Imagination Takes Flight!

Before our newsletter officer, Penny Garnsworthy, flew away to the other side of the world, she filled us in on a couple of books that made her mind travel to new and wondrous places!

I’m still on the adventure of catching up on my reading books for young people, and I've just finished two amazing books for young adults.

Mara, Daughter of the Nile was written by American author Eloise Jarvis McGraw in 1963. It is the story of a slave girl in ancient Egypt who gets herself involved in both sides of the political argument surrounding Hatshepsut and her brother Thutmose. The novel was brilliantly researched (I learned more about life in Egypt reading it than much of the non-fiction I have read over the years) and beautifully written with just the right amounts of romance, intrigue, adventure and suspense. And it has a typical happy ending. I guess you’d say it’s an old fashioned type of book.

By comparison, Triple Ripple was written by Australian author Brigid Lowry in 2011. It is three stories in one: the fairytale set in a typical fairytale setting; the reader’s story as she reads the fairytale; and the writer’s story as she writes it. The premise has been well thought out and this results in a story that’s quirky and fun and at times, very, very different. And it doesn’t have a 'typical' happy ending.

I guess you’d say it’s a modern, contemporary tale.

I just can’t imagine two books for the same age group being such poles apart (and 48 years). And yet I loved them both. I loved the descriptions of the settings, the characters and their respective issues, and I learned a lot about people and places I didn’t previously know.

Just goes to show that books are an enduring medium. And whether they’re a hardcover, a paperback or an electronic file I’ll still be reading them for many years to come!

Have a great trip, Penny! We'll miss you but we know you'll come back with lots of wonderful stories!


What have you been reading lately that's made your imagination take a journey?