AustLit

''Out of the Blue' is an adventure novel for 12 to 15 year-olds.
It is the third book in the Australian, Gippsland Trilogy about the Lawson and Martin families, cattle farmers in the Baw Baw Mountains of Victoria. 
'It follows 'Find me a River' and 'Rock Dancer', [both Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Books].
'It is a year since bushfire and drought devastated their Baw Baw Mountains cattle property and the farm is in danger of foreclosure. 
The story begins with the six teenagers in the cave system of their property, which they discovered the previous year following the fires. 
'Kes Martin, passionate about birds, has been observing nesting peregrine falcons, but the nest is disturbed by intruders and the fledglings left to starve... a discovery which shortly will have unexpected repercussions.
'Kes, Finn Lawson and Brian Conroy, [a close friend who has returned to live with the Lawsons] find an unexplored series of passages and caves, but only have time to explore part of the new section before going to the coast to assist Finn’s aunt at a youth camp. 
'While there, Kes saves an injured falcon and takes it to a raptor rescue center owned by the very wealthy Henshaw family. This apparently everyday visit to the veterinary clinic turns into a horrific episode for Kes when she is suspected of a serious crime of which she is totally innocent.
'Through a chance meeting between Kes and an intellectually disabled young man, the crisis which she faces now become deeper and even more twisted.
'Shortly after Kes, Finn and Brian return home from camp, Kes’s nightmarish time becomes even worse when her irrepressible twin brothers Jon and Jack find a way into the locked cave system and become lost kilometers underground. Each of the cousin’s resilience and resourcefulness is called upon to deal with this terrible potential tragedy.
'Sarah’s brilliant skills are again needed, but not even she, or any of the others, can foresee the amazing end.'  (Publication summary)