Sky by Ondine Sherman
The Author People, 2017. ISBN 9781925399189
(Age: 14+) Everything happens so fast for Sky after the death of her
mother. She leaves her home and friends in the city to live in the
country with an aunt and uncle she barely knows and suffers the
anguish of trying to fit in at a new school.
When Sky moved to the country, she wanted to fit in, to belong and
find a place. This meant sacrificing and putting on hold some of her
beliefs until she could find her personal comfort zone, in both her
new family and at school. When she began to feel that life was
settling into a rhythm she could cope with, Sky becomes overwhelmed
by challenging emotions at the same time as taking a stand against
animal cruelty.
I tried to empathise with her because losing your sole parent and
leaving your childhood home and friends is horrendous, but I found
the character that Ondine Sherman had created emotionally
under-developed. The character was not written with enough realism
for me so I felt Sky's erratic moments were too far-fetched to make
the story an enjoyable and believable read.
All this being said, Ondine Sherman has a comfortable and easy
writing style and there are important messages Ondine wants to share
about family, coming of age, standing up for what we believe in and
love . . . love of yourself, love of family and the awkwardness of
young romance.
This book will open your eyes to the lengths businesses will go in
making profit but unfortunately I felt that the author had a point
to make and was forcing me to accept this point of view instead of
letting the story help the reader come to the same realisation.
Ondine Sherman is a dedicated to the protection of animals and
passionate about promoting respect and compassion for all creatures.
In Sky, Ondine has woven special mention of one of
Australia's leading animal protection groups, Voiceless, founded by
Ondine and her father in 2004; and Franimals, Ondine's social-media
platform, a popular community for animal-loving teens across the
world. For extension activities there are teachers'
resources at Allen and Unwin.
Sharon Smith