Sonya Hartnett

Author profile

born

February 23, 1968 in Melbourne, Australia

gender

female

genre

Literature & Fiction, Young Adult

About this author

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Sonya Hartnett (also works under the pseudonym Cameron S. Redfern) is, or was, something of an Australian child prodigy author. She wrote her first novel at the age of thirteen, and had it published at fifteen. Her books have also been published in Europe and North America. Her novels have been published traditionally as young adult fiction, but her writing often crosses the divide and is also enjoyed by adults.

"I chose to narrate the story through a child because people like children, they WANT to like them," says Sonya Hartnett of THURSDAY'S CHILD, her brilliantly original coming-of-age story set during the Great Depression. "Harper [the young narrator] is the reason you get sucked into the characters. Even I, who like to distance myself...more Sonya Hartnett (also works under the pseudonym Cameron S. Redfern) is, or was, something of an Australian child prodigy author. She wrote her first novel at the age of thirteen, and had it published at fifteen. Her books have also been published in Europe and North America. Her novels have been published traditionally as young adult fiction, but her writing often crosses the divide and is also enjoyed by adults.

"I chose to narrate the story through a child because people like children, they WANT to like them," says Sonya Hartnett of THURSDAY'S CHILD, her brilliantly original coming-of-age story set during the Great Depression. "Harper [the young narrator] is the reason you get sucked into the characters. Even I, who like to distance myself from my characters, felt protective of her."

The acclaimed author of several award-winning young adult novels--the first written when she was just 13--Australian native Sonya Hartnett says she wrote THURSDAY'S CHILD in a mere three months. "It just pulled itself together," she says. "I'd wanted to set a story in the Depression for some time, in an isolated community that was strongly supportive. Once the dual ideas of the boy who tunneled and the young girl as narrator gelled, it almost wrote itself--I had the cast, I had the setting, I just said 'go.' " Accustomed to writing about edgy young adult characters, Sonya Hartnett says that identifying with a seven-year-old protagonist was a challenge at first. "I found her difficult to approach," she admits. "I'm not really used to children. But once I started, I found you could have fun with her: she could tell lies, she could deny the truth." Whereas most children know "only what adults want them to know," the author discovered she could bypass that limitation by "turning Harper into an eavesdropper and giving her older siblings to reveal realities."

In her second book with Candlewick Press, WHAT THE BIRDS SEE, Sonya Hartnett once again creates a portrait of childhood. This time the subject is Adrian, a nine-year-old boy living in the suburbs with his gran and Uncle. For Adrian, childhood is shaped by fear: his dread of quicksand, shopping centers, and self-combustion. Then one day, three neighborhood children vanish--an incident based on a real case in Australia in the 1960s--and Adrian comes to see just how tenuous his safety net is. In speaking about Adrian, the author provocatively reveals parallels between herself and her character. She says, "Adrian is me in many respects, and many of the things that happen to him happened to me."

Sonya Hartnett's consistently inspired writing has built her a legion of devotees. Of THURSDAY'S CHILD, Newbery Honor-winning author Carolyn Coman says, "Hartnett's beautifully rendered vision drew me in from the very start and carried me along, above and under ground, to the very end. This book amazed me." The achingly beautiful WHAT THE BIRDS SEE has just as quickly garnered critical acclaim. Notes PUBLISHERS WEEKLY in a starred review, "Hartnett again captures the ineffable fragility of childhood in this keenly observed tale. . . . Sophisticated readers will appreciate the work's acuity and poetic integrity." Sonya Hartnett's third young adult novel, STRIPES OF THE SIDESTEP WOLF was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.

Sonya Hartnett lives near Melbourne, Australia. Her most recent novels are SURRENDER, a mesmerizing psychological thriller, and THE SILVER DONKEY, a gently told fable for middle-grade readers.(less)

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Books by Sonya Hartnett

Average rating: 3.63 · 2,809 ratings · 627 reviews · 31 distinct works

	Surrender 3.55 avg rating — 594 ratings — published 2004 — 16 editions	My rating:
	The Ghost's Child 3.91 avg rating — 398 ratings — published 2007 — 14 editions	My rating:
	Thursday's Child 3.78 avg rating — 300 ratings — published 2000 — 14 editions	My rating:
	Butterfly 3.21 avg rating — 361 ratings — published 2009 — 16 editions	My rating:
	The Silver Donkey by Sonya Hartnett, Don Powers (Illustrator) 3.84 avg rating — 248 ratings — published 2004 — 14 editions	My rating:
	The Midnight Zoo 3.62 avg rating — 271 ratings — published 2010 — 12 editions	My rating:
	What the Birds See 3.60 avg rating — 267 ratings — published 2002 — 12 editions	My rating:
	Sadie and Ratz by Sonya Hartnett, Ann James (Illustrator) 4.15 avg rating — 65 ratings — published 2010 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Stripes of the Sidestep Wolf 3.33 avg rating — 73 ratings — published 2002 — 8 editions	My rating:
	Princes 3.94 avg rating — 31 ratings — published 1998 — 3 editions	My rating:

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Quotes by Sonya Hartnett

“Love is like moonlight or thunder, or rain on a tin roof in the middle of the night; it is one of those things in life that is truly worth knowing.”
― Sonya Hartnett, The Ghost's Child

tags: life , love

20 people liked it

“I am dying: it's a beautiful word. Like the long slow sigh of the cello: dying. But the sound of it is the only beautiful thing about it.”
― Sonya Hartnett, Surrender

tags: dying , humanity

18 people liked it

“I want my life to be mystifying," she declared, although she didn't know what she meant.”
― Sonya Hartnett, The Ghost's Child

tags: life , the-ghost-s-child

17 people liked it

See all Sonya Hartnett's quotes »

Polls

What should we read in October?

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

4 votes 22.2%

Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill

3 votes 16.7%

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

3 votes 16.7%

Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly

2 votes 11.1%

A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner

1 vote 5.6%

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

1 vote 5.6%

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri

1 vote 5.6%

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

1 vote 5.6%

White Cat by Holly Black

1 vote 5.6%

Butterfly by Sonya Hartnett

1 vote 5.6%

The War to End All Wars by Russell Freedman

0 votes 0.0%

Borrowed Names: Poems About Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madam C.J. Walker, Marie Curie, and Their Daughters by Jeannine Atkins

0 votes 0.0%

Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials by Stephanie Hemphill

0 votes 0.0%

They Called Themselves the K.K.K. by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

0 votes 0.0%

Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson

0 votes 0.0%

The White Horse Trick by Kate Thompson

0 votes 0.0%

The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt

0 votes 0.0%

Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve

0 votes 0.0%

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins

0 votes 0.0%

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

0 votes 0.0%

18 total votes

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Sonya Hartnett

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Sonya's Fans (57)

Sonya Hartnett

Author profile

combine editionsBooks by Sonya Hartnett

Upcoming Events

Quotes by Sonya Hartnett

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Add New
Videos

combine editions
Books by Sonya Hartnett