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When Jays Fly to Barbmo

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1968 novel by Margaret Balderson
When Jays Fly to Barbmo
AuthorMargaret Balderson
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's fiction
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication date1968
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint
Pages202 pp
Preceded by– 
Followed byA Dog Called George 

When Jays Fly to Barbmo (1968) is the debut novel for children by Australian author Margaret Balderson, illustrated by Victor Ambrus. It won the Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers in 1969.

Plot outline

The novel is set on a remote island off the coast of Norway during World War II. It follows the story of 14-year-old Ingeborg who must survive during a long dark winter after her aunt dies and the Nazis take over the island.

Critical reception

In a review of the book in The Canberra Times the reviewer stated: "This distinguished piece of writing is a tremendously individual and quite moving story...There is some overwriting and action occasionally flags, but characterisation, originality and the breadth of the story makes it a most satisfying piece of work. Victor Ambrus has provided some delightful illustrations that in style and character are a true extension of the text."

Kirkus Reviews noted: "The image evoked in the restrictively literary course of Ingeborg's sometimes faltering and always dense story suggests Anne Frank's diary written into a Bartos-Hoppner Siberian wilderness; though destined for only limited response it is an image wrought of violent silence with a rare and relentless grip."

See also

References

  1. National Library of Australia - When Jays Fly to Barbmo by Margaret Balderson
  2. "Book Council Award Winners", The Canberra Times, 12 July 1969, p16
  3. "A Distinguished Piece of Writing", The Canberra Times, 12 July 1969, p17
  4. "When Jays Fly to Barbmo by Margaret Baldeson", Kirkus reviews, 3 November 1969
Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers
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