Thunderwith - Hardcover

HATHORN LIBBY

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0434942049 ISBN 13: 9780434942046

Publisher: Egmont Childrens Books, 1990

Synopsis

An Australian story about bereavement and bullying, and the vital friendship between a stray dog and an isolated teenager.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

In her first YA novel, an Australian author vividly portrays present-day farmers in New South Wales's coastal rain forest. Lara has just lost her mother to cancer; a search by kindly neighbors turns up Dad, whom she barely remembers. The two quickly form a comfortable bond, but Dad's new wife, Gladwyn, and their four kids are less welcoming. Gladwyn's resentment borders on hatred; she declares openly that there's no room for Lara in the one-room shack where they live, eking out a meager living from a vegetable garden and hoping to make a profit on newly planted palm seedlings. Dad is gone on business, with almost no communication, for months; a neighbor who rides on Lara's school bus is a cruel bully. Grieving for her mother, Lara at first receives scant comfort except from Thunderwith, a dog she encounters in the hills. In time, she also makes friends with a sympathetic aboriginal storyteller, while her new siblings, one by one, come to love her. Even Gladwyn--revealed to have had a loveless upbringing that, added to relentless work and long separations from Dad, has left her stern and unyielding--finally comes around, but not until after Thunderwith's tragic death. The fine range of believable characters and authentic detail here make up for the several rough spots and loose ends: e.g., Dad's absence is inadequately explained, and the dog doesn't come to life enough to make Lara's attachment to him seem vital. Still, a well-written, absorbing debut. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 6-9-- In her first novel, this Australian author weaves a captivating, poignant story of a girl's reckoning with her mother's death, her adjustments to a new family and lifestyle, her conflict with a bully, and her love of a "magical" dingo dog. After her free-spirited mother dies of cancer, Lara, 14, is warmly welcomed by her long-remarried father into his new family. Her stepsiblings accept her, but her stepmother remains aloof and critical. When Lara seeks emotional release on a hilltop during a storm, a majestic dog appears and becomes her solace, greeting her whenever she flees the turmoil of her daily life. She names him Thunderwith, but, in a dramatic climax, learns that he is really Rover, the bully's abused farm dog. Lara realizes that Thunderwith filled a void until she could accept the spiritual rather than the physical presence of her mother. Characters are deftly drawn, and the plot, enriched by aboriginal mystique, unfolds with ease. Powerful themes of self-realization, family, peer pressure, and nature emerge against a scenic backdrop of the remote Wallingat Forest in New South Wales. Readers will find much here to share and discuss and enjoy. --Gerry Larson, Chewning Junior High School, Durham, NC
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Egmont Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0434942049
• ISBN 13: 9780434942046
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 189