AustLit

'This thought-provoking story is about a girl who is a little unusual. Mary has the urge to stand on her head. Her parents try everything to get her to live a normal life standing up. They send her to a doctor who tries to get her to stand upright by placing her feet in a locked box and tying helium balloons to her hands. The doctor suggests to the parents that they take her out to the desert and leave her there until she learns to stay on her feet. After a while her parents go out to get her and bring her back to attend school. Because she doesn’t obey the rule of ‘never stand on your head’ she is expelled. Luckily Hugh the camel is waiting outside and he takes her back to the desert where she makes new friends, a large lizard Mary called Mister and a charming marsupial mouse named Edwina-Marie. Mary’s life feels complete with her new soul mates.' (Publication summary)