Author: Ursula Dubosarsky
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Format: Book - library
From Goodreads: There were only eleven of them, like eleven sisters all the same age in a large family. Because it was such a very small class, they had a very small classroom, perched at the very top of the school - up four flights of stairs, up in the high sky, like a colony of little birds nesting on a cliff.
'Today, girls,' said Miss Renshaw, 'we shall go out into the beautiful Gardens and think about death.'
In the Gardens they meet a poet. What follows is inexplicable, shocking, a scandal.
What really happened that day? And do the little girls know more than they are letting on?
What I thought: This is the second book from the The Children's Book Council of Australia Older Reader's Short list.
I'm a fan of Ursula Dubosarsky. I find her to be an original and thoughtful writer. The Golden Day is no exception. To tell you the truth, when I first finished it I was a bit nonplussed...but I kept coming back to it, thinking about the events and the outcome. Dubosarsky is a master of not saying things, letting the reader discover secrets and clues through the interactions of the characters and at a point where you just about despair of ever knowing the truth. And in the end, your still not 100% sure what happened, but you do know the events of that day will effect those girls for the rest of their lives.
Challenges: Aussie Author Challenge