Brave Hannah learns to adapt and survive after her privileged childhood comes abruptly to an end. Mysteriously abandoned by her father, Hannah first finds herself penniless and friendless on the streets and then transported to Australia for a crime she didn’t commit. How Hannah survives and especially how she is fortified by the stories of Scatterheart is beautifully told.
It’s 1814 and Hannah Cheshire leads a privileged life in London, with fine clothes, servants and a handsome tutor. Then one day her father disappears and she is left to fend for herself. Not equipped for the real world she ends up penniless, and sentenced to transportation to the colonies for a crime she didn’t commit.
When I was six, my parents took me to China on holiday. I really wanted my mum to read me Snugglepot & Cuddlepie, but she was understandably over the gumnut babies after the ten zillionth read, so she suggested that I might try reading it by myself.
And that was the day I learnt to read in my head.
Since then I’ve read many, many books, and written a few as well.
I was first published when I was 12, in Voiceworks magazine.
I studied Creative Arts at Melbourne Uni, and then went and taught English in Japan for a while. When I came back, I got a job at the Centre for Youth Literature, at the State Library of Victoria, where I now manage a website called insideadog.com.au, about books for teenagers.
I work part-time at the Library, and spend the rest of my time writing. I live in Melbourne. I am an only child, but my parents have a very cute dog called Rita who they love more than me.
