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Desna Wallace
Scholastic
This is a sensitively written tale told from the point of view of an 11-year-old girl.
Maddy's diary entries date from before the September earthquake to months after the February 2011 devastation, and we see how her life has been unutterably changed. Before the earthquakes, Maddy's preoccupations were those of a young girl. With the quakes, as for every Cantabrian, priorities changed.
Author Desna Wallace takes us to the heart of the important issues post-quake: first of all, simply surviving, and after that, the importance of community. Familiar topics from media reportage run through: the lack of basic supplies such as fresh water and workable toilets, loss of methods of communication, and the ever-present results of liquefaction.
We learn of the psychological toll of continual aftershocks as they affect Maddy and her siblings, and of the emergence of a strong community spirit. There is reference to runaway pets, loss of workplaces, and many other details that make this diary powerful. This young adult novel in the My New Zealand Story series is a compelling read. The format is appealing and the cover affecting. Historical notes and photos draw the reader in. Young readers and adults will immediately warm to Maddy's emotional account.
Wallace has succeeded in portraying an individual's experience of living through the earthquakes, which at once is raw and personal, and also common to all. Despite the devastation, the tone is one of hope for a positive future for the city and people of Christchurch.
Ages 10 +.
- Jessie Neilson is a University of Otago library assistant and mother.
Win a copy
The ODT has five copies of Canterbury Quake, by Desna Wallace, (RRP$18.50) to give away courtesy of publisher Scholastic. For your chance to win a copy, email playtime@odt.co.nz with your name and postal address in the body of the email, and ''Quake Book Competition'' in the subject line, by 5pm on Tuesday, February 25.