Representation: First Australian character
Trigger warnings: Racism

6.5/10, after reading a quite a realistic book to say the least I was hoping that I would enjoy this historical/realistic book and I keep coming back to this genre with mixed results and though I enjoyed this I just wanted more from it, like something was missing from it that made me drop this to 3 stars, where do I begin. It starts off with the main character Mel Gordon who is a First Australian living her normal life in the year 2000 when the Sydney Olympics were just around the corner. Also only a few pages later Cathy Freeman comes to her school and she wants to be an athlete in the future and that was a nice part of the book however there are a few things she has to do first. The story takes a turn when it mentions the Stolen Generations and how Australia still has to reconcile for what they did to First Australians and that was a nice message but I felt that was a bit disjointed and the book couldn't decide whether it was about racism or athletes but as far as I know it's both which I struggle to wrap my head around. In the end there was a character who said racist things to Mel and they were called out for it and that ends the book which is quite a mixed bag. On the plus side it's authentic so there's that. ( )

Reviewed for VPRC. Set at the turn of the millennium this is an engaging story of a Murri girl in Sydney called Mel who adores Cathy Freeman and is a great runner just like her. At 12 years old she witnesses the reconciliation march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, finds out more about her grandmother ( one of the Stolen generation), faints when she is supposed to meet her heroine and watches Cathy win gold at the Olympics. A story of family love and friendship and of the hurts of previous generations being passed on to the present. Accurate depiction of the time and the story moves at a nice pace.
Hate the title as it looks like a non-fiction book and kids probably won't read it unless I promote it. For those that like sport and are interested in indigenous culture. ( )