Author: Mardi McConnochie
ISBN: 978-1-76029-091-7
RRP: $14.99
This month we looked at diversifying our Book Club titles and adding in something for younger readers, but not those so young the books needed to be read by a parent.
Quest of the Sunfish is written for the 9-12 year old demographic and some of our readers will be reviewing the book for us.
This book is the first in an exciting new series, with the second book due in April 2017.
Quest of the Sunfish is set in a post-apocalyptic world that could be quite like ours, after a world altering flood. Global warming caused sea levels to rise, and then there was a disastrous flood that completely changed the world. Many places are still under water decades later, the devastation was so widespread that rebuilding was prioritised leaving entire cities still under water or seriously flood damaged.
In the aftermath of the flood the Admiralty, the navy equivalent, stepped up and governed. Now that the crisis has passed there seems to be no more need for Admiralty control, according to some, but the Admiralty have no plans to relinquish power.
Will and Annalie are teen twins about to be tossed into a story that throws everything they know into chaos. Annalie is away at school when she is visited by an Admiralty officer and asked about her father’s whereabouts, which is the first she had heard of his disappearance. Rather than stay at school and worry she heads home to find her brother, and try to work out what is going on.
Their home has been destroyed and they have nowhere else to go so rather than sit back and wait to see what will happen Will and Annalie embark on a perilous adventure to see if they can track down their father and find out what’s going on.
Having spent a lot of time on the water growing up they are both quite confident sea-farers, so they head off in the direction they think they will find their father. Along the way they pick up a couple of unlikely runaways as deckhands and become quite a handy team, they are in a position that sees them having to put faith in one another to survive and they all bring quite a unique skill set to the voyage.
The Sunfish is the small boat that Will and Annalie spent much of their childhood aboard so they are familiar with the boat and its workings, they find themselves facing storms, pirates and Admiralty pursuit in this adventure filled journey across the high seas.
For a group of young teens this crew are faced with tough choices, a need to be adaptable and always have a back up plan and are forced to rely only on themselves for the first time in their lives.
Quest of the Sunfish is fast-paced and action packed with enough exciting differentiations from the world we live in to excite fantasy fans, but it’s still close enough to not be completely outside the realms of believable.
Quest of the Sunfish is book #48 for the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2016.
Thanks to Allen & Unwin 23 of our Beauty and Lace Club members will be reading Escape to the Moon Islands: Quest of the Sunfish with their children so please be aware there may be spoiler in the comments below. I look forward to hearing what they think.
Quest of the Sunfish is available now through Allen & Unwin, Angus & Robertson Bookworld, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
Loved it for a kids book it was really enjoyable and easy to read the beautiful bond between this family was great to read about and the courage and initiative the kids showed throughout the story would make me proud as a parent, My daughter is reading it now and totally enjoying it I can’t wait until the next book.
from Jade… each night I have read to me three chapters of the book, and I am finding it is a very exciting story.. will they find spinner is what I wonder, and how well do they know how to sail a boat… I will progress further as more is read to me… thanks for the chance.
wow I have now had the story read right thru to me, and I am hoping that perhaps later on, another book will come out about the children and their adventures… I have loved this one, and it is sitting on my shelf so that I can read it again by myself…. thanks for the chance, and wonderful story told. from Jade
What an exciting little adventure so refreshing to find quality books for children that will engross them to the end open up their imaginations & actually read a Book. My older grandson loved it & now the younger one slowly reading it.
Congratulations to Mardi McConnochie on a delightful story
This was a great, easy to read book which explores the different relationships between people in a family and how they interconnect. It is creative and imaginative and holds the reader through to the end in a light and fun way with twists and turns suitable for the age group.
This is a fun book which would appeal to both boys and girls.
Miss 9 really enjoyed this book & I read a bit of it myself to see what it was all about. She liked the adventure aspect of the book, with Will & Annalei teaming up together to track down their missing Dad.
My daughter is a competent reader so she could follow the language but this could be a little long & involved for less capable 9 year olds.
We liked that it was a futuristic, post disaster type scenario with the floods & “The Admirality” trying to rule, this seems to be popular with tweens at the moment.
Escape to the Moon Islands – Quest of thr Sunfish is great School Holiday reading for young adults & my daughter can’t wait to see what happens in the next instalment!
Loved it was really enjoyable and easy to read the bond between this family made it more interesting to read about the courage the kids showed through the story made me proud to be parent,
Escape to the Moon Islands – Quest of the Sunfish is great School Holiday reading which i will bring to the local library to read it to the children
“Escape to the Moon Islands” is the first novel in a young adult series, aimed at kids around the age of 9 – 14 years. Both I and my 9 year old son read it, and then discussed it.
The novel is set in a future world where environmental catastrophe has resulted in widespread flooding, famine, and a shortage of vital resources. Will and Annalie and their father, Spinner, live on the edges of the new society. Not quite down and out, they nevertheless definitely aren’t part of the mainstream, and are used to making do. When Spinner disappears, and Will and Annalie’s belief in their father conflicts with Government assertions about what Spinner has done, the two children embark on a perilous journey to find their father.
When I read it, I was a little concerned that it took a couple of chapters to really get going, and that my son might find it hard to engage with it as a result. I needn’t have worried – by the end of the second chapter he was desperately pleading with me to tell him whether the kids found their dad by the end of the book.
My son says “every kid should read this book!” He loved the action and adventure, and loved that the twins and their friends were coping without adults and dealing with a lot of problems themselves. Their independence really seemed to appeal to him. He had no problems with the language or concepts in the novel.
From my point of view, this was an age appropriate and enjoyable read. There are some complexities in the world building and relationships that I don’t think my son fully appreciated, but which would add some greater depth for older readers. Having the central characters being an even mix of males and females, while perhaps a little obvious to an adult reader, will work to engage a wider readership.
My son’s only complaint was that, being the first in a series, not all his questions were answered at the end, and he’s going to have to wait for the next to be published. We both recommend this highly for the target readership.
Each night I have two or three chapters read to me, and I am enjoying this book. It is a great story for the likes of me, bit hard for me to read yet, even though I am advanced in reading, but I enjoy having it read… the story is a great one of courage for children to be able to go look for their missing dad, and any more books in this series I shall be , by then hoping to read myself.. (jade loves how it progresses.)
Escape To The Moon Islands what a great adventure book
We read a few chapters each night and I must say I loved this book as much as the kids
The children in this book are amazing as they face the challenge of trying to find their father
The kids realise that this is the first book in a series and will definitely want to read the other books
By Miller:
Brother and Sister set out on a boat to find their dad Spinner. The story was fun to read and something different for me. I read at night and it was relaxing. I am looking forward to the next book.
I would recommend this book to my friends. Thank you