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The Bushranger's Daughter
An adventurous, fast moving middle grade historical fiction about survival, second chances and searching for your place in the world.
As a young girl growing up in an unforgiving land, Connie learns that sometimes good people need to do bad things to survive.
When her pioneering family travels to outback Queensland to try and rebuild their lives, as their only surviving daughter, Connie struggles to fit into society’s expectations of her.
The challenges keep mounting as the unforgiving climate threatens their happiness. Devastating drought is followed by a flood that wipes out their entire flock. And then Connie uncovers the real reason behind why her father had to leave Scotland.
When her father's past finally catches up with him, can Connie find the courage to find her own path forward and rewrite the future for her family?
As a young girl growing up in an unforgiving land, Connie learns that sometimes good people need to do bad things to survive.
When her pioneering family travels to outback Queensland to try and rebuild their lives, as their only surviving daughter, Connie struggles to fit into society’s expectations of her.
The challenges keep mounting as the unforgiving climate threatens their happiness. Devastating drought is followed by a flood that wipes out their entire flock. And then Connie uncovers the real reason behind why her father had to leave Scotland.
When her father's past finally catches up with him, can Connie find the courage to find her own path forward and rewrite the future for her family?
160 pages, Paperback
Published September 21, 2022
2 people want to read
About the author
Michelle Worthington
61 books61 followersMy name is Michelle Worthington and I am an internationally published award winning Australian author of empowering picture books for kids of all ages. My goal is to be known for unique, classically elegant and compassionate stories that inspire young children to fall in love with books and reading.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 2, 2023
I struggled to stay engaged with this book even though it has a strong female protagonist, dealt with an interesting and challenging period of Australian history dealing with pioneer farmers struggling to survive through drought, storm and flood and some authentic insights into who these early settlers struggled in their daily lives.
For me the storyline had many omissions and this is why the book just didn't work for me. It also relied on young readers to bring background knowledge to the events to help make sense of them. Although no time is given, gold diggings are referred to so, that suggests around the 1850s or a bit later. Reference to both Sydney and Brisbane suggest an area. The arrival of Jo, as a female companion to Connie has potential that fizzles as her affinity with the land, and different use of language is not explained or explored - does she have some Aboriginal heritage? There is no coverage of the local Aboriginal populations and their relationship with settler farmers. The title clearly indicates that young Connie is the daughter of a bushranger, and a dark past in Ireland and English is hinted at but not fulfilled and the actions for 90% of the novel do not back this up though again, there are very minor hints. It seems a bit late in the final chapters for the family secrets to come to light and these relate to their Australian ventures, not those from their homeland. The unlikely ending might make young readers happy and could perhaps herald a second adventure for Connie. Throughout I felt that the book was aimed at a school market to provide a fictional account of social expectations and rural life in the mid 1800s but without a strong cohesive plot and sufficient excitement to make it work.
I feel the intent is sound, Connie has great potential to be an interesting character to reflect the increasing independence of women emerging in Australia at the time, but there is just too much missing in regard to the historical context or a the plot itself to be successful.
For me the storyline had many omissions and this is why the book just didn't work for me. It also relied on young readers to bring background knowledge to the events to help make sense of them. Although no time is given, gold diggings are referred to so, that suggests around the 1850s or a bit later. Reference to both Sydney and Brisbane suggest an area. The arrival of Jo, as a female companion to Connie has potential that fizzles as her affinity with the land, and different use of language is not explained or explored - does she have some Aboriginal heritage? There is no coverage of the local Aboriginal populations and their relationship with settler farmers. The title clearly indicates that young Connie is the daughter of a bushranger, and a dark past in Ireland and English is hinted at but not fulfilled and the actions for 90% of the novel do not back this up though again, there are very minor hints. It seems a bit late in the final chapters for the family secrets to come to light and these relate to their Australian ventures, not those from their homeland. The unlikely ending might make young readers happy and could perhaps herald a second adventure for Connie. Throughout I felt that the book was aimed at a school market to provide a fictional account of social expectations and rural life in the mid 1800s but without a strong cohesive plot and sufficient excitement to make it work.
I feel the intent is sound, Connie has great potential to be an interesting character to reflect the increasing independence of women emerging in Australia at the time, but there is just too much missing in regard to the historical context or a the plot itself to be successful.
October 8, 2022
5 stars
Pretty good, the writing was good, the style YES, the only thing I would change if I was writing it would be the way it shows how Connie thinks, sometimes it seemed a little like she was a lot younger then 12, but I mean it’s not that much bothering but I just wanted to say, I loved it, it’s set in Australia, and 1960’s I'm guessing since their using pound currency which was moved to Australian dollar, anyways, I'm going to write a more detailed review for medium, and maybe update this one later, but I do recommend readers pick it up
Thanks Sharon at big sky publishing for the review copy
Pretty good, the writing was good, the style YES, the only thing I would change if I was writing it would be the way it shows how Connie thinks, sometimes it seemed a little like she was a lot younger then 12, but I mean it’s not that much bothering but I just wanted to say, I loved it, it’s set in Australia, and 1960’s I'm guessing since their using pound currency which was moved to Australian dollar, anyways, I'm going to write a more detailed review for medium, and maybe update this one later, but I do recommend readers pick it up
Thanks Sharon at big sky publishing for the review copy
September 10, 2023
The idea of the book was much better than its execution. I really wanted the book to be good but the writing needs work. Several times in the story, I felt like I'd accidentally skipped a page. I hadn't. The issue was one of pacing and detail. The writing also doesn't allow you to imagine yourself into the setting. There's simply not enough to draw you into the scene or setting so I felt like I was floating along outside of the story only catching snippets. Disappointed.
January 22, 2024
The setting is outback Australia, a harsh environment for immigrants, storms, floods. Overall an interesting view of a young girl fighting the historical position of females and her need to break the barriers and be her own person.
June 26, 2023
An exciting story of pioneers of the Queensland outback. As Connie and her family struggle with the challenges of the land, Connie is determined to be true to herself and write her own destiny.
February 16, 2026
Worthington #1
Easy to read, and OK story about title character - nothing that will be remembered much, but entertaining in its own way.
Easy to read, and OK story about title character - nothing that will be remembered much, but entertaining in its own way.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews