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y separately published work icon Deepwater single work   novel   young adult   historical fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 1987... 1987 Deepwater
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'When Char's older brother goes to war, it is her responsibility to take on his job as farm assistant to their father. With the men away at war, many women are filling the positions which had previously been in male-dominated areas.

'Another example of this is Miss Playfair, who arrives from the city as the first female to teach at the local Kanyul school. Her arrival coincides with, and in many ways contributes to, the prevailing disruption in the formerly close-knit community.

'Char discovers that in war time, there are not only the natural disasters of drought and shortage to contend with. There are also personal hatreds and prejudices which sweep through the community, overriding the coherence and cooperation the war should bring to the lives of her people.

'Deepwater is a moving account of the experience of war for those at home, through the eyes of a young girl.'

Source:

'Australian and Special' [review], The Canberra Times, 23 July 1989, p.33.

Exhibitions

7550074
7457004

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Port Melbourne, South Melbourne - Port Melbourne area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Mammoth , 1989 .
      image of person or book cover 5967283954322161403.jpg
      Extent: 154p.
      Reprinted: 1989
      ISBN: 1863300120
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Magnet ,
      1989 .
      Extent: 153p.
      ISBN: 0416126421
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Mammoth ,
      1991 .
      Extent: 153p.
      ISBN: 0749708549

Other Formats

  • Sound recording.
  • Braille.

Works about this Work

No-Man's-Land Has Two Sides : A View for Children of Gallipoli, 1915, from the Turkish and Australian Trenches John Foster , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Bookbird , vol. 41 no. 4 2003; (p. 21-27)
Examines books dealing with the same campaign, reflecting the feelings of people whose ancestors fought that battle nearly ninety years ago
Novel Teachers : The Image of Teachers in Australian Children's Literature Mary Durrington , 1994 single work criticism
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 9 no. 4 1994; (p. 5-8)
Know the Author : Judith O'Neill Agnes Nieuwenhuizen , 1992 single work column
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , November vol. 7 no. 5 1992; (p. 5-6)
Advocating Multiculturalism: Migrants in Australian Children's Literature After 1972 John Stephens , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Children's Literature Association Quarterly , vol. 15 no. 4 1990; (p. 180-188)
This article is concerned with a major shift in Australian ideology and values that Stephens argues occurred during the 1970s. He argues that 'within a decade during the 1970s Australian political and educational institutions underwent a palpable shift towards an ideology of multiculturalism and Australian Children's Literature shifted with it' (180). By the mid-seventies multiculturalism in children's literature was advocated as 'a desirable social value and one to be inculcated in child readers' (180). Multiculturalism in children's fiction was conceived as 'acceptance of difference and heterogeneity' which was in accordance with the general principles expressed by the Australian Council on population and Ethnic Affairs (1982). Stephens critiques a number of contemporary novels that deal with issues of multiculturalism and identity formation: On Loan (Anne Brooksbank), The Boys from Bondi (Alan Collins), Moving Out (Helen Garner & Jennifer Giles), New Patches for Old (Christobel Mattingly), Deepwater (Judith O'Neill), The Other Side of the Family (Maureen Pople), The Seventh Pebble (Eleanor Spence), Five Times Dizzy and Dancing in the Anzac Deli (Nadia Wheatley). He makes three pertinent claims regarding representations of multicultural identity and/or community in Australia: that the representation of multiculturalism is questionable in these novels as most of the authors do not come from a non-Anglo background; that there is a general subordination of the themes of migration and culture to the theme of personal identity development (a common thematic concern of children's literature); while the novels 'pivot on aspects of difference' the narratives are generally focalized through members of the majority culture and 'hence the privilege of narrative subjectivity is rarely bestowed upon minority groups' (181). Stephens posits that within the genre of children's fiction, 'the absence of significant migrant voices...leads to a partial and hence false, representation of the Australian experience of migration and the development of multiculturalism' (181).
The Children's Book Council of Australia Awards 1989 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 33 no. 3 1989; (p. 3-8)
The judges' report for the 1989 Australian Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards.
Untitled Joan Zahnleiter , 1988 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 3 no. 4 1988; (p. 32)

— Review of Deepwater Judith O'Neill , 1987 single work novel
The Book of the Year Award Shortlists Carmel Ballinger , 1989 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , May vol. 4 no. 2 1989; (p. 16-17)

— Review of Wiggy and Boa Anna Fienberg , 1988 single work children's fiction ; Megan's Star Allan Baillie , 1988 single work novel ; The Lake at the End of the World Caroline Macdonald , 1988 single work novel ; Deepwater Judith O'Neill , 1987 single work novel ; You Take the High Road Mary K. Pershall , 1988 single work novel ; Answers to Brut Gillian Rubinstein , 1988 single work children's fiction ; Beyond the Labyrinth Gillian Rubinstein , 1988 single work novel ; The Split Creek Kids Roger Vaughan Carr , 1988 single work children's fiction ; The Australopedia : How Australia Works After 200 Years of Other People Living Here 1988 reference non-fiction ; Callie's Family Ruth Park , 1988 single work children's fiction ; The Best-Kept Secret Emily Rodda , 1988 single work children's fiction ; Melanie and the Night Animal Gillian Rubinstein , 1988 single work children's fiction ; The Eleventh Hour : A Curious Mystery Graeme Base , 1988 single work picture book ; Edward the Emu Sheena Knowles , 1988 single work picture book children's fiction ; Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves Walter McVitty , 1988 single work picture book ; My Place in Space Robin A Hirst , Sally Hirst , 1988 single work picture book ; Mr Nick's Knitting Margaret Wild , 1988 single work picture book ; Drac and the Gremlin Allan Baillie , 1988 single work picture book
Untitled John D. Adams , 1988 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 32 no. 4 1988; (p. 49-50)

— Review of Deepwater Judith O'Neill , 1987 single work novel
Know the Author : Judith O'Neill Agnes Nieuwenhuizen , 1992 single work column
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , November vol. 7 no. 5 1992; (p. 5-6)
Novel Teachers : The Image of Teachers in Australian Children's Literature Mary Durrington , 1994 single work criticism
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 9 no. 4 1994; (p. 5-8)
No-Man's-Land Has Two Sides : A View for Children of Gallipoli, 1915, from the Turkish and Australian Trenches John Foster , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Bookbird , vol. 41 no. 4 2003; (p. 21-27)
Examines books dealing with the same campaign, reflecting the feelings of people whose ancestors fought that battle nearly ninety years ago
Advocating Multiculturalism: Migrants in Australian Children's Literature After 1972 John Stephens , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Children's Literature Association Quarterly , vol. 15 no. 4 1990; (p. 180-188)
This article is concerned with a major shift in Australian ideology and values that Stephens argues occurred during the 1970s. He argues that 'within a decade during the 1970s Australian political and educational institutions underwent a palpable shift towards an ideology of multiculturalism and Australian Children's Literature shifted with it' (180). By the mid-seventies multiculturalism in children's literature was advocated as 'a desirable social value and one to be inculcated in child readers' (180). Multiculturalism in children's fiction was conceived as 'acceptance of difference and heterogeneity' which was in accordance with the general principles expressed by the Australian Council on population and Ethnic Affairs (1982). Stephens critiques a number of contemporary novels that deal with issues of multiculturalism and identity formation: On Loan (Anne Brooksbank), The Boys from Bondi (Alan Collins), Moving Out (Helen Garner & Jennifer Giles), New Patches for Old (Christobel Mattingly), Deepwater (Judith O'Neill), The Other Side of the Family (Maureen Pople), The Seventh Pebble (Eleanor Spence), Five Times Dizzy and Dancing in the Anzac Deli (Nadia Wheatley). He makes three pertinent claims regarding representations of multicultural identity and/or community in Australia: that the representation of multiculturalism is questionable in these novels as most of the authors do not come from a non-Anglo background; that there is a general subordination of the themes of migration and culture to the theme of personal identity development (a common thematic concern of children's literature); while the novels 'pivot on aspects of difference' the narratives are generally focalized through members of the majority culture and 'hence the privilege of narrative subjectivity is rarely bestowed upon minority groups' (181). Stephens posits that within the genre of children's fiction, 'the absence of significant migrant voices...leads to a partial and hence false, representation of the Australian experience of migration and the development of multiculturalism' (181).
The Children's Book Council of Australia Awards 1989 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 33 no. 3 1989; (p. 3-8)
The judges' report for the 1989 Australian Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards.
Last amended 7 May 2020 11:35:52
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