bailey's mom has died of cancer, leaving the family adrift in grief. Her father is lost in his grief, barely acknowledging Bailey. Too young to grasp how grief works, she feels he no longer cares. She tries hard to bring him out of his grief but feels her words don't penetrate and that he no longer seems to even see her. He just sits and stares at the television or the photo of her mom on the mantle. She fears he doesn't care about her.

Unable to reach through her father's grief, Bailey clings to her dog Sheba all the more. Sheba was a gift to Bailey from her mom on the day she learned her mom had cancer, so when Sheba becomes seriously ill, Bailey feels helpless. Helpless and alone. But, she isn't alone. She has a neighbor that cares, another subtle reminder to readers that one person can make a difference, and finds a sense of purpose when she teams up with a friend, Israel, to convince the town to clean up the creek where her beloved dog got into something harmful. It was one of her mother's favorite places.

Quite frankly, I cuddled my own dog closer as I read of Sheba's stay at the vet hospital. Yet, this story is more than a story about Bailey spear-heading a town clean-up of the creek and her grief. It's a reminder to us that we can all make a difference, however small. In the process of reading you'll encounter grief and loneliness, not to mention the role misunderstanding such intense emotions can make, but hope.

Thanks #NetGalley and #TextPublishing - #TextPublishingCompany for introducing me to Bailey and her dad, not to mention Sheba. This is a lovely story that reminds us not only do we all grieve differently but that while living isn't easy, we can all make a difference. Now I need to go hug my dog.

[Helen O'Toole · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book! Like another famous fictional Finch, Scout Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird, Bailey Finch’s mother had died. At the start of the book, Ingrid Laguna describes in exact detail the sad inertia of grief as Bailey sees her beloved Dad, lost in his grief, just staring aimlessly at the tv. But the hero of this story is the indomitable Bailey along with her beautiful dog,Sheba. Bailey is a true free range kid and she goes off to the local creek, remembering her mother’s love of nature and especially her knowledge of all birds. When Sheba swallows glass and is critically injured, even the vet is pessimistic about her chances of survival. I won’t give away the ending but this is an excellent book for 9 to 12 year olds. It would be a fantastic book to read to a class. Having had a long career in education, I have seen too many children lose their mothers to cancer or sudden accidents. This is one of the few novels to treat grief both of the child and her father as something that will be an ongoing hurt but with understanding will become their new normal. The description of her dad taking his creek- walking shoes out of the cupboard and setting off with Bailey had me in tears. One brave step on their journey together. Thank you to Text Publishing for this novel which I won in a Twitter competition. It is to be donated to the primary school library named after me!

[Donna Metler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recieved a free eARC of this book. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

Bailey is trying to hold things together. Her mom loved nature, loved birds, and loved life, until she died of cancer. Now her father is grieving and depressed, and Bailey is trying to make things better. When her dog Sheba swallows a piece of glass from the creek and is at the vet, Bailey tries to clean things up, and meets Israel, a homeschooled kid who loves nature, too.

Bailey's story is real and authentic. The grief over her mother and fear for her dog is real, as is her effort to throw herself into the creek clean up to make one thing in her life better. The Austrailan setting and animals provide a beautiful backdrop for this story for young activists, and, for kids outside of Australia, will likely lead them to want to look up some of the amazing animals...and maybe Anzac biscuits and pavlova.

This is a good middle grades book that will have a lot of appeal to animal loving kids. It's also nice to see a positive portrayal of homeschooling as a way for kids to explore individual interests.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bailey has all the drive in the family, now that her mother has lost her fight with cancer and her father is just a morose couch potato. Stuck with just her dog for company, the local creek is an attraction – until the dog, Sheba, gets injured there. The problem could well have been some garbage, which brings Bailey to drive herself on, on a one-girl mission to clean the place up. Will she make any difference – and will she be just the one girl for long? That's a good foundation on which to build a fine kids' book, but this, with its over-simplistic language and plot, both seemingly aimed at readers with an ability of a seven year old (to judge from how Barrington Stoke declare the difficulty of their specialist titles) did at times feel too easy, undramatic and almost too worthy, too. That said, it's still a pleasant enough read for a young, unsophisticated audience, and if it's the right book for any one reader it's a perfect book. I don't wish it ill, but it clearly isn't a classic in my mind – three and a half unsubtle stars.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Bailey's dog gets hurt on trash at the creek, she decides to do something about it. While cleaning up, she meets Israel and he helps her organize a cleaning day for the creek.
Opinion
This is a cute children's book meant for upper elementary or lower middle school. It is motivational in that it shows how kids can make a difference in their community. Bailey goes through a range of emotions while her dog is sick and her dad is distant. With a happy ending, I would let any child read this book. I love the tie in to animals (and insects with Israel.) This makes it that much more exciting for kids.
Many thanks to Net Galley and to Text Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book.

[stephanie cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bailey Finch Takes a Stand by Ingrid Laguna - 5/5

What a beautiful story! This is an action packed and a heart wrenching story. Bailey has had a rough go at it when her mother passes away from cancer and her father is wasting away on the couch. When Sheba, Bailey's dog, gets injured at the local creek Bailey takes it upon herself to clean the creek up from all the garbage and debris.

I love stories that send positive messages and encourages its readers to take a stand and make a difference in their community.

thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely story touching on grief and loss but encapsulating resilience and optimism. Bailey is a great girl who makes a new friend, puts concern for her natural environment into action and helps her grieving Dad start to heal. Loved it.

[Georgia Hellsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was sweet, heartwarming, and, at times a little sad. Bailey is awesome, and reminds kids (and grown ups) that saving the world, and taking a stand is possibe