The Red Shoe | TheBookSeekers

The Red Shoe


School year: Lower 6th, Upper 6th, Year 10, Year 11, Year 8, Year 9

No. of pages 192

Published: 2015

Great for age 12-18 years

Add this book to your 'I want to read' list!

By clicking here you can add this book to your favourites list. If it is in your School Library it will show up on your account page in colour and you'll be able to download it from there. If it isn't in your school library it will still show up but in grey - that will tell us that maybe it is a book we should add to your school library, and will also remind you to read it if you find it somewhere else!

A beautifully written story about an ordinary family living in the Northern Beaches of Sydney during the 1950s.A beautifully written story about an ordinary family living in the Northern Beaches of Sydney during the 1950s, against the backdrop of such world events as the Cold War and the threat of the H bomb, the unrest in Indo China and the high profile case of KGB defector Vladimir Petrov. The story is chronicled by six-year-old Matilda, who sees but doesn't understand what is going on around her. Her sister Frances is troubled by the death of a friend, their sister Elizabeth, who decides she will not to return to school, becomes obsessed with reading the newspaper. Their father is often away and when he is, Uncle Paul seems always to be around. Mysterious people move in next door and one day, when she is at the pictures, Matilda notices that the Russian man in the newsreel looks just like one of the new neighbours. A novel that works on many levels, this is nothing short of Ursula Dubosarsky writing at the height of her powers.

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book has been graded for interest at 12 years.

There are 192 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2015 by Walker Books Ltd .

Ursula Dubosarsky 's books include The White Guinea Pig , The First Book of Samuel , Abyssinia , and many more.

 

This book has been nominated for the following awards:

NSW Premier's Literary Award
This book was recognised by the Nsw Premier's Literary Award.

Ethel Turner Prize - Best YA
This book was recognised in the Best YA category of the Ethel Turner Prize.

This then is more intelligent than many books for this audience - I would put it at anywhere from ten and up, so valuable an entertainment could it be for the adult reader. It's richer, deeper and a whole lot more surprising - the ultimate truths both startling in their severity yet fully understandable and in keeping. It is so much more than what it appears to be - yes, it is about the girl and the assumption that spies are next door, but there's so much more to it than that. There is a lot more to it than many books you will read this year. -- John Lloyd * The Book Bag *

 

Dubosarsky's writing is simple and understated, but no less beautiful for that. A mesmerising read. * Inis Reading Guide *