Fotografía de autor

JB Rowley

Autor de Whisper My Secret

5 Obras 115 Miembros 7 Reseñas

Series

Obras de JB Rowley

Whisper My Secret (2007) 79 copias
Mother of Ten (2013) 18 copias
Trapped in Gondwana (2012) 12 copias
A Charming Neighbour (2014) 4 copias

Etiquetado

Conocimiento común

Nombre canónico
Rowley, JB
Nombre legal
Barnes-Rowley, June
Género
female
Nacionalidad
Australia

Miembros

Reseñas

I made it through this, but feel like it was a waste of time. This is supposed to be a memoir of the author's mother's life. However, you find out that it was written after the mother passed away....so most of this is speculation and fiction. After two chapters I was ready to give up, but I completed it. Now onto something better to read.
 
Denunciada
hey-mom | 2 reseñas más. | May 23, 2017 |
This is the first of an adventure series for Middle Grade readers, set in a magical land based on the ancient continent of Gondwana. I was attracted to the idea of our heroine, Nellie, falling through a ‘crack in the Earth’ into Gondwana and not being able to get out until she had played ‘the game’ set by Gondvan, ruler of the Gondwana realms. I don’t think it qualifies as time travel, although time is certainly an element of the adventure.

The land is a wondeful mix of primaeval forest, rocks and streams, genuine plants and some animals as evidenced by fossil remains, and composite or mythical creatures such as troll-like people and spirits. There are also descendents of extinct animals, such as pygmy possums and lyrebirds. It is brilliantly described, and colour plays a huge part in it.

Nellie meets a boy who has failed to get out of the forest in the past, and her positive mental attitude helps to turn his negative approach into friendly help. I like the way that Nellie comes from Australia, and Meg, the friend, from India, both of which continents are thought to be remnants of the original Gondwanaland. There are connections throughout this book that make it feel coherent and real, despite the unreality of the spirit world. Sliding down a rainbow sounds great fun!

The challenge Nellie is set to enable her to escape from Gondwana is enjoyable and not over-taxing for the reader, but the descriptions of her adventures are vivid. Most young readers would be able to imagine themselves in those situations and admire her ways of getting out of trouble. I wasn’t sure I appreciated the immediate decision to damage the giant grasshopper, though, when peaceful methods had been the first choice most other times (unless they had been attacked first). However, I think the New Zealand Weta is not what I think of as a grasshopper, so the decision might have been justified.

Nellie now has the status of Visitor to Gondwana, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens to her in the next book.

All in all, a very enjoyable book and one that I was keen to get back to when I had to take breaks! I think any kid (big or small) interested in adventures in the wild will enjoy this, especially if they have a passing interest in pre-historic worlds.
… (más)
 
Denunciada
Jemima_Pett | 2 reseñas más. | Nov 11, 2014 |
This was a charming little adventure novel, aimed at a fairly young age group. So, I suppose my average rating is mostly due to the fact that I am an adult reading something aimed at probably the 7-10 age range, perhaps the sort of book that a girl could move onto when she was bored with the Rainbow Magic series. I do not feel it had so much boy appeal, although it does have a male character, it's a little too "clean". The story itself is very basic - which is probably why I compared it (lightly) to the RM books - a young girl finds herself trapped in a "Game" within the world of Gondwana, a land based on the once-continent. However, the animals she meets with along the way are not quite your typical Gondwanan creatures - well, some are, but others (like the weta) are somewhat over-sized. Anyhow, to get home she must play the game which involves going on a sort of scavenger hunt (where the boy, Meg, helps her solve all the clues) to find a number of gems. Once they find them, she has to take them to the center of Gondwana before sunset - which is a bit weird because time flows differently in Gondwana. The tale held few surprises, although some of the animals were pretty nifty, and in fact the only bit that DID surprise me was when the girl decided they should chop off the weta's leg. Seemed rather brutal to me. All up, I imagine it would be a perfect story for someone 7-9 that liked shorter, whimsical reads.… (más)
 
Denunciada
LemurKat | 2 reseñas más. | Sep 12, 2013 |


This isn't my typical read but it was a very good read all the same. I commend myrtle because I don't think I could have done what she did.
 
Denunciada
Bettyb30 | 2 reseñas más. | Jun 24, 2013 |

Estadísticas

Obras
5
Miembros
115
Popularidad
#170,830
Valoración
3.2
Reseñas
7
ISBNs
5

Tablas y Gráficos