The Secret Life of Maeve Lee Kwong

Children of the Wind #4

by Kirsty Murray

Where do you turn when your family is tragically torn apart, your close friends fall away, and your long-lost father is out of reach? Where do you fit when you're part Irish, part Chinese, part Australian? A warm-hearted story about teenage life in Australia now.

I keep thinking I'll see him any moment. It's crazy. I don't even know what he looks like. And it shouldn't matter that I can't find him. I've been fine for 14 years without him. Sorry, this is a stupid email. Hope everything in Sydney is cool. MLK

She was just about to log off when a new message popped into her mailbox. It was from Jackson. It was short and to the point and just what she needed to hear. Hey MLK. It is important. Go for it. Find him. xxxxxxx Love you all ways, JDT.

Maeve's safe world is torn apart when her mother dies in a car crash. Sent to live with her strict Chinese grandparents, she fights to hold onto the things she loves most - her two best friends, her dancing, her baby brother Ned. Secretly she pins her hopes on her Irish father, who doesn't even know she exists. From Sydney to Surfers, from Hong Kong to Ireland, Maeve searches for a path to follow, a place to belong.

A story about true friends, scattered family, and the life you make for yourself.
[From publisher]

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens

252 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2008

About the author

Kirsty Murray is a multi-award-winning author of more than 20 books for children and young adults. Her works include eleven novels as well as non-fiction, junior fiction, historical fiction, speculative fiction and picture books. She loves books, libraries, bookshops, readers, writers, puddles, puppies, and stories – especially stories about kids and teenagers. Her 2019 releases included the non-fiction title 'Kids Who Did' and a gorgeous new picture book 'When Billy was a Dog', illustrated by Karen Blair. 'Strangers on Country', by Kirsty & Dave Hartley with stunning illustrations by Dub Leffler was published in 2020.

You can find me all over the internet. There's stacks of information on my website at:

hhtps://www.kirstymurray.com


and I'm on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/kirstymurrayauthor



and Twitter:

http://twitter.com/kirstymurray

Reviews

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

'I know exactly what Einstein meant when he said, "Dancers are the athletes of God." You three look like angels. I can't wait to see you dancing in the Christmas concert.'

So says Maeve's mum, Sue, not long before she dies in a car accident. Maeve is a young teen who spends her days mediating between her friends - boy-crazy airhead Bianca and the more serious hard-working Steph.

Apart from an exploding glass during a seance, nothing has prepared Maeve for the shattering of her world when her mother dies. Her step-dad can't compete with the wealth of her grandparents - stiff traditional Chinese who want to take her away from school and friends to live with them. She begins to pin her hope on an Irish father who doesn't even know she exists.

Maeve was a great character but far and away the most enjoyable, at least for me, was the teacher Colm McCabe. Like some sort of mysterious guardian angel, dispensing accidental miracles, he's always on hand when Maeve is in danger or about to make a mistake she'll obviously regret.

[RCRC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for English! It's a really sad book! I NEARLY~! cried...

[Stevie Stephenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, but I'll round it up to 4 stars because I still love this series and believe it's underappreciated.

A typical Kirsty Murray novel focusing on how a feisty Irish Australian copes with tragedy and change. I'm an Australian who loves Irish history and generational stories - I'm very fascinated by how issues and anxieties travel down families and generations - so the Children of the Wind series is exactly my thing. Even if the books are middle-grade level and feature main characters who are all kids, I still think they're written with a mature and detailed flair that makes them suitable for anybody to read.

The Secret Life of Maeve Lee Kwong is dated however, but that's nobody's fault since the book was published in 2006. Maybe in the future this novel will be read as a work of historical fiction like the other novels, rather than something that's just 'dated'.

But one thing I think that sets the book back from aging well is Maeve's relationship with her teacher Colm McCabe. Don't get me wrong, it made me super happy to see that Colm from the last book had grown up to become her teacher, continuing the generational theme of the series, but a lot of the ways in which he treats her would be deemed inappropriate nowadays. Colm drives Maeve around in his car a lot, buys her food, gets highly involved in her personal life outside of school, and confides into her about his own personal and familial issues. We know that he only has good intentions and that that's is what the author intended but it did still make me feel a bit squeamish from time to time. He isn't taking advantage of her, but he easily could be.

There's also a few too many coincidences and unbelievable, convenient solutions in the book. I still care about these characters, so I was excited for Maeve when she first contacts her father, but also underwhelmed seeing how easy it was for her to do so. She never had to go on much of a journey to find him, but I guess the novel centres on how she's trying to find her place amongst her other family members and friends, not just her dad. But then we learn that the school happens to be going to the west of Ireland where her father lives right after she calls him, and then Colm happens to meet up with his long lost mum during the exact same trip... It all falls into place a little too nicely.

Slightly unbelievable coincidence aside though, I did still love how Colm got to reunite with his mum. It brings heartwarming closure to the first scene of the previous book where we see Deirdre seemingly abandon Colm at the orphanage and you're heartbroken for him, wondering how any mother could do that to her son. It would be interesting if we had an alternate story following Deirdre trying to track her son down however. Given the spiritual themes of the series and this book in particular, I feel Deirdre would have some kind of internal or spiritual knowledge telling her that her son is still alive, despite the orphanage having told her he was dead.

I also love how it's suggested Colm keeps his Catholicism, working at a Catholic school and offering to pray for Maeve. There's something about that that really defined his character in the previous book. And this is what I mean when I say I care about these characters, Kirsty Murray puts them through the absolute best, and the absolute worst. We see them struggle against the waves of tragedy they're placed in, only for them to come out on top in the end and grow up to help the next kid who's struggling, breaking cycles.

So while it's not perfect, this novel still brings a satisfying close to the series. I do entirely recommend the series for anybody who enjoys character-driven stories and light reading that still addresses deep topics.

[Halle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This, in my opinion, was the best book in the Children of the Wind series. It was an amazing concluding book as it brought back many of the ideas explored in the previous stories, while also exploring new themes.

[Concetta Kellough · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author did a good job of telling a story about a young teen whose mother dies unexpectedly and the emotional upheaval of not knowing her father and feeling she doesn’t fit in anywhere. I liked all the characters in the story.

[Amity · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit weird at the start. Didn’t get too much better, but a good time-waster.

[Izziebooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Crap

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maeve, Steph and Bianca are best friends and are well known for it. Life seems to be going well; dance, drama, school and even family life only has a few hiccups. But when a car accident has a fatal effect Maeve’s world is turned upside down. Life without her mother seems hard enough to bear without her grandparents making everything just a little harder. Maeve is made to move to Queensland, away from friends, her baby brother and everything she has ever known. Trying to stay connected to her old world she moves back to her old school, now as a border. From here things really start to happen as she, Steph and Bianca take a trip to Ireland. There, Maeve wishes to piece her world together, the unknown and the familiar, and discover who she is and where she belongs.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is the fourth book in the Children of the Wind series but as each book is separate to the others you can read this book as a standalone.

[Mary Refalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely story of growing up and identity, set in Sydney. Whilst the opening chapters are slow and a little contrived, the plot deepens and the characters develop beautifully soon after. Maeve is a convincing and likeable character, interested in the usual trials of adolescence. Her natural family crosses cultures and her blended family further confuses her identity. The driving force of the novel is Maeve's search for who she is and where she belongs. Kirsty Murray writes with subtlety and diplomacy about difficult and personal issues. This novel provides opportunities for deeper reading and for making text to self and text to world connections. It is well-suited to Stage 4, possibly most age appropriate for Year 8 girls, although male readers in a mixed gender class will also enjoy the story.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

13-year-old Maeve has never met her Irish father. She lives in Australia with her Chinese Australian mother, her stepfather, and her half-brother. When her mother dies in a car accident, Maeve suddenly doesn't know where she belongs. Her stepfather never adopted her and her father doesn't know about her. She suddenly finds herself living with her Chinese grandparents and feeling very lost. It's a story about loss and about finding yourself. It ties up a little too neatly and has too many coincidences, but is well written and has very believable teen characters.

[Itsbridie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book a while ago and so I've kind of forgotten everything but I do remember that it was my least favourite out of the series. I think partly because it was set in more modern times and also because everything was slowly becoming unconnected.

Even though I have said that it was my least favourite, it was still good and you should definitly read it--AFTER YOU HAVE READ THE OTHER 3!

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it's hard to say. I like the book and it was interesting but it could be even more exciting. It was a bit plain like any other book anyone could write so I think that this book can have more adjectives, more of a story and be more thrilling.

[Llama's rule (not Aaron Francis) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be really good!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was pretty good (but sad). Her mum dies, her dad doesnt know she exists. She is chinese/irish/australian.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its Great! I'm reading it for english literature circle.

[Tabitha Munyaka · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow nice book i thought it was going to be about ghost when i opened the first page. like it

[Oreoluwa Adebajo · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good and inspiring

[Megan Lo]

It is a good book, a book about Maeve shaping her life after her mother dies.

[Ali]

hated it very rushed ending

[Ann Han · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book!It's very interesting..

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was sad and happy and well written