Song for a Scarlet Runner (Julie Hunt, A&U)

When nine-year-old Peat is blamed for bringing misfortune to the local settlement, she flees to the marshes. There she is caught by a marsh auntie whose trade is stories that act as gateways, and Peat finds herself trapped in somebody else’s life-and-death bargain. Peat is an appealing protagonist, and the characters that people her world are wonderfully realised, from the capricious little foxlike sleek who is Peat’s constant companion, to the marsh auntie with her secrets and coat growing over with marsh weeds whom Peat cannot decide whether or not to trust, to the 900-year-old boy with the very odd speech and his master, the gently sinister Siltman. The world-building in this book is exceptionally rich, and the danger and new characters keep the plot engaging and frequently exciting. Peat herself never loses agency in the story, despite the many events she has no control over: it remains her story, not a story that happens to her. Song for a Scarlet Runner will appeal to older children and younger YA readers who enjoy secondary worlds and magic. Fans of Diana Wynne Jones and Lloyd Alexander will love it. (Read the interview here)

Jarrah Moore is an editor of primary literacy and numeracy texts at Cengage Learning Australia

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews