Below the Mountains: The Diary of Amy McDonald, Milford Road, 1935-36

My New Zealand Story

by Jean Bennett

The diary of fourteen year-old Amy McDonald who, during the Great Depression, lives in the harsh environment of the Milford Road Public Works Camp, along with her mother and seven year old brother, Bruce. Her father has been employed as workshop supervisor on the dangerous project of building the Milford Road and Homer Tunnel, cutting through the Southern Alps.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Diary

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Jean Bennett, a writer and journalist, and mother of six children, has been passionate about writing since she was a young child. A teacher inspired her to find a talent and use it, and Jean discovered and put to use her ability to write. She has in turn spent much of her adult life encouraging young writers. Since then, over 100,000 copies of The Writing Book have been published and The Call of the Selkie was included in the 1999 New Zealand Children's Book Foundation Notable Book List. She also has other books and readers published by educational publishing companies both in New Zealand and overseas and has written features for New Zealand magazines including Treasures and Kiwikids.

Jean has also produced educational resource kits for the Bay of Plenty Times and been their Newspapers-in-Education Coordinator for four years. Her stories have been broadcast on Once upon a Twice, Grampa's Place and EARS, and two stories have been commissioned for television.

In 1995 Jean visited schools in the Auckland region on the Storylines Festival Story Bus Tour. She was also an author touring on the Zespri 2000 Lifestyles Festival Story Bus. Jean was awarded life membership of the Bay of Plenty Children's Literature Association in 2001 for her contribution to their activities and has also been the recipient of a Creative NZ children's authors grant and a QEII Arts Council children's author's project grant. Jean has been a member of the Writers-In-Schools scheme for over 15 years. Jean Bennett was presented with the Storylines Betty Gilderdale Award for services to children's literature in 2003.

Reviews

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read. Interesting to read about the history of my country 80 years ago. Seems like such a hard life, even though it's not the worst I've read. Can't imagine being scared of earthquakes and avalanches all the time, and getting no sun during the winter. Or of freezing so much with only thin little blankets in the middle of winter. Really glad that Angela and the mum were okay throughout the pregnancy.

[Victoria Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing that's good about this book is that not only do we get to see a new way of life, there's actually events happening too. The thing is, a lifestyle gets boring when that's all you're reading about. It's a nice idea, but it's boring. With the fear of avalanches and earthquakes, the constant moving, and even a few deaths, this book kept life exciting. Sad too, of course, but exciting! Plus, there was this constant reminder that we're reading from the point of view of a teenage girl. Her obsession with Billy was very cute - it was sort of in a crush way, and sort of in a friend way with a boy, and either of those is great. She had little tantrums about not wanting to stay there, she gossiped with her best friend - this was someone who was just a girl, and you could see all her imperfections, and the way she grew up. It wasn't factual, it was a diary, and I really appreciated that.

TBC

[Molly]

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.