A LITTLE SPARK BY BARRY JONSBERG

I really enjoyed this book. 13-year-old Cate Carson’s parents are divorced and she spends every second weekend with her dad. Each time, he goes to great effort to make her stay memorable. Cate is a writer of stories and her imagination is honed and nurtured by her father during their time together. Mysteries and daring plots are uncovered or explored and dissected during her stay, giving her craft never ending fuel. Cate doesn’t tell her mum details about her weekends away, they’re just for her and her dad.

 Cate’s mum Lois has a partner, Sam who Cate gets on with just fine. When Sam is offered a job in London, life gets complicated and Cate is faced with some hard decisions. She doesn’t want to leave her best friend Elise and she especially doesn’t want to leave her dad. There is one shining part of her life. Her English teacher has entered her work in the Victorian Premier’s Short Story competition and she came second. Not only does she get a certificate and celebratory status at school, she gets $2000 prize money.

 But as the time gets closer for a decision to be made about going overseas, Cate’s life takes a turn for the worse. Elise’s parents decide to divorce and her home life is so dreadful that Elise takes drastic measures in order to cope. Cate needs to make things better for her best friend however she is distracted by court proceedings in her own family. She doesn’t want to go to London and begs her father to deny her mother the right to take Cate out of the country. Cate’s life takes another turn when she and her father are involved in an accident and her mother becomes even more determined to take Cate away.

Her world has turned into a place that is filled with heartache and Cate is not sure how things will work out. It seems that there is always someone who misses out on the thing they want the most.

 Barry Jonsberg’s A Little Spark, is a wonderful book about families and friendship. Cate and Elise’s friendship flows with humour and loyalty that frankly sets the friendship bar pretty high. Cate’s relationship with her father is a joy to witness and when things go wrong, the ending will have you reaching for the tissue box. Jonsberg’s characters are so alive, natural and believable. Their interactions invite you into their world and leave you wanting more. This book is a must-read for anyone who loves life and also loves to celebrate it.

For Ages: 10 - 14 years

Number of Pages: 256

Published: August 2022 Allen & Unwin

Themes: Racism, family, friendship, divorce and imagination

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