No Stars To Wish On
A powerful and moving story based on the experiences of some of the thousands of institutionalised children of Australia’s Forgotten Generations.
A boy's spirit shines amid some dark truths in this tender and memorable novel about being taken from home and put in an orphanage.
Each kid only has one pair of shoes here. Number 49's shoes are a pretty good fit for me and I know they're new because they still have that plastic smell. But the real Number 49 is quite a bit bigger than I am, because his pants keep falling down on me. I wish he would come back, so that I could go home.
Jack loves telling jokes, but not many people laugh at them in the orphanage. Will he ever be reunited with his mother and sister, his great-aunts and great-grandmother, back at home?
Reviews
Runner-Up: Boomerang Book of the Year 2014
'Readers of all ages will remember this book long after the cover closes.'
(Susan Whelan, Kids' Book Review)
'In gorgeous prose...No Stars to Wish On is a uniquely Australian story that explores a dark episode in our history.'
(Tanya Grech Welden - Oz Books 4 Teachers)
'The story is superbly well written...thought provoking and devistatingly good.'
(CBCA Reading Time)
'This is a novel that begs to be shared with readers.' (Helen Sykes - Choices For English ETANSW)
'This beautifully written, achingly tender story deals with one of the darker times in Australian history.' (Wendy Noble - Good Reading Magazine)