Overview
Sonya Hartnett’s haunting, mythical novel - now in paperback
Harper Flute believes that her younger brother Tin, with his uncanny ability to dig, was born to burrow. While their family struggles to survive in a bleak landscape during the Great Depression, the silent and elusive little Tin - "born on a Thursday and so fated to his wanderings" - begins to escape underground, tunneling beneath their tiny shanty. As time passes, Tin becomes a wild thing, leaving his family further and further behind.
With exquisite prose, richly drawn characters, and a touch of magical realism, Sonya Hartnett tells a breathtakingly original coming-of-age story through the clear eyes of an observant child. It’s an unsentimental portrait of a loving family faced with poverty and heartbreak, entwined with a surreal vision of the enigmatic Tin, disappearing into a mysterious labyrinth that reaches unimaginably far, yet remains hauntingly near.
"Will be treasured by teens. . . . A beautiful and complex coming-of-age story that will burrow into young people’s deepest hopes and fears, shining light on the darkest rooms." - BOOKLIST (starred review)
A young woman, looking back on her childhood, recounts her farm family's poverty, her father's cowardice, and her younger brother's obsession for digging tunnels and living underground.
Synopsis
A stunningly original voice in young adult fiction
Harper Flute believes that her younger brother Tin, with his uncanny ability to dig, was born to burrow. While their family struggles to survive in a desolate landscape during the Great Depression, the silent and elusive little Tin - "born on a Thursday and so fated to his wanderings" - begins to escape underground, tunneling beneath their tiny shanty. As time passes and fate deals the family an especially cruel hand, Harper’s parents withdraw emotionally, and her siblings bravely try to fill the void, while Tin becomes a wild thing, leaving them further and further behind.
With exquisite prose, richly drawn characters, and a touch of magical realism, Sonya Hartnett tells a breathtakingly original coming-of-age story through the clear eyes of an observant child. It’s a loving and unsentimental portrait of family loyalty in the face of poverty and eartbreak, entwined with a surreal vision of the enigmatic Tin - disappearing into a mysterious labyrinth that reaches unimaginably far, yet remains hauntingly near.
Publishers Weekly
In a starred review, PW wrote, "Set in the harsh mining outback of Australia during the Depression, this startling coming-of-age story combines the narrator's grindingly realistic account of a family mired in poverty with a more surreal tale of her younger brother, gifted with an uncanny ability to dig through the earth and create his own subterranean world." Ages 14-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
In a starred review, PW wrote, "Set in the harsh mining outback of Australia during the Depression, this startling coming-of-age story combines the narrator's grindingly realistic account of a family mired in poverty with a more surreal tale of her younger brother, gifted with an uncanny ability to dig through the earth and create his own subterranean world." Ages 14-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
This book is as original as it is haunting. Harper, who is six years old when the story begins and twenty-one when it ends, is a middle child struggling with her family's tragedies and eccentricities during the Depression. She's a winning character, self-admittedly afflicted with the "unholy habit" of eavesdropping. Meanwhile, Tin, her five-year-old brother, lives and builds tunnels beneath their house, "having taught his hands the language of the dirt ... to trust its sturdy promises and to read its crumbly mind." By the end of the book he has become a feral creature of almost mythical proportion. As Harper's father becomes increasingly unstable, and her sister and brothers leave home, Harper is left feeling caged, angry, and alone. The destruction of her home's foundation by Tin's digging becomes literal as well as metaphorical. The fresh voice, lyrical prose, and bizarre circumstances create a potent mix¾but not one that will appeal to everyone. Imagine Ellen Foster showing up in The Grapes of Wrath, with a touch of surrealism. This unusual mix and fine writing will definitely intrigue some young adult readers, but may attract an even larger adult audience. 2002 (orig. 2000), Candlewick,— Betty Hicks
KLIATT
This hauntingly beautiful novel about one Australian family's struggles during the Great Depression should appeal to thoughtful YAs. Harper Flute, a seven-year-old girl at the time of the story's inception, recalls the remarkable story of her life from the vantage point of a young woman of 21 who is finally able to come to terms with her strange childhood and accept it for what it was. Her eventful passage from childhood to maturity is marked by enough mystery and suspense to keep the reader wondering until the last page. Harper takes her little brother Tin to a nearby creek while their little brother Caffy is being born. A mud avalanche buries Tin, but their father arrives to rescue him just in time. From that moment, we see Tin withdraw silently into his own world of digging under the family's shanty home, where he stays practically day and night. Harper shows an unusual degree of insight for a child when she tells her parents that "...he's not digging tunnels. He's just changing the shape of things." When the shanty caves into the tunnels Tin has dug, the family must depend on their neighbors to donate both housing materials and labor. The proud and independent Flutes must accept charity from those who have belittled them in the past. There is suspense in this story when Caffy falls into a well and older sister Audrey is forced to endure abuse from a sinister neighbor. In both cases, Tin mysteriously surfaces to the rescue from his subterranean dwelling. Although some issues remain unresolved at the finish, the novel nevertheless has a satisfying ending as the Flute family is finally able to escape from the prison of their poverty. Thursday's Child is a story about independence and theneed that we all have to shape our own lives without interference from others. The author uses the imagery of caves, tunnels, fences and prisons to reinforce her theme that we must seek to liberate ourselves from whatever confines us as individuals. Despite the seriousness of its theme, humor is abundant in this book because of the narrator's clever choice of language. KLIATT Codes: SA*; Exceptional book, recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2000, Candlewick, 261p.,— Phyllis LaMontagne
VOYA
Harper's story spans fifteen years, beginning when Harper, at the age of six, watches her younger brother, Tin, disappear in a mudslide. He survives and so does Harper's family, despite devastating poverty and hardship in post— Judy Sasges