Secret Sparrow (Jackie French, HarperCollins)

Jackie French’s latest middle-grade novel, Secret Sparrow, focuses on the unheralded work of women in World War I. This exciting adventure story is told with dual timelines and begins in 1978 when a flash flood is racing through a small regional town in NSW. A boy, Arjun, is rescued by an older lady, Jean McLain, on a motorcycle. As they wait out the night at the highest place in town, she tells him the story of a far more dangerous time in her life when she was ‘the telegraph girl’. Just a teenager during World War I, she worked as a post office assistant in England before winning a national Morse code competition and joining the army as a signaller. It’s an exciting adventure filled with miraculous escapes, exhausting days and nights, terrible stories of life in the trenches and on the front lines, and even love. By the time morning comes, Arjun has learnt about this woman’s life in wartime France, and the reader has discovered the hidden story of the vital roles that women took on in this time of war. Jackie French has an excellent reputation for her historical fiction, and this story does not disappoint. Based on true events, rich in historical detail and filled with characters who come alive, this is an engaging read that will be enjoyed by readers of Michael Morpurgo and Katrina Nannestad, as well as history and thriller lovers aged 10–14.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Angela Crocombe is a senior buyer and bookseller at Readings Kids. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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