Dragonfly Song

Description

WINNER: 2017 Prime Minister's Literary Award, Children's Fiction WINNER: 2018 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, Children's Literature HONOUR BOOK: CBCA Book of the Year, Younger Readers, 2017 There are two ways of looking at Aissa's story. She's the miracle girl who escaped the raiders. Or she's the cursed child who called the Bull King's ship to the island. The firstborn daughter of a priestess is cast out as a baby, and after raiders kill her adopted family, she is abandoned at the gates of the Great Hall, anonymous and mute. Called No-Name, the cursed child, she is raised a slave, and not until she is twelve does she learn her name is Aissa: the dragonfly. Now every year the Bull King takes a tribute from the island: two thirteen-year-old children to brave the bloody bull dances in his royal court. None have ever returned - but for Aissa it is the only escape. Aissa is resilient, resourceful, and fast - but to survive the bull ring, she will have to learn the mystery of her true nature. A riveting, mythic Bronze Age adventure from award-winning author Wendy Orr.

Wendy Orr was born in Canada, and grew up in France, Canada and USA. After high school, she studied occupational therapy in England, married an Australian farmer, and moved to Australia. They had a son and daughter, and now live on five acres of bush near the sea. Her books have won awards in Australia and around the world, and have been translated into twenty-six languages. Although Wendy first learned to read and write in French, her family spoke English at home. She clearly remembers the excitement of reading a story in her own language for the first time. She immediately started writing stories, and hasn't stopped since. Wendy has had many highlights in her writing career, including winning the CBCA Book of the Year and walking a red carpet with Jodie Foster, but believes that nothing compares to the thrill of the first vision of a new book.

"Orr tells her tale in both narrative poetry and prose for an effect that is both fanciful and urgent, drawing a rich fantasy landscape filled with people and creatures worthy of knowing. An introductory note describes Orr's inspiration in the legend of the Minotaur, but her story is no retelling but a meditation on rejection and acceptance, on determination and self-determination. The shifts between poetry and prose build tension just as surely as the bull dances do. As mesmerizing as a mermaid's kiss, the story dances with emotion, fire, and promise." - Kirkus **STARRED REVIEW**