Sing a Rebel Song (Pamela Rushby, Omnibus)

The Queensland shearer’s strike of 1891 is a relatively unknown event in Australia’s history. In Sing a Rebel Song, Pamela Rushby places fictional characters alongside real people and events to create a story faithful to the historical record, leaving the reader with an understanding of the period and its issues. Twelve-year-old Maggie’s father is a shearer and a unionist on the periphery of the strike committee. The landowners’ agreement demands shearers sign on to lower wages or lose their work, leading the fledgling union to organise a strike for better conditions. Devoted to the rights of others, Maggie becomes involved in the cause, writing articles and copying posters for the union, giving her a ringside seat as tensions rise. She describes the confrontations and deprivation endured by the shearers, although Rushby provides another perspective through Maggie’s best friend Clara and her brother James, children of a wealthy landowner. Rushby depicts the strike action as part of a bigger story—the beginning of a strong Labor movement and the fight for fair working conditions. Despite this, the outcome may not be satisfying for some young readers. The text alternates between Maggie’s diary entries during the strike and her reflections, two years in the future, and is suitable for the upper primary and lower secondary school readers. It is a good example of historical fiction for younger readers and faithfully reflects a pivotal, but low-key, series of events in Australia’s work and political history.

Susan La Marca is head of library services at Genazzano FCJ College

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Category: Reviews