Meet Lina by Sally Rippin
Ill. by Lucia Masciullo. Puffin Books, 2013. ISBN 9780143307006.
pbk., 132pp., RRP $A14.95.
(Age: 8-11) Melbourne, 1956. While the city might have been abuzz
with the impending Olympic Games, they are not Lina's main concern.
As the only daughter of strict, traditional Italian parents who have
come to Australia to escape the aftermath of war-torn Europe, Lina
has won a scholarship to an exclusive Catholic girls' school. But
she feels she is from the wrong side of the tracks and is struggling
to feel that she belongs. She is ashamed of her humble parents and
her home, and goes to considerable lengths to hide them.
But she is a budding writer and after sharing a story she has
written at an assembly, the spotlight falls on her. People
appreciate her for her story-telling skills, but the event is soured
by the lie she told her father and the criticism of Sarah
Buttersworth whose nose is out of joint because her former friend
Mary has now taken Lina under her wing, and that's a social step too
far for Sarah. 'Nice story', she said, smiling stiffly. 'Though I
was surprised you live in Carlton.' However, a stolen afternoon at
Mary's where she is overwhelmed by the wealth and possessions,
sparks an idea that starts to turn life around for Lina. But it also
brings its share of complications that lead to an unexpected
situation.
This is the first of this mini-series within the larger series of
Our Australian Girl, a series which features a girl like me in a
time gone by. There are 18 books in the series, with each character
having several books to tell her story. While Lina's story was
engaging, I would have liked to have had the others available to
make the story complete - while the ending sets up the next story,
it really needs that next story there. But perhaps that's an adult
perspective and young girls will wait eagerly (and more patiently)
for the next installment.
The series itself aims to encourage a new generation to discover our
history and culture in all its diversity, and to celebrate the
independence of spirit that we treasure as Australians and its
publication is timely considering the rollout of the History strand
of the national curriculum over the next few years (not till 2016 in
primary schools in NSW). Historical fiction is a great way to take
students out of their world into new ones and this book offers a
number of opportunities for that. For example, despite its appeal to
girls, within the story Lina and Mary make a magazine of the times
and so that could become a group activity that would require a lot
of research, writing and presentation skills that would engage all
students. It could also provide opportunities for students to talk
to their grandparents and explore and understand the value of oral
histories. There could also be activities which compare and contrast
schooling then and now - I'm sure many modern eyes would be raised!
Such assignments help students understand the context of the times
and the novel, a critical element if they are to appreciate it
fully.
The website
provides a lot of information about the other characters who feature
in the series, as well as reviews, activities, author information
and extracts to entice. Based on Meet Lina and what I've
read of the others in this series, I think it will be a winner . . .
just what the 8-11 year olds are demanding.
Barbara Braxton