My writer friends are doing wonderful things lately and I have decided it's time I did something to help them celebrate. So tonight I'm throwing a party. **polite clapping** The Guest of Honour is Sally Murphy and we're celebrating the announcement of Pearl Verses the World as Independent Booksellers Children's Book of the Year 2009 **thunderous applause**First a reading. 
There are three people at my house
And that's the way it should stay
Forever
Me
My mum
And my granny.
If you take one away
We won't be whole
Any more
Like a shoe without a lace
Or a flower with no petals.
It takes three
To make our family
Never one or two.
And for our meal let's sit with Sally and have swordfish steaks (because they sound exotic), strawberry cheesecake (because I like it) and a semillion (very expensive of course). This is a literary dinner brought to you by the letter S - for Sally and Sensational and Spectacular.
Now I am going to make a speech. ** polite clapping and who was that who dared to groan? ** This is one I've already made in a number of places because I have long been one of Pearl Verses the World's loud friends.
Pearl Verses the World by Sally Murphy. Illustrated by Heather Potter Walker Books Australia. Paperback rrp $14.95
Reprinted courtesy of The Reading Stack
Pearl Verses the World is a wonderful introduction for children who have never encountered a verse novel before. Verse novels are ideally suited for middle to upper primary readers. The reader becomes personally involved in a stream of consciousness conversation with the main character and the story quickly becomes very real.
Pearl feels alone. She doesn’t fit in at school. ‘My class is made up of groups. I am in a group of one.’ At home, her grandmother is very ill and the close family unit of grandmother, mother and daughter is unravelling.Pearl’s teacher wants her to write poems that rhyme but Pearl hears a different rhythm. When her grandmother dies, she finally finds the words to express how she feels.
Her world has changed but she discovers a new place to belong and her group of one is slowly expanding.I read this story to my primary school son and it opened his eyes in many ways. We talked about death. About belonging. About ‘poem books’. Reading Pearl Verses the World aloud together was a rich, rewarding experience.This book is special. A beautiful story about coping with grief and loss, expertly written for younger readers. A gentle and uplifting life lesson for all ages.
Leave a comment to 'sign the guestbook' if you dropped in. And if you would like to call in on Sally at home and offer your congratulations you can find her here http://www.sallymurphy.net
