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'The world of eight-year-old Cherry Laurel is an intensely sensual one - of cold noses, burning autumn leaves, changes of heart, childhood, nationhood . . . and betrayal. Her mother Bell and her father Jackson are failing to cope with the catastrophe of domestic life.
'And now Cherry has been volunteered for a "historical experiment". Milwaukee's notoriously racially segregated public school system is to pursue an active policy of Integration. Cherry and her younger sister are bussed in, unaware that the shame of white America awaits them.
'Meanwhile, during the autumn of that upsidedown year, her parents' marriage falls to pieces. Jackson leaves his wife and kids to endure winter's blizzards, while Cherry's only school friend, the wistful Hugo, haunted by family tragedy, is determined to find his own lost father. His momma Macy just wants to hold it all together . . .' (Synopsis)
Notes
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Dedication: For Rachael and sarah with love.
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Epigraph: 'i have been planning what I would shew you: a flower here, a tree there, yonder a grove, near it a fountain; on this side a hill, on that a river, indeed madam, I know nothing so charming as our own country. The learned say it is a new creation..... Thomas Jefferson to Angelica Schuyler Church, 17 February 1788.
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Epigraph: 'They asked me if I would fight for my country. I said, 'I have no country.' - Former slave, Virginia, 1865.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Yearning for Difference
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , Autumn no. 174 2004; (p. 135-137)
— Review of Father Lands 2002 single work novel ; Black Mirror 2002 single work novel -
Untitled
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Autumn vol. 11 no. 1 2003; (p. 40)
— Review of Father Lands 2002 single work novel -
Child's-Eye View of '70s America
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 18 January 2003; (p. 18)
— Review of Father Lands 2002 single work novel ; The Gentleman's Garden 2002 single work novel -
The Trouble with Transplantation
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 18-19 January 2003; (p. 8-9)
— Review of Father Lands 2002 single work novel -
Worlds Apart
2002-2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 17 December-14 January vol. 120 no. 6355 2002-2003; (p. 138)
— Review of Father Lands 2002 single work novel ; Windmill Hill 2002 single work novel ; Matthew Flinders' Cat 2002 single work novel ; The Gentleman's Garden 2002 single work novel ; The Gift 2002 single work novel
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Silent Snarls in the Suburbs
2002-2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December-January no. 247 2002-2003; (p. 58)
— Review of Father Lands 2002 single work novel -
Next Stop After the Comfort Zone
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 21-22 December 2002; (p. 13)
— Review of Father Lands 2002 single work novel -
Worlds Collide
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 28-29 December 2002; (p. 18)
— Review of Father Lands 2002 single work novel -
Worlds Apart
2002-2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 17 December-14 January vol. 120 no. 6355 2002-2003; (p. 138)
— Review of Father Lands 2002 single work novel ; Windmill Hill 2002 single work novel ; Matthew Flinders' Cat 2002 single work novel ; The Gentleman's Garden 2002 single work novel ; The Gift 2002 single work novel -
The Trouble with Transplantation
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 18-19 January 2003; (p. 8-9)
— Review of Father Lands 2002 single work novel -
Racial Memory
2002
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 14 December 2002; (p. 7)
Awards
- 2003 joint winner The Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist of the Year
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Milwaukee,
Wisconsin,
cUnited States of America (USA),cAmericas,
- 1970s