'Are you lonely here?' her mother asked.
'Never, ' Alice said. 'Not while I am friends with the lyrebird.'

Alice has spent her life living on the outskirts of a small town, in a house nestled in bushland. Every other morning, she is visited by a lyrebird. Her bond with this magnificent bird brings her together with her nearest neighbour, Mr Brown, a widower who loves the bush and its treasures as much as she does.

But change is coming: Alice is growing up, and having to think about her future (a future which might mean leaving the bush for her education). Mr Brown is getting older, and less able to look after himself. And as the nearby town grows, their beloved lyrebird and bushland are threatened too.

A touching story that will resonate with readers everywhere, stunningly illustrated with woodcuts by acclaimed artist Julian Laffan.

 

This book has been graded for interest at 10-14 years.

There are 176 pages in this book. This book was published 2018 by Hachette Australia .

Gary Crew is well known for his rich, multi-layered and intensely suspenseful bestselling novels for young adults. Four times the winner of the CBC Book of the Year Award, as well as other numerous awards, Gary was a high school English teacher for eighteen years, before turning to university lecturing and full-time writing. He lives in Queensland. Julian Laffan is an artist, educator and curator. Julian graduated from the School of Art at the Australian National University in Canberra. He is currently a picture book judge for the Children's Book Council of Australia. He specialises in contemporary woodcuts and drawings, using these mediums to create sculptural objects and works on paper that explore themes of history and identity. Julian has produced a series of exhibitions that developed mentorship partnerships between emerging and established artists from across Australia. He is a member of The Culture Kitchen , a Canberra-based cross-cultural collaborative print group. He has worked on inter-cultural print based projects in East Timor, Indonesia and on the Thai-Burma border. His works are in the collection of the Australian Print Council, Canberra Museum and Gallery, and significant private collections.