- Hardcover: 128 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Australia (May 28 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0670873519
- ISBN-13: 978-0670873517
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 17.3 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 272 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
From School Library Journal
Grade 6-8. This powerfully written, gripping novel examines the feelings of two boys who join together in a quest for hidden gold. Brendan has moved recently to Jacks Marsh, Australia, from England. An outcast among his peers, he seeks solitude at the nearby reservoir where he is free to draw the creatures he sees around him. There he discovers that the severe drought has caused the water level in the reservoir to recede; the sunken village of Walden, an old gold mining town, is therefore "rising." Bago is Brendan's chief tormentor. Yet, as the drought deepens and Bago and his father are forced to kill all but their breeding stock, Bago becomes less of a bully and more of a distraught boy. Thrown together in their search, the boys are discovered by two men who are also looking for the treasure. Murder, pursuit, and escape follow and draw the book to its moving and ironic conclusion. The author weaves into the narrative stories of other schoolboys and families that lived in Jacks Marsh. The tragedy surrounding the sunken town pervades all of their lives and irrevocably leads to the final outcome. Although the ending is not pat or happy, it is a satisfying one that brings together all of the threads of the story and leaves the boys wiser and better able to deal with the lives they have been given. Baillie uses third-person narrative to set the atmosphere, build the suspense, and lead readers into Brendan's thoughts and feelings. The author alternates these descriptive sections with realistic dialogue that moves the action along quickly and dramatically.?Wendy D. Caldiero, New York Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 5^-7. The new kid in an isolated Australian community parched by drought, Brendan feels unwelcome. After the school yard bully pummels him, Brendan takes off on his bicycle and finds Walden, a ghost town gradually rising from the bed of a reservoir as the water level falls. Old tales of Walden's hidden treasure lead to violence and even murder in the last scene, when friends become enemies, enemies become friends, and past meets present in a series of alarming discoveries and confrontations. This Australian novel starts off in a slow and understated manner. Readers who like things clearly spelled out in plain (American) English may lose patience, but those who persevere will find the final scenes as exciting as they come. Carolyn Phelan
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
3.0 out of 5 stars
Weak Ending on a Decent Story, Jun 6 2007
By A. Luciano - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Secrets Of Walden Rising (Hardcover)
Brendan and his father have moved from London to a very small town in Australia. Despite his attempts to make friends and fit in, Brendan's life is miserable. All of the other kids in town seem to have lived here forever; they can even trace their ancestors back to the very first settlers. Brendan is an outcast because he is new and because he prefers to draw in his sketch pad instead of playing their games with them.There is a secret place Brendan likes to go--a lake formed out in the woods by a dam further down the water. Brendan found a hole in a fence near the woods that allowed him to find this place. He often goes there to sit on the bank of the lake and draw. When a drought starts lowering the water level in the lake, Brendan starts seeing something amazing. There is an entire town under the lake.
Through a little research, Brendan finds out that the town is called Walden, and was a gold-mining town where the very first settlers lived. But he also hears from an old man who lived there in his youth that the town has an evil about it. As the lake dries out more and more and the town becomes more and more visible, people in Brendan's town start becoming nastier and nastier toward each other. Is it the drought that is affecting their behavior, or is it something about Walden?
I liked the idea of the town rising out of the water, and I liked Brendan's descriptions of how it happened. I thought the portrayal of the boys in this story was good, especially the way Tony seemed torn between his old friends and wanting to be nice to Brendan. The end of the story was pretty weak, though.
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