Tussock by Elizabeth Pulford
Walker Books, 2010. ISBN 9781921529450.
(Age 10-13) Recommended. When Katie's father goes missing on a routine
flight, her life is thrown into chaos. Close neighbours and friends try
to hold the family together while emergency services search for the
fallen plane. Katie believes that if she lights a lamp in the
little tin shed on a hill on their property, its light will guide her
father home. Her sister Madeleine believes that the fabled Stone Man
will find her father, and she builds one out of stones near the tin
shed. There they meet Troy, a troubled teen from a nearby camp for
disadvantaged youth, and the mystery surrounding him brings danger to
the girls. The search for the girls' father loses momentum as the
police use their resources to search for a dangerous criminal at loose
in the area.
Author Elizabeth Pulford has written an intriguing story that kept me
interested to the end. On one hand I was engrossed with the sisters'
use of superstition, which holds them together emotionally as they wait
for their father to be saved. I held my breath as Katie crept out at
night to light the lantern to guide her father home and empathised with
Madeleine she built up a Stone Man that would save her father from
drowning. Troy's appearance brought a sense of menace to the story. I
was never quite sure if Troy was dangerous or not, but the tension that
was built up as he interacted with the girls was quite riveting.
All the characters are described in-depth. Kate is a fully realised
young teenager, who feels constrained by her parents and Pulford's
description of her feelings, her grief, worry and regrets made me feel
as if I knew her. Troy's air of being lost, without a home, is very
well done. The growing friendship between the two is beautifully
constructed and Troy's sacrifice to save Kate will really appeal to
young readers. Secondary characters are also well rounded, in
particular Old Jonesy, the farmhand who helps the girls in their grief,
and the criminal is frightening.
Set in New Zealand tussock country, this a story that will appeal to
young girls, with its touch of romance, mystery and family dilemma.
Pat Pledger