THE CALLING OF JACKDAW HOLLOW BY KATE GORDON

The Calling of Jackdaw Hollow is the prequel to Kate Gordon’s two other books set in Direleafe Hall — The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn and the Ballard of Melodie Rose. Jack Hollow is orphaned as a baby when his parents were killed by a lightning strike and he is taken in by Mrs Beekman, the current head mistress of Direleafe Hall.

Jack doesn’t mind being the only boy in an all-girl school. Mrs Beekman loves and provides for him and Angharad, an apprentice cook at the hall, is his friend who tries to teach him how to cook pies.

But Jack is not happy, he believes it’s his fault his parents died and he can’t understand how he survived. He feels as though he should do something special with his life to justify his existence. He needs to find a “calling”. Something that he can do that will make a difference.

Jack thinks long and hard but comes up blank. This is when the three resident ghosts, Florence, Lucy and Nell, urge Jack to help a girl called Angeline. Jack is not sure if a girl is a “calling”. Angeline is a maid at a grand house not far away and is severely treated by the housekeeper. Angeline practises handstands, somersaults and all things acrobatic in the moonlight so that one day she can escape to the circus. Jack sees his chance and decides saving a girl could be his calling. But will this wild girl allow him?

Kate Gordon has given readers another wonderful story about finding your place in the world, the folly of measuring your self-worth and how sometimes a calling can be something not large at all. One of the things I enjoy so much about Kate Gordon’s Direleafe Hall stories is the rich language she uses. Her turns of phrase are all poetic and conjure up all sorts of pictures that encourage the reader to dwell just a little longer within the covers of her books.

For Ages: 9 - 12 years

Number of Pages: 208

Published: March 2022 University of Queensland Press

Themes: Belonging, self-belief and letting go.