Leave Taking

Description

A new novel about belonging, loss and love from the celebrated author of Star Jumps, the 2010 winner of the Prime Ministers Award for Children's Fiction. Leave taking noun the act of saying goodbye. What if you had just one week left to say goodbye to everything you've ever known? Toby and his mum and dad are leaving their family farm after the death of Toby's younger sister, Leah. Together, they sort through all their belongings and put things aside to sell or throw out. It's a big task, and Toby doesn't want to leave the only place he's called home. As his last day on the farm approaches, Toby has a plan - a plan to say goodbye to all the things and places that mean something special to him and Leah, from the machinery shed to Pa's old truck to the chook house. With the help of his best friend, Trigger the dog, he learns what it means to take your leave.

Lorraine Marwood was born and raised in rural Victoria and has lived for most of her married life on a dairy farm with her husband and their six children. Lorraine is an award-winning poet who has been widely published in literary magazines across Australia, as well as magazines in the UK, USA, New Zealand and Canada. She has also published several children's novels and collections of poetry. Lorraine was also the recipient of a May Gibbs mentorship in children's writing. Her previous titles (Walker Books Australia) include Ratwhiskers and Me, published in 2008, and Star Jumps which was short-listed for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards 2010, Lower Primary Category, a Notable mention in the Children's Book Council of Australia Awards, 2010 and won the inaugural Prime Minister's award for children's fiction in 2010.