Somewhere Around the Corner
{{Short description|Novel by Jackie French}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Somewhere Around the Corner
| title_orig =
| image = Somewhere Around the Corner.jpg
| caption = First edition
| author = Jackie French
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = Australia
| language = English
| series =
| genre = Children's historical fiction
| publisher = Angus and Robertson
| pub_date = 1994
| pages =
| isbn = 0207183597
| oclc =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
Somewhere Around the Corner is a children's novel written by Australian author Jackie French. It was her first historical novel, and chronicles the adventures of a homeless girl from 1994 who goes 'around the corner' to another time - the Great Depression.
Jackie French has mentioned that the novel was inspired by the history of the 'susso' (sustenance) camps near her property, where people lived during the Australian Depression from 1929 until the late 1930s. She aimed to celebrate the resilience and community spirit of those who endured such hardships{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.jackiefrench.com/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=jackie-french |language=en}}
Plot
When Barbara becomes caught up in a wild demonstration, she is frightened and wants to escape. An old man she meets at the demonstration tells her to close her eyes, walk around the corner and arrive at a better place. She travels back around 62 years and the place she finds is Sydney in 1932, the height of the Depression. Times are tough and people are finding it hard to feed their families.
A boy called Young Jim comes to Barbara's aid and takes her on a journey to meet his family. They offer Barbara the love, security and peace that are missing from her own life and she becomes part of the O'Reilly family. But their time isn't Barbara's time and she may not be able to stay there forever. Young Jim promises to always look after Barbara but what will happen if she is forced to return to her own time? And does she have a choice?
Awards and nominations
- Honour - CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Younger Readers{{cite news |title= Winners and Shortlists 1990 - 1999 - CBCA |url= http://www.cbca.org.au/9099.htm#1995 |date= 1 April 2012 |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120403053729/http://cbca.org.au/9099.htm#1995 |archivedate= 3 April 2012 }} (1995)
- Highly Commended - Annual Australian Family Therapists' Award for Children's Literature{{cite news |title= The Family Therapy Associations of Australia, Award for Children's Literature |url= http://www.anzjft.com/books2.htm |date= 1 July 2007}} (1994)
References
{{reflist}}
{{Jackie French}}
Category:1994 Australian novels
Category:Novels by Jackie French
Category:Children's historical novels
Category:Australian children's novels
Category:Australian historical novels
Category:Novels about time travel
Category:Great Depression novels
Category:1994 children's books
Category:Children's books set in Sydney
Category:Children's books set in the 1930s
Category:Children's books about time travel
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