The narration is vivid and haunting, leaving us to imagine the worst case scenario of an apocalypse which might drive us all beyond the edge of reasoning. The characters are deep-seated and almost instantly relatable. The climate and biodiversity crisis are the biggest challenges we face, and there are difficult times ahead, especially for younger generations. Where the River Runs is a book about courage, family secrets and survival. After ten years away Chelsea Taylor decided to go home to Barker and her family's farm with her four-year-old daughter Aria. Chelsea knew that it would not be easy to mend the rift between her and her father and she was determined to try. However, on the day Chelsea arrived home, Cal her father's farmhand found human bones on the families property, and Detective Dave Burrows starts an investigation that changed Chelsea, and her father believes about their family. The readers of Where the River Runs will continue to follow Chelsea Taylor to see if she mends her relationship with her father. Also, they will follow Detective Dave Burrows investigation into the identity of the bones.

I want to rate this higher, as it's fabulously written, looks at a very possible future for our planet, and covers a lot of good topics. However, two small things prevented me. Even after reading it, I'm not sure how the divisions came into play or how they're enforced. I think Shifa and Themba are Freedoms with a carer, so they don't have Freedom as a surname, but I'm not sure, and I don't know what Lottie is.Chelsea drove slowly through the small country town of Barker, her eyes searching to see what had changed in the last nine years...She's been in two minds about going home. Part of her wanted desperately to sit on the riverbank and breathe in the peace. But why would she put herself through all the pain of a homecoming when she didn't need to? Make time to take your class outside to any wilder areas in your school grounds, or visit local green spaces.

Nine years ago, thirty-year-old Chelsea Taylor left the small country town of Barker and her family's property to rise to the top as a concert pianist. With talent, ambition, and a determination to show them all at home, Chelsea thought she had it made. As the idea of there not being any bees any more forms the premise of the book it feels almost a let-down to find out that there are still bees. Especially as it means that given the society seems to have helpfully collapsed while they were away, everyone can just go and live with nature happily now. How handy! When the river runs gold is a book that facsimiles a dystopian world that could be possible in the near future if we don't put enough efforts to save our present thriving world. A tale that underlines the love of family and emerging out with valor. Recommending it for an adventurous read. However, as an English teacher who teaches dystopian writing to my year 9s, I was a bit disappointed with the amount of detail in this world. Sita Brahmachari writes that this book is inspired by youth environment activists, like Greta Thunberg, young wildlife conservationists, like Mya-Rose Craig, Sir David Attenborough, the process of urban re-wilding that is taking place, the Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants, and the Syrian refugee, Dr Ryad Alsous, who is on a mission to save Britain’s bees.the concept isn't well thought out, the characters are thin and shallow and the prose at times is offer poetic to the point where the action doesn't make sense. however the biggest crime, especially as it's a children's book is that it's... boring

Yet here she was, in Barker, with her four-year-old daughter, Aria, readying herself to face her father, Tom. The father who'd shouted down the phone nine years ago never to come home again. Yes, some of the action sequences are a bit messy and not fully explained, however I found myself imagining what had happened myself and I enjoyed picturing scenes in my own way without the heavy description. Perhaps, this was intentional? Plus, children enjoy imagining and putting their own twist on events anyway! Shifa and her brother Themba live with their dad in Kairos City, on a future Earth decimated by climate change. Families sign their rights away to the Freedom Fields organisation that claims to look after them as long as they opt in. Shifa and her family have a deep ingrained love of the natural environment and, defying ARK laws, have their own secret garden and ‘skep-heart’ code which becomes a powerful symbol of family love, loyalty and bonding threaded throughout the story.Shifa and Themba are raised by their father Nabil as twins but Shifa is constantly watching out for Themba who is the more trusting and gentler of the two. Themba although never explicitly mentioned, is coded as autistic and the author beautifully depicts him as a boy who simply sees things in a different way. He is a wonderful artist and constantly takes to drawing and painting when he feels stressed. I particularly loved how he came up with rhymes to help himself remember more information. His utter innocence and ability to forgive people who have hurt him just tugged at my heart. PROTECT THIS CINNAMON ROLL.

It doesn’t matter if your starting point is ignorance; show curiosity and learn alongside your pupils (or from the more nature-literate ones among them). 6. Find out about natural climate solutions Want to engage your pupils with the crisis without scaring them? Try these ideas from Nicola Penfold to show children the happy side of environmentalism… 1. Find relevant books I felt this had potential, but in an oversaturated genre, there were too many things that bugged me. Hurricane Chronos has devasted the world and now Freedom Fields is the organisation in charge of feeding people – by running farms where children are working as pollinators – as long as you ‘opt in’. Children graduate from basic school to then be separated from everything they know, to go to one of the Freedom Farms – but at least Shifa and brother Themba are together. I feel that if I had read this book as a young person, I would have felt so empowered by the storyline and the character of Shifa. Shifa is brave, protective, determined, resilient and exciting. I felt I was there with Shifa through all the obstacles she faces.The journey ahead is fraught with danger, but Shifa is strong and knows to listen to her instincts - to let love guide them home. The freedom of a nation depends on it . . . Chelsea Taylor was just a teen when she left her parents property in the township of Barker. As a promising pianist, Chelsea had won a scholarship to study at Adelaide's Conservatorium- a sacrifice for her hard working parents. Extract Three: JUSTICE (Taken from Chapter 19) Ailish handed Shifa a misting gun. They have us spray the strawberries with it to make them stay perfect for longer, Ailish explained. As she worked the chemical residue settled on her tongue. Shifa wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips. Ailish laughed. Watch the wind doesn t turn or your face ll stay like that! You ll get used to it! That would be the most dangerous thing I could do, Shifa thought, get used to it. The sense of injustice that had been growing in her since she d entered the agora was burning ever fiercer now. She cast around her fellow recruits. I m a child, we re all children, she reminded herself. Hot and exhausted from long hours of work and far away from home. She thought about the Paragon children who would eat these perfect strawberries, decorate their homes with birds of paradise and would never know the conditions they were grown in. If the cost of a beautiful life for one child meant enslavement for another. how could you call it freedom? Lottie had been right to have no faith in the system. The whole concept of Freedom Fields was a lie. p171 The farm Shifa and Themba are sent to is hard and cruel. Themba won't survive there and Shifa comes up with a plan to break them out. But they have no idea where they are - their only guide is a map drawn from the ramblings of a stranger.