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Crow Country
From the author of the Chanters of Tremaris series comes a contemporary time travel fantasy, grounded in the landscape of Australia
Beginning and ending, always the same, always now. The game, the story, the riddle, hiding and seeking. Crow comes from this place; this place comes from Crow. And Crow has work for you.
Sadie isn't thrilled when her mother drags her from the city to live in the country town of Boort. But soon she starts making connections—with the country, with the past, with two boys, Lachie and Walter, and, most surprisingly, with the ever-present crows. When Sadie is tumbled back in time to view a terrible crime, she is pulled into a strange mystery.
Can Sadie, Walter, and Lachie figure out a way to right old wrongs, or will they be condemned to repeat them? A fantasy ground in mythology, this novel has the backing of a full consultative process on the use of indigenous lore.
Beginning and ending, always the same, always now. The game, the story, the riddle, hiding and seeking. Crow comes from this place; this place comes from Crow. And Crow has work for you.
Sadie isn't thrilled when her mother drags her from the city to live in the country town of Boort. But soon she starts making connections—with the country, with the past, with two boys, Lachie and Walter, and, most surprisingly, with the ever-present crows. When Sadie is tumbled back in time to view a terrible crime, she is pulled into a strange mystery.
Can Sadie, Walter, and Lachie figure out a way to right old wrongs, or will they be condemned to repeat them? A fantasy ground in mythology, this novel has the backing of a full consultative process on the use of indigenous lore.
252 pages, Paperback
First published August 24, 2011
91 people are currently reading
940 people want to read
About the author
Kate Constable
24 books282 followersKate Constable was born in Sangringham, Melbourne (Victoria, Australia). When she was six-years-old, her family moved to Papua New Guinea where her father worked as a pilot.
Constable got her Arts/Law degree at Melborne University, then got a job at Warner Music. She started writing during these years.
She wrote several short-stories before becoming an author and after her first attempt at writing a novel she fell in love with the man that is now her husband. They have a daughter.
Constable's first official novel was The Singer of All Songs, in a trilogy called The Chanters of Tremaris. It was published in 2002, a few weeks after Constable's daughter was born.
Constable got her Arts/Law degree at Melborne University, then got a job at Warner Music. She started writing during these years.
She wrote several short-stories before becoming an author and after her first attempt at writing a novel she fell in love with the man that is now her husband. They have a daughter.
Constable's first official novel was The Singer of All Songs, in a trilogy called The Chanters of Tremaris. It was published in 2002, a few weeks after Constable's daughter was born.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 164 reviews
October 25, 2012
Originally posted on The Book Smugglers
So today I was supposed to be reviewing The Stillness of Time Travel a self-published novel by A.J. Maddicott. I learnt about the book at Foyles (The Best Indie Bookstore in the UK), which is one of the few bricks and mortar bookstores to sell the book because they love it so much. I had to buy it there and then and the book had been sitting on my TBR for a while until I decided it was about time to read it. And the premise is pretty cool: young boy learns that he can travel in time (the idea is that many people can, in fact, time travel by slipping though time in the stillness of those near-sleeping moments) and then goes back to Victorian London where he will take part in the theft of the world’s most famous diamond, the Star of Banhavgarh.
The problem is, 200 pages (out of 412) into the book and nothing had really happened and I was just bored out of my mind. And you know when you are reading a book and you keep willing it to be good because you truly think there is potential there? It didn’t work (does it ever?). It got to a point where I had to decide whether I kept reading or tried something else and I decided to go with trying something else and I had Crown Country by Kate Constable, this other time travel book sitting on my (virtual) shelf. That book came highly recommended what with its credentials of winning the 2012 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Award – Younger Readers and being shortlisted for the 2012 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Children’s literature award as well as the 2012 WA Premier’s Literary Award.
Big mistake. Because Crow Country made me angry and man, I should have stuck with boring. It would have been better for my blood pressure.
Basically, the book is a time-slip fantasy featuring a 13 year old white girl named Sadie whose mother decided to move to a small town called Boort, in Australia. She is not very happy about it but has no choice bla bla bla Contemporary YA clichéd set up we all know, etc. Nothing new to see here.
Now, Boort was once a territory occupied by the Yung Balung Clan of the Dja Dja Wurrung people, a native Aboriginal tribe. Waa the Crow, is one of their commanding totems, a hero and ancestor of the Dja Dja Wurrung people. Their land has been taken over by white people and their population decimated but for a remaining few.
In Crow Country, white protagonist Sadie finds the remains of a sacred circle of stones that used to belong to the Yung Balung Clan for thousands of years until it was taken over by a family of white farmers 150 years ago. When she steps into that stone circle, she learns that it’s Crow’s place and she is then able to understand what the crows that are so abundant in the place are saying. Crow tells her then that he has “work” for her to do. She then slips back in time into the body of an ancestor to witness the murder of an Aboriginal man named Jimmy Raven years and years ago, who was then buried in secret. He was killed by the white man who owned the piece of land where there were sacred remains of Aboriginal people which Jimmy was trying to protect. Sadie’s ancestor covered up the murder. The story progresses back and forth in time and Sadie learns that she must right the wrongs of the past and with the help of a young Aboriginal man called Walter she finds out that she needs to restore peace to the memory of Jimmy Raven. At the same time, in Real Time Australia, Sadie and her mother are first-hand witnesses of racism as her mother hooks up with childhood sweetheart David, an Aboriginal man (Walter’s uncle).
I can see the good intentions behind this story, I truly can. It depicts racism as a Bad Thing, it praises Integration and Friendship Among Races, it shows the complex racial relations in modern day Australia as well as the connections to the land that both Aboriginal and non-indigenous people share (although if you ask me, I’d say that thousands of years of connection trumps a couple of hundred years anytime but that’s just me). The elements of Aboriginal culture and spirituality seem to have been researched carefully as evidenced by the foreword provided by an Elder of the Yung Balug Clan praising the story as one of collaboration.
For me though, the problem is not how those good intentions and elements above were depicted because they seem to have been done so with respect and after careful research. The problem is how and why those elements where incorporated into the story. The problem is the focus of the story.
Because you see, it is all about the whites. This is a story in which a white heroine is chosen by the totem of an Aboriginal Clan to right wrongs of the past. Because for some reason she is the only one that can do it even though she is friends with an Aboriginal boy who is actually a descendant of the murdered man and someone who shares the same religious beliefs as Jimmy did. “To right wrongs of past” by the way, does not mean revealing that the person who murdered Jimmy Raven was a white man and a pillar of society – and tell everybody the truth about him. No, it means only finding out where Jimmy’s body rests so that they can mark his burial place and also find his sacred object and return it to his Clan.
Speaking of Jimmy he is described by Sadie as a friendly man, “no one to be frightened of” with a “deep rolling laugh” and “too big for the small kitchen” and a religious man with “special” powers and special connections to the land. Ladies and gentleman, do I spot a Magical Negro? No, I actually spot TWO: because there is yet another secondary character that shows up only to impart her wisdom and help the white protagonist find her way.
So to recap: even though the main plot point of this story is to find out where this Aboriginal man is buried and rescue his sacred object in order to return it to his clan, all of the Aboriginal characters in the book are secondary appendixes to the White Saviour heroine’s Path of Glory. It is actually scary how oblivious this story is with regards on how it chooses to focus the story on the White People’s Plight. I mean, even the scenes where Sadie and her mother witness racism first hand it is all about them and how it is hard for them and how they are so special when they manage to help bridging the relationship between Blacks and whites in the novel.
The most glaring example is how Sadie’s mother rekindles her relationship with old sweetheart David and then proceeds to browbeat him into being more sociable. She insists he should go out with her to the pub (where people menacingly react to his very presence) and that he should work together with a guy who in the past, beat him up almost to death. He does not want to do any of those things but in the end complies. There is also another secondary character, a white boy Sadie kind of fancies and who is not only a racist jerk but also at times, a seemingly dangerous one. But in the end, because the Aboriginal people opened themselves up to it guided by the two main white characters, a magical and beautiful flower of friendship develops between everybody. Even though there is no actual character development whatsoever to make it even remotely believable that so many obviously racist characters suddenly become enlighten and are surprise: Not Racists!
But you know, the book won awards and shit so I don’t know anything anymore.
So today I was supposed to be reviewing The Stillness of Time Travel a self-published novel by A.J. Maddicott. I learnt about the book at Foyles (The Best Indie Bookstore in the UK), which is one of the few bricks and mortar bookstores to sell the book because they love it so much. I had to buy it there and then and the book had been sitting on my TBR for a while until I decided it was about time to read it. And the premise is pretty cool: young boy learns that he can travel in time (the idea is that many people can, in fact, time travel by slipping though time in the stillness of those near-sleeping moments) and then goes back to Victorian London where he will take part in the theft of the world’s most famous diamond, the Star of Banhavgarh.
The problem is, 200 pages (out of 412) into the book and nothing had really happened and I was just bored out of my mind. And you know when you are reading a book and you keep willing it to be good because you truly think there is potential there? It didn’t work (does it ever?). It got to a point where I had to decide whether I kept reading or tried something else and I decided to go with trying something else and I had Crown Country by Kate Constable, this other time travel book sitting on my (virtual) shelf. That book came highly recommended what with its credentials of winning the 2012 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Award – Younger Readers and being shortlisted for the 2012 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Children’s literature award as well as the 2012 WA Premier’s Literary Award.
Big mistake. Because Crow Country made me angry and man, I should have stuck with boring. It would have been better for my blood pressure.
Basically, the book is a time-slip fantasy featuring a 13 year old white girl named Sadie whose mother decided to move to a small town called Boort, in Australia. She is not very happy about it but has no choice bla bla bla Contemporary YA clichéd set up we all know, etc. Nothing new to see here.
Now, Boort was once a territory occupied by the Yung Balung Clan of the Dja Dja Wurrung people, a native Aboriginal tribe. Waa the Crow, is one of their commanding totems, a hero and ancestor of the Dja Dja Wurrung people. Their land has been taken over by white people and their population decimated but for a remaining few.
In Crow Country, white protagonist Sadie finds the remains of a sacred circle of stones that used to belong to the Yung Balung Clan for thousands of years until it was taken over by a family of white farmers 150 years ago. When she steps into that stone circle, she learns that it’s Crow’s place and she is then able to understand what the crows that are so abundant in the place are saying. Crow tells her then that he has “work” for her to do. She then slips back in time into the body of an ancestor to witness the murder of an Aboriginal man named Jimmy Raven years and years ago, who was then buried in secret. He was killed by the white man who owned the piece of land where there were sacred remains of Aboriginal people which Jimmy was trying to protect. Sadie’s ancestor covered up the murder. The story progresses back and forth in time and Sadie learns that she must right the wrongs of the past and with the help of a young Aboriginal man called Walter she finds out that she needs to restore peace to the memory of Jimmy Raven. At the same time, in Real Time Australia, Sadie and her mother are first-hand witnesses of racism as her mother hooks up with childhood sweetheart David, an Aboriginal man (Walter’s uncle).
I can see the good intentions behind this story, I truly can. It depicts racism as a Bad Thing, it praises Integration and Friendship Among Races, it shows the complex racial relations in modern day Australia as well as the connections to the land that both Aboriginal and non-indigenous people share (although if you ask me, I’d say that thousands of years of connection trumps a couple of hundred years anytime but that’s just me). The elements of Aboriginal culture and spirituality seem to have been researched carefully as evidenced by the foreword provided by an Elder of the Yung Balug Clan praising the story as one of collaboration.
For me though, the problem is not how those good intentions and elements above were depicted because they seem to have been done so with respect and after careful research. The problem is how and why those elements where incorporated into the story. The problem is the focus of the story.
Because you see, it is all about the whites. This is a story in which a white heroine is chosen by the totem of an Aboriginal Clan to right wrongs of the past. Because for some reason she is the only one that can do it even though she is friends with an Aboriginal boy who is actually a descendant of the murdered man and someone who shares the same religious beliefs as Jimmy did. “To right wrongs of past” by the way, does not mean revealing that the person who murdered Jimmy Raven was a white man and a pillar of society – and tell everybody the truth about him. No, it means only finding out where Jimmy’s body rests so that they can mark his burial place and also find his sacred object and return it to his Clan.
Speaking of Jimmy he is described by Sadie as a friendly man, “no one to be frightened of” with a “deep rolling laugh” and “too big for the small kitchen” and a religious man with “special” powers and special connections to the land. Ladies and gentleman, do I spot a Magical Negro? No, I actually spot TWO: because there is yet another secondary character that shows up only to impart her wisdom and help the white protagonist find her way.
So to recap: even though the main plot point of this story is to find out where this Aboriginal man is buried and rescue his sacred object in order to return it to his clan, all of the Aboriginal characters in the book are secondary appendixes to the White Saviour heroine’s Path of Glory. It is actually scary how oblivious this story is with regards on how it chooses to focus the story on the White People’s Plight. I mean, even the scenes where Sadie and her mother witness racism first hand it is all about them and how it is hard for them and how they are so special when they manage to help bridging the relationship between Blacks and whites in the novel.
The most glaring example is how Sadie’s mother rekindles her relationship with old sweetheart David and then proceeds to browbeat him into being more sociable. She insists he should go out with her to the pub (where people menacingly react to his very presence) and that he should work together with a guy who in the past, beat him up almost to death. He does not want to do any of those things but in the end complies. There is also another secondary character, a white boy Sadie kind of fancies and who is not only a racist jerk but also at times, a seemingly dangerous one. But in the end, because the Aboriginal people opened themselves up to it guided by the two main white characters, a magical and beautiful flower of friendship develops between everybody. Even though there is no actual character development whatsoever to make it even remotely believable that so many obviously racist characters suddenly become enlighten and are surprise: Not Racists!
But you know, the book won awards and shit so I don’t know anything anymore.
November 11, 2012
this is the worst book I have ever read!
I had to read it for school and I know I was not the only one who found it boring and confusing
the story is weird and in some parts she says quite a few rude things about peoples races
I love books I do but this was not existing at all. the way Sadie traveled back in time as someone else but knew she was from present day but still thought like someone else was hard to read and had not much of a story line.
so many people complained about this book that after the first year our school has stopped reading it.
I had to read it for school and I know I was not the only one who found it boring and confusing
the story is weird and in some parts she says quite a few rude things about peoples races
I love books I do but this was not existing at all. the way Sadie traveled back in time as someone else but knew she was from present day but still thought like someone else was hard to read and had not much of a story line.
so many people complained about this book that after the first year our school has stopped reading it.
November 2, 2011
I absolutely loved this book. I've only read Kate Constable's Tremaris series which is one of my absolute favourite fantasy series of all times - right up there with Le Guin, Nix, Pullman - so I shouldn't be at all surprised that I loved this book.
The story weaves together three stories from 3 generations and spans indigenous and non-indigenous themes. When Sadie's mother Ellie decides to move from the city to Boort, a small country town in northern Victoria, Sadie is not impressed. Boort is 'parched ... and empty' (p.10) and Sadie doesn't easily fit in with the kids at her new school. It doesn't take long however, for Sadie to become fascinated with the dry landscape and the constant presence of crows. Exploring Lake Invergarry, a lesser-known lake near town, Sadie discovers a ring of nine silt-encrusted stones. As she is 'freeing' the stones from their silt with her hands a crow starts talking to her. The crow turns out to be Waa, the spiritual totem of the Yung Balug Clan, the traditional owners of the area. Sadie continues to be drawn to the ring of stones and in time Waa tells her that he has a story to tell her of wrongs committed in the past that must be set right, and that she has a part in the story.
Sadie strikes up an on-again-off-again friendship with Lachie Mortlock, whose father dated Ellie years ago, and on whose property, Invergarry, the ring of stones sits. At the same time her mum starts dating another old boyfriend, a local Koorie David. Ellie and David had broken up because of the racism issues of the time, and Ellie is hoping that this time around they are both old and wise enough to deal with any issues that may arise. David’s nephew, Walter, is a troubled teenager who has been sent to live with him.
Without realising the trouble that will ensue, Sadie tells Lachie about the ring of stones she has found. So begins Sadie’s hunt to find out the truth of a terrible story that took place after her grandfather Clarry Hazzard and his fellow soldiers, Jimmy Raven and Gerald Mortlock, Lachie’s grandfather had returned from WWI.
Constable uses a clever time slip device where Sadie finds herself back in her family of the 1930s. All fantasy stories must have boundaries set which help create the tension of the story and the boundary that Constable uses works really well. Waa is an age old being from the Dreamtime and he is able to see and know some of the terrible event that has happened in the past, but he is not able to see the entire story. So Waa sends Sadie back to be able to see certain parts of the story hidden to him. This really heightens the need for Sadie to make certain decisions so that history can be changed.
In a subtle way Constable is able to deal with issues of racism and stewardship of the land without sounding preachy. The characters are so engaging and the relationships are so realistic.
I think this is one of the most important books to be published in Australia in 2011.
I am recommending it far and wide to all the teachers I know who are looking for a great lit. circle book, or class serial. I also predict that it will be one of my favourite reads of 2011 and will no doubt be on the CBCA and Aurealis shortlists next year.
The story weaves together three stories from 3 generations and spans indigenous and non-indigenous themes. When Sadie's mother Ellie decides to move from the city to Boort, a small country town in northern Victoria, Sadie is not impressed. Boort is 'parched ... and empty' (p.10) and Sadie doesn't easily fit in with the kids at her new school. It doesn't take long however, for Sadie to become fascinated with the dry landscape and the constant presence of crows. Exploring Lake Invergarry, a lesser-known lake near town, Sadie discovers a ring of nine silt-encrusted stones. As she is 'freeing' the stones from their silt with her hands a crow starts talking to her. The crow turns out to be Waa, the spiritual totem of the Yung Balug Clan, the traditional owners of the area. Sadie continues to be drawn to the ring of stones and in time Waa tells her that he has a story to tell her of wrongs committed in the past that must be set right, and that she has a part in the story.
Sadie strikes up an on-again-off-again friendship with Lachie Mortlock, whose father dated Ellie years ago, and on whose property, Invergarry, the ring of stones sits. At the same time her mum starts dating another old boyfriend, a local Koorie David. Ellie and David had broken up because of the racism issues of the time, and Ellie is hoping that this time around they are both old and wise enough to deal with any issues that may arise. David’s nephew, Walter, is a troubled teenager who has been sent to live with him.
Without realising the trouble that will ensue, Sadie tells Lachie about the ring of stones she has found. So begins Sadie’s hunt to find out the truth of a terrible story that took place after her grandfather Clarry Hazzard and his fellow soldiers, Jimmy Raven and Gerald Mortlock, Lachie’s grandfather had returned from WWI.
Constable uses a clever time slip device where Sadie finds herself back in her family of the 1930s. All fantasy stories must have boundaries set which help create the tension of the story and the boundary that Constable uses works really well. Waa is an age old being from the Dreamtime and he is able to see and know some of the terrible event that has happened in the past, but he is not able to see the entire story. So Waa sends Sadie back to be able to see certain parts of the story hidden to him. This really heightens the need for Sadie to make certain decisions so that history can be changed.
In a subtle way Constable is able to deal with issues of racism and stewardship of the land without sounding preachy. The characters are so engaging and the relationships are so realistic.
I think this is one of the most important books to be published in Australia in 2011.
I am recommending it far and wide to all the teachers I know who are looking for a great lit. circle book, or class serial. I also predict that it will be one of my favourite reads of 2011 and will no doubt be on the CBCA and Aurealis shortlists next year.
March 16, 2021
I'm still in two minds about this book. One the one hand it's beautifully written, has good pacing, solid characters, good structure and brings important issues out into the open. The basic storyline - about a teenage girl who moves (against her wishes) to the small country town where her mother grew up - sets up the current racial conflicts, and those unresolved from the past, really well.
It is important to note the author liaised with Aboriginal Elders from the country she was writing about, and that there is a foreword from an Elder from that country which is supportive of the novel. I think (though I don't know for sure) that the author was probably trying to achieve a few things, including looking at how racism against Aboriginal peoples occurs today compared to the past, looking at the current impact of past racist policies and beliefs, and also taking some ownership, as a white person, for recognising and wanting to make reparations for past wrongs.
In doing this the author had to make some tough choices. How could she tell this story without culturally appropriating the Aboriginal Dreaming story of the crow? How could she raise the issues for young adults in a way that didn't apportion blame/guilt but instead shone a light on the issues so they could be discussed with openness. She tackled the first question by choosing a white narrator, and by working with the local Aboriginal peoples to get their advice. Secondly, she pulls no punches with some very accurate dialogue that clearly shows some of the current racist attitudes that fall under the "I'm not racist but..." banner. But she also glosses over some issues in a way that overall do detract from the book as a whole.
I think the review by Book Smugglers is right when it points out that the real problem with this book is its focus. Book Smuggler writes: "Because you see, it is all about the whites. This is a story in which a white heroine is chosen by the totem of an Aboriginal Clan to right wrongs of the past. Because for some reason she is the only one that can do it even though she is friends with an Aboriginal boy who is actually a descendant of the murdered man and someone who shares the same religious beliefs as Jimmy did." The full review from Book Smugglers is worth reading, and although I don't 100% agree with it I think it raises a lot of valid points.
So, should a book like this be written at all? How should non-Indigenous authors write about Australia's true history since white settlement/invasion? I think Constable has taken important steps to write this book the best possible way she could, with the best intentions. But I can't help thinking that maybe a better solution for this story might have been to work with an Aboriginal co-author. Many of the stories of Australia's recent history in relation to our nation's First Peoples are not pretty. They do need to be told. But I think we need to think carefully, and as non-Indigenous people step outside our own world view, to think about why and how we tell them.
It is important to note the author liaised with Aboriginal Elders from the country she was writing about, and that there is a foreword from an Elder from that country which is supportive of the novel. I think (though I don't know for sure) that the author was probably trying to achieve a few things, including looking at how racism against Aboriginal peoples occurs today compared to the past, looking at the current impact of past racist policies and beliefs, and also taking some ownership, as a white person, for recognising and wanting to make reparations for past wrongs.
In doing this the author had to make some tough choices. How could she tell this story without culturally appropriating the Aboriginal Dreaming story of the crow? How could she raise the issues for young adults in a way that didn't apportion blame/guilt but instead shone a light on the issues so they could be discussed with openness. She tackled the first question by choosing a white narrator, and by working with the local Aboriginal peoples to get their advice. Secondly, she pulls no punches with some very accurate dialogue that clearly shows some of the current racist attitudes that fall under the "I'm not racist but..." banner. But she also glosses over some issues in a way that overall do detract from the book as a whole.
I think the review by Book Smugglers is right when it points out that the real problem with this book is its focus. Book Smuggler writes: "Because you see, it is all about the whites. This is a story in which a white heroine is chosen by the totem of an Aboriginal Clan to right wrongs of the past. Because for some reason she is the only one that can do it even though she is friends with an Aboriginal boy who is actually a descendant of the murdered man and someone who shares the same religious beliefs as Jimmy did." The full review from Book Smugglers is worth reading, and although I don't 100% agree with it I think it raises a lot of valid points.
So, should a book like this be written at all? How should non-Indigenous authors write about Australia's true history since white settlement/invasion? I think Constable has taken important steps to write this book the best possible way she could, with the best intentions. But I can't help thinking that maybe a better solution for this story might have been to work with an Aboriginal co-author. Many of the stories of Australia's recent history in relation to our nation's First Peoples are not pretty. They do need to be told. But I think we need to think carefully, and as non-Indigenous people step outside our own world view, to think about why and how we tell them.
March 16, 2014
A fantastic story! The first few pages had me worried, but it only got better from there. A fast-paced book that draws on Aboriginal tales of Waa the Crow and creates a other-worldly and at times spooky story that jumps between present day and 1933. Many great themes to discuss with students: reconciliation, equal rights, drought, heritage etc.
I am very impressed with Crow Country and look forward to sharing it with grade five and six students.
I am very impressed with Crow Country and look forward to sharing it with grade five and six students.
September 18, 2023
"She had a feeling that Crow's stories were sunk so deep in the bones of this country that they would never break off, never be finished. They would circle around as the stars circled, always changing, always the same."
December 13, 2024
How had it taken a entire year to read a book i was meant to read at the start of the year this year? Idk we didn’t even need to read it for school because of some controversial things about this author writing this book. I physically have nothing new to read on my shelf that i actually am even considering to read and i already started this so i might as well have read it. So i read from past 30 pages today so majority of the book and it took like 2 hrs to read. The plot was missing everything- no development no mystery just confusion like why couldn’t the crow take her back in time to the right place the first time- why waste that time when people got hurt and stuff?
Her whole relationship with her mum was weird why did she call her ellie alll the time like what? Also how come after her friend walter hit lauchie with the rock and he was out cold- how come they decided to be besties right after like Lauchie decided to forgive them and be besties. why tho walter nearly killed him and before that he was chasing them to arrest them and hated them? It didn’t make sense sure enimies to friends but what was that turnaround. Yeah i get this was a short standalone book for like 10 year olds but it lacked any sort of development- message or clear storyline. Idk i liked the setting it was alright and i liked the pub and the footy but there was no description of the places- what decor is in her house or Lauchies house idk what did it smell like. None of the other 5 senses being used. U have them for a reason
This was ok cause i had nothing to read but it is not worth $13 at the shop, not my time and i am very thankful I didn’t have to summarise this and research it and make it into a essay for english at school yikes. 😟
Her whole relationship with her mum was weird why did she call her ellie alll the time like what? Also how come after her friend walter hit lauchie with the rock and he was out cold- how come they decided to be besties right after like Lauchie decided to forgive them and be besties. why tho walter nearly killed him and before that he was chasing them to arrest them and hated them? It didn’t make sense sure enimies to friends but what was that turnaround. Yeah i get this was a short standalone book for like 10 year olds but it lacked any sort of development- message or clear storyline. Idk i liked the setting it was alright and i liked the pub and the footy but there was no description of the places- what decor is in her house or Lauchies house idk what did it smell like. None of the other 5 senses being used. U have them for a reason
This was ok cause i had nothing to read but it is not worth $13 at the shop, not my time and i am very thankful I didn’t have to summarise this and research it and make it into a essay for english at school yikes. 😟
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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May 11, 2024
Trigger & Content Warnings
Racism & racial slurs
Murder (hate crime)
Destruction & theft of sacred Indigenous sites and objects
Racism & racial slurs
Murder (hate crime)
Destruction & theft of sacred Indigenous sites and objects
December 19, 2015
Hmm... I was sure I'd reviewed this book several years back. But I couldn't find the review anywhere. So I decided to have another read of it to refresh my memory. Serendipitous choice - as the day after I started, I was able to offer a friend some significant info based on the contents of the book.
Ok, it's a timeslip adventure. Reminds me, just a little, of Rosanne Hawke's The Messenger Bird for that reason.
Though this is a book with a detached floaty feeling. In keeping with the character of Sadie, who is dragged to Boort in country Victoria by a mother who loved visiting there when she was a kid. But kinda forgot to ask Sadie her feelings on the matter.
Sadie is short for Saturday, a name given her by her mum Ellie because that's the day she was born. Ellie is eager to fit in to Boort society, such as it is - but even more eager to resume a relationship with David, an aboriginal man she fell in love with more than a decade before. David has returned to town, and is helping his troubled nephew Walter stay on the straight and narrow.
Boort is Crow Country. Waa, the crow spirit, has a task for Sadie and she quickly becomes subject to eerie timeslips into the past. There she becomes Sadie, the daughter of her great-grandfather, who becomes the accessory to a murder when his employer kills an aboriginal worker. Jimmy Raven, Clarry Hazzard and Gerard Mortlock had been friends during the Great War, saving each others' lives. But back home, the relationship between people of different social classes and different skin colours is hide-bound and full of prejudice. Jimmy tries to stop Gerry from building a dam and flooding a sacred site - a ring of huge stones with carvings on them (sounds more like a Celtic stone circle than a bora ring but never mind), but Gerry is determined to go ahead with his plans.
Gerry kills Jimmy - unintentionally - and Clarry helps him cover it up.
But Waa knows. And Waa insists that, if injustice has occurred, punishment must follow. The past will repeat itself in the present generation. Injustice, racism, murder, cover-ups...
Sadie realises that the past is starting to be relived in her life and that of Walter, as well as that of Lachie Mortlock - a boy just a few years older than her who takes an interest in her. Lachie's a decent human being when he's alone but get him with his friends - and he's arrogant and nasty.
Waa keeps insisting she must find the intersection of Crow's story with her own story. If she can find the sacred objects of Jimmy, the 'Clever Man', and return them to the tribe - perhaps the cycle of destruction can be interrupted.
Ok, it's a timeslip adventure. Reminds me, just a little, of Rosanne Hawke's The Messenger Bird for that reason.
Though this is a book with a detached floaty feeling. In keeping with the character of Sadie, who is dragged to Boort in country Victoria by a mother who loved visiting there when she was a kid. But kinda forgot to ask Sadie her feelings on the matter.
Sadie is short for Saturday, a name given her by her mum Ellie because that's the day she was born. Ellie is eager to fit in to Boort society, such as it is - but even more eager to resume a relationship with David, an aboriginal man she fell in love with more than a decade before. David has returned to town, and is helping his troubled nephew Walter stay on the straight and narrow.
Boort is Crow Country. Waa, the crow spirit, has a task for Sadie and she quickly becomes subject to eerie timeslips into the past. There she becomes Sadie, the daughter of her great-grandfather, who becomes the accessory to a murder when his employer kills an aboriginal worker. Jimmy Raven, Clarry Hazzard and Gerard Mortlock had been friends during the Great War, saving each others' lives. But back home, the relationship between people of different social classes and different skin colours is hide-bound and full of prejudice. Jimmy tries to stop Gerry from building a dam and flooding a sacred site - a ring of huge stones with carvings on them (sounds more like a Celtic stone circle than a bora ring but never mind), but Gerry is determined to go ahead with his plans.
Gerry kills Jimmy - unintentionally - and Clarry helps him cover it up.
But Waa knows. And Waa insists that, if injustice has occurred, punishment must follow. The past will repeat itself in the present generation. Injustice, racism, murder, cover-ups...
Sadie realises that the past is starting to be relived in her life and that of Walter, as well as that of Lachie Mortlock - a boy just a few years older than her who takes an interest in her. Lachie's a decent human being when he's alone but get him with his friends - and he's arrogant and nasty.
Waa keeps insisting she must find the intersection of Crow's story with her own story. If she can find the sacred objects of Jimmy, the 'Clever Man', and return them to the tribe - perhaps the cycle of destruction can be interrupted.
January 16, 2020
Trigger warnings: racism, racial slurs,
Ehhhhh?? Like, I literally only read this because it's a set text at work and I figure that at some point I should try and read what the kids have to read so I know why they hate their set texts. You know?
Anyway. I understand WHY this is a set text because it allows discussion of a lot of themes relevant to Australian society. But at the same time, this has........kind of a white saviour feel to it that I'm not comfortable with? I know the preface from Dja Dja Warrung elders saying that they're glad Constable has written this book etc etc, but I would have been so much more on board with this story if it had been written by an Indigenous author and featuring an Indigenous protagonist.
Also I felt like the time slip aspect of the story wasn't entirely clear. Basically, I wanted this to be an Indigenous focused version of Merryll of the Stones and it wasn't and now I'm kind of bummed out.
Ehhhhh?? Like, I literally only read this because it's a set text at work and I figure that at some point I should try and read what the kids have to read so I know why they hate their set texts. You know?
Anyway. I understand WHY this is a set text because it allows discussion of a lot of themes relevant to Australian society. But at the same time, this has........kind of a white saviour feel to it that I'm not comfortable with? I know the preface from Dja Dja Warrung elders saying that they're glad Constable has written this book etc etc, but I would have been so much more on board with this story if it had been written by an Indigenous author and featuring an Indigenous protagonist.
Also I felt like the time slip aspect of the story wasn't entirely clear. Basically, I wanted this to be an Indigenous focused version of Merryll of the Stones and it wasn't and now I'm kind of bummed out.
May 13, 2012
Lyn is a judge for the Aurealis Awards. This review is the personal opinion of Lyn herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
I picked it up, I put it down. I read something else. Rinse, repeat. I'm aware I should really love this because so far it really feels like the first true Australian book, but I don't. I just can't engage with it at all. I gave it high marks for its originality and its world building and because its so unashamedly Ocker in a genre that tends not to go there, but everything else is rather uninspiring.
Next.
I picked it up, I put it down. I read something else. Rinse, repeat. I'm aware I should really love this because so far it really feels like the first true Australian book, but I don't. I just can't engage with it at all. I gave it high marks for its originality and its world building and because its so unashamedly Ocker in a genre that tends not to go there, but everything else is rather uninspiring.
Next.
April 18, 2017
Just finished this bit of holiday reading and I give it two thumbs up. A great book that explores the idea that the Dreaming of indigenous Australians' isn't just in the past but part of the present and future. Kate Constable has created believable young characters who are considering the importance of their own stories, how they're intertwined with the stories of people in their past and present and the power they have to create their own stories by making choices based in honesty and integrity.
October 16, 2014
Hands down, worst book I've ever read
December 21, 2022
I really liked this book, it had a solid pace, raised issues that are very topical and as a young person living in Australia provides a storyline they can perhaps see around them and relate to. The main character was likeable, brave and clever, relatable to so many. The story was set in Dja Dja Warrung country and gave an insight into the culture of the Dja Dja Warrung people, it also highlighted racism, both past and current. It could have gone a step further by making the main character indigenous, rather than side characters. But can a white woman (assuming Kate constable is white) write that story? I don’t think so.
I would have given it 4 stars but it wrapped up a little too neatly and seemed like a rushed finish.
I would have given it 4 stars but it wrapped up a little too neatly and seemed like a rushed finish.
April 9, 2021
Unsettling in a good way.
While I appreciate people writing Indigenous culture, and the foreword praising it from community leaders, it still feels very second-account, and while lovely I wonder where the first-hand accounts are.
While I appreciate people writing Indigenous culture, and the foreword praising it from community leaders, it still feels very second-account, and while lovely I wonder where the first-hand accounts are.
June 9, 2022
My Year 7 class adored this novel and felt as if they could really relate to the inquisitive and adventurous character of Sadie.
June 25, 2022
اونجایی که سیاهی دورشو میگرفت و تو زمان غرق میشد برام لحظهی قشنگی بود.
November 8, 2023
A read for year 7. We cheated and read chapter summaries for the last quarter of the book lol. Engaging read for them and me
October 9, 2024
A really lovely, interesting book. Thoughtfully written, sad, well paced and well aimed for a middle grade audience.
Ultimately the message is there is always the opportunity to right a wrong, no matter how old the wrong is.
A really good book.
Ultimately the message is there is always the opportunity to right a wrong, no matter how old the wrong is.
A really good book.
August 26, 2025
It confused me how Sadie travelled back in time but it was never properly stated. There was also never really any major plot twists though out the book
December 6, 2012
This has received very mixed reviews on Goodreads; some people love it and give it five stars, other people hate it and give it one. I don't quite understand the people who have described it as 'boring' (I felt like doing that irritating adult thing and saying "only boring people get bored"). I loved the descriptions of Boort and its surrounds, but maybe that's because I spent time up there after the 2011 floods and can picture the area. I found this a good teen time-slip novel, comparable to 'Children of the King' by Sonya Hartnett which I read earlier this year. (I have a thing for time-slip books, obviously.)
One warning: if you are the sort of person who believes only indigenous people should write indigenous stories, you will not like this book. The protagonist is an Anglo-Celtic girl and we never see inside the head of the indigenous boy who befriends her. One reviewer I read saw this as implying that indigenous people need white rescuers; I read it as implying that the white descendants of people involved in Australia's racist past bear some responsibility for their ancestors' actions. The book does have a Forward from a member of the local indigenous community.
In a few years I'll pass my copy on to my nephew and niece. I think they'll enjoy this local story, and I want them to know about the dark side of Australia's history.
December 29, 2024
This was surprisingly good. At first I was skeptical about a white writer including Aboriginal spirituality but there were some self-aware comments about white people who think they understand but don't really and some haziness around detail. I am not Aboriginal so I can't really judge how accurate this is but Constable has cited the cultural experts who gave her permission, even encouragement to have a go.
I don't think she uses Aboriginal culture as an exotic touch either but as a focus for showing racist parts of history. The ending is a bit bland and idealised though I suppose any other ending would have been difficult. Significantly the young man who had been to gaol was a lot more relatable and responsible than young men who were not criminalised and this showed (I thought) the racism of the system.
It was an intergenerational mystery involving time travel (and changing the present by changing the past) and it showed teenage interactions in a way that was wholesome but not too sweet.
It's not own voice and as such we still need own voice stories of Aboriginality. But admitting that matters of race are a problematic in Australian life is important.
I don't think she uses Aboriginal culture as an exotic touch either but as a focus for showing racist parts of history. The ending is a bit bland and idealised though I suppose any other ending would have been difficult. Significantly the young man who had been to gaol was a lot more relatable and responsible than young men who were not criminalised and this showed (I thought) the racism of the system.
It was an intergenerational mystery involving time travel (and changing the present by changing the past) and it showed teenage interactions in a way that was wholesome but not too sweet.
It's not own voice and as such we still need own voice stories of Aboriginality. But admitting that matters of race are a problematic in Australian life is important.
October 14, 2016
Crow country is an okay book.
I read it only because I had to, and honestly I didn't like it that much.
Firstly, the main character Sadie annoyed me. I found her to be very selfish & childish.
Secondly, I still don't see the purpose of the whole book. While reading Crow Country, it builds up to a particular event & I don't see the importance of it. Along with that they never showed us what a particular object was so it's very hard to put together the pieces because this whole book was about that object.
Thirdly, I feel like the writing was very repetitive. The author used the same words to describe things/people over & over again - no new adjectives.
Fourthly, something that annoyed me was that she never described what the main character Sadie looked like. She never mentioned the colour or the length of her hair, I have no idea how the author pictured Sadie.
It was also a very confusing book, jumping from scene to scene.
I wouldn't read this book again & unless your into aboriginal heritage then I don't recommend it.
I read it only because I had to, and honestly I didn't like it that much.
Firstly, the main character Sadie annoyed me. I found her to be very selfish & childish.
Secondly, I still don't see the purpose of the whole book. While reading Crow Country, it builds up to a particular event & I don't see the importance of it. Along with that they never showed us what a particular object was so it's very hard to put together the pieces because this whole book was about that object.
Thirdly, I feel like the writing was very repetitive. The author used the same words to describe things/people over & over again - no new adjectives.
Fourthly, something that annoyed me was that she never described what the main character Sadie looked like. She never mentioned the colour or the length of her hair, I have no idea how the author pictured Sadie.
It was also a very confusing book, jumping from scene to scene.
I wouldn't read this book again & unless your into aboriginal heritage then I don't recommend it.
January 2, 2014
I am in such admiration of Kate Constable’s bravery and delicacy in writing this beautiful book, which draws upon Aboriginal mythology and Australian history to deal with themes of injustice, racism, truthfulness and atonement. Crow Country is a simple book, simply told, but that is part of its great strength. It tells the story of Sadie, an unhappy teenager who moves to the country with her flighty but loving mother. One day she stumbles across an Aboriginal sacred site, and a crow speaks to her – she is needed to right a wrong that occurred many years earlier. So Sadie slips back in time, into the body of one of her ancestors, and sees what happens. With the help of a local Aboriginal boy, she sets out to try to fix things.
A quote from the book: “The Dreaming is always; forever... it's always happening, and us mob, we're part of it, all the time, everywhere, and every-when too.”
I loved it.
A quote from the book: “The Dreaming is always; forever... it's always happening, and us mob, we're part of it, all the time, everywhere, and every-when too.”
I loved it.
June 19, 2015
Sadie isn’t happy about moving to a small aussie town her mum used to visit as a child. She has to leave everything behind in the city and she makes sure her mum knows how she feels about it.
Soon after arriving, she explores the area and finds a strange circle of stones in a dried up lake bed. To her shock, a crow lands nearby and speaks to her!
This is the beginning of a seemingly impossible task set by the crow – to right a wrong. The only trouble is Sadie has no idea what it is. When she begins to have blackouts – becoming another Sadie in her family history, the pieces slowly come together to reveal a horrible secret. With the help of a new friend they right the wrong the crow speaks of and bring families together.
March 10, 2012
I can not describe how much I loved this book and could not put it down. I read it in a few hours which is rare for me. I loved the language used throughout that I would use every day, great to see book continue with common language and slang rather than to smarten itself up (in a way). The text is easy to read and I must comment Kate's description of indigenous culture that has been written with such respect.
This text should be studied in schools as it brings forward the importance of the past and the actions of then and now. Sadie's experience in the text is magical and written so well that you could almost believe it could happen to you.
This text should be studied in schools as it brings forward the importance of the past and the actions of then and now. Sadie's experience in the text is magical and written so well that you could almost believe it could happen to you.
May 27, 2017
“The Dreaming is always; forever... it's always happening, and us mob, we're part of it, all the time, everywhere, and every-when too.”
Meh. This book should have been in the children's section, not the Young Adult. Can't really think of what else to say about it, it took me about 5 months to read, so I obviously didn't like it that much.
Meh. This book should have been in the children's section, not the Young Adult. Can't really think of what else to say about it, it took me about 5 months to read, so I obviously didn't like it that much.
April 14, 2012
Where crows own the land and people can understand what the crows say. Crow Country is a fascinating look into Aboriginal spirituality. Our Australian indigenous culture is complex and incredibly interesting. This is a compelling read with a theme of wrongs can being made right.
June 17, 2012
I really enjoyed this and found I wanted more, I didn't want it to end. The Time Slips were done really well and without confusion. I also felt its very topical in year of the 20th anniversary for Mabo. Looking forward to introducing it in my school library.
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