Somewhere Around the Corner
Somewhere Around the Corner is a children's novel written by Australian author Jackie French. It was her first historical novel, and chronicles the adventures of a homeless girl from 1994 who goes 'around the corner' to another time - the Great Depression.
Plot
When Barbara becomes caught up in a wild demonstration, she is frightened and wants to escape. An old man she meets at the demonstration tells her to close her eyes, walk around the corner and arrive at a better place. She travels back around 60 years and the place she finds is 1934, the height of the Depression. Times are tough and people are finding it hard to feed their families.
A boy called Young Jim comes to Barbara's aid and takes her on a journey to meet his family. They offer Barbara the love, security and peace that are missing from her own life and she becomes part of the O'Reilly family. But their time isn't Barbara's time and she may not be able to stay there forever. Young Jim promises to always look after Barbara, but what will happen if she is forced to return to her own time? And does she have a choice?
Awards and nominations
References
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| | Picture books | Shaggy Gully |
- Diary of a Wombat (2002)
- Pete the Sheep (2004)
- Josephine Wants to Dance (2006)
- The Shaggy Gully Times (2007)
- Emily and the Big Bad Bunyip (2008)
- Baby Wombat's Week (2009)
- Christmas Wombat (2011)
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| Miscellaneous |
- Hairy Charlie and the Frog (1994)
- Hairy Charlie and the Pumpkin (1994)
- Mermaids (1995)
- Pigs Don't Fly (2000)
- The Secret Life of Santa Claus (2001)
- Too Many Pears! (2003)
- Bears Don't Bounce! (2003)
- Queen Victoria's Underpants (2010)
- The Tomorrow Book (2011)
- Flood (2011)
- A Day to Remember (2012)
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| | Junior fiction | Short story collections |
- Rain Stones (1991)
- Alien Games (1995)
- Mind's Eye (1996)
- Dancing with Ben Hall and Other Yarns (1997)
- The Silver Eyes (1997)
- The Book of Unicorns (1997)
- Ride the Wild Wind (2002)
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| Animal Rescue |
- Elephant Alert (2012)
- Gorilla Grab (2012)
- Tiger Tangle (2012)
- Shark Attack (2012)
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| Café on Callisto |
- The Café on Callisto (2001)
- Space Pirates on Callisto (2002)
- Vampire Slugs on Callisto (2003)
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| The Children of the Valley |
- The Music from the Sea (1993)
- The City in the Sand (1993)
- The House of a Hundred Animals (1993)
- The Metal Men (1994)
- The Tribe that Sang to Trees (1996)
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| Phredde the Phaery |
- A Phaery Named Phredde and Other Stories to Eat with a Banana (1998)
- Phredde and a Frog Named Bruce and Other Stories to Eat with a Watermelon (1999)
- Phredde and the Zombie Librarian and Other Stories to Eat with a Blood Plum (2000)
- Phredde and the Temple of Gloom - A Story to Eat with a Mandarin (2001)
- Phredde and the Leopard-Skin Librarian - A Story to Eat with a Dinosaur Apple (2002)
- A Box Full of Phaeries, Phreddes and Fruit (2003)
- Phredde and the Purple Pyramid - A Story to Eat with a Passionfruit (2003)
- Phredde and the Vampire Footie Team - A Story to Eat with an Orange at Half Time (2004)
- Phredde and the Ghostly Underpants - A Story to Eat with a Mango (2005)
- Phredde and the Runaway Ghost Train (2005)
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| School for Heroes |
- Lessons for a Werewolf Warrior (2009)
- Dance of the Deadly Dinosaurs (2010)
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| Wacky Families |
- My Mum the Pirate (2003)
- My Dog the Dinosaur (2003)
- My Dad the Dragon (2004)
- My Uncle Gus the Garden Gnome (2004)
- My Uncle Wal the Werewolf (2005)
- My Gran the Gorilla (2006)
- My Auntie Chook the Vampire Chicken (2006)
- My Pa the Polar Bear (2007)
- One Big Wacky Family (2008)
- Wonderfully Wacky Families (2009)
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| Historical fiction | Animal Heroes |
- The Goat who Sailed the World (2006)
- The Dog who Loved a Queen (2007)
- The Camel who Crossed Australia (2008)
- The Donkey who Carried the Wounded (2009)
- The Horse who Bit a Bushranger (2010)
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| Miscellaneous |
- Somewhere Around the Corner (1994)
- Soldier on the Hill (1997)
- Daughter of the Regiment (1998)
- Hitler's Daughter (1999)
- Lady Dance (2000)
- How the Finnegans Saved the Ship (2001)
- The White Ship (2002)
- Valley of Gold (2003)
- Tom Appleby, Convict Boy (2004)
- They Came on Viking Ships (2005)
- Macbeth and Son (2006)
- Pharaoh (2007)
- The Night They Stormed Eureka (2009)
- Oracle (2010)
- Nanberry: Black Brother White (2011)
- Pennies for Hitler (2012)
- Dingo: The Dog who Conquered a Continent (2012)
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| Miscellaneous |
- Smudge (1988)
- The Roo that Won the Melbourne Cup (1991)
- The Boy Who Had Wings (1992)
- Walking the Boundaries (1993)
- Annie's Pouch (1995)
- The Secret Beach (1995)
- A Wombat Named Bosco (1996)
- Beyond the Boundaries (1996)
- The Warrior: The Story of a Wombat (1996)
- Summerland (1997)
- Felix Smith Has Every Right to Be a Crocodile (1998)
- There's an Echidna at the Bottom of My Garden (1998)
- There's a Wallaby at the Bottom of My Garden (1999)
- Charlie's Gold (1999)
- Tajore Arkle (1999)
- Burt and the Band (2000)
- Captain Purrfect (2000)
- The Space Bug (2002)
- The Black House (2003)
- One Perfect Day (2006)
- The Day I Was History (2007)
- The Wombat and the Great Poohjam (2009)
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| | Junior non-fiction | |
- Shipwreck, Sailors & 60,000 Years: Before 1788 (2006)
- Grim Crims & Convicts: 1788-1820 (2005)
- Rotters and Squatters: 1820-1850 (2007)
- Gold, Graves and Glory: 1850-1880 (2007)
- A Nation of Swaggies & Diggers: 1880-1920 (2008)
- Weevils, War & Wallabies: 1920-1945 (2009)
- Rockin', Rollin, Hair & Hippies: 1945-1972 (2010)
- Booms, Busts and Bushfires: 1972— (2011)
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| Miscellaneous |
- Twelve Bottles Popping: Home-Made Presents to Flip Your Lid (1994)
- The Little Book of Big Questions (1998)
- How the Aliens from Alpha Centauri Invaded My Maths Class and Turned Me Into a Writer (1998)
- How to Guzzle Your Garden (1999)
- Stamp, Stomp, Whomp (2000)
- The Book of Challenges (2000)
- The Fascinating History of Your Lunch (2001)
- Big Burps, Bare Bums and Other Bad-Mannered Blunders (2003)
- To the Moon and Back (2004)
- The Secret World of Wombats (2005)
- How to Scratch a Wombat (2005)
- The Wonderful World of Wallabies and Kangaroos (2008)
- How High Can a Kangaroo Hop? (2008)
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| | Teen and young adult fiction | Outlands |
- In the Blood (2001)
- Blood Moon (2002)
- Flesh and Blood (2004)
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| Historical fiction |
- A Rose for the Anzac Boys (2008)
- A Waltz for Matilda (2010)
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| Miscellaneous | |
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| | Adult fiction |
- A War for Gentlemen (2003)
- Searching for Charlie (2003)
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| | Adult non-fiction | Gardening books |
- Organic Gardening in Australia (1986)
- Natural Rose Growing: An Organic Approach to Gardening (1988)
- The Organic Garden Doctor (1988)
- Natural Control of Household Pests (1990)
- The Wilderness Garden: A Radical New View of Australian Growing Methods (1993)
- The Salad Garden (1993)
- Organic Control of Household Pests (1993)
- Organic Control of Common Weeds (1993)
- The Earth Gardeners Companion: A Month-by-Month Guide (1993)
- The Chook Book (1993)
- A to Z of Useful Plants (1993)
- Book of Lavender (1994)
- Book of Mint (1994)
- Book of Rosemary (1994)
- Book of Thyme (1994)
- Book of Chilli (1994)
- Book of Garlic (1994)
- Book of Parsley (1994)
- Book of Basil (1994)
- Jackie French's Guide to Companion Planting in Australia and New Zealand (1994)
- Switch! A Book of Home-Made Power, Water, and Garbage Systems (1994)
- Household Self Sufficiency (1994)
- New Plants from Old (1994)
- Back Yard Self Sufficiency (1995)
- The Organic Garden Problem Solver (1995)
- Plants That Never Say Die (1995)
- Soil Food: 3,764 Ways to Feed Your Garden (1995)
- Jackie French's Top Ten Vegetables (1995)
- Jackie French's Cook Book (1995)
- The Pumpkin Book (1996)
- Yates Guide to Edible Gardening (1996)
- Growing Flowers Naturally (1996)
- Making Money from Your Garden (1997)
- Yates Guide to Herbs (1998)
- Jackie French's Household Herb Book (1998)
- Natural Solutions (1999)
- The Best of Jackie French: A Practical Guide to Everything from Aphids to Zuchinni Chocolate Cake (2000)
- The House That Jackie Built (2001)
- Earthly Delights (2001)
- New Plants from Old: Simple, Natural, No-Cost Plant Propagation (2007)
- The Wilderness Garden: Beyond Organic Gardening (2007)
- The Earth Gardener's Companion (2009)
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| Miscellaneous |
- Seasons of Content (1998)
- Rocket Your Child into Reading (2004)
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| | Adaptations |
- Hitler's Daughter: The Play
- Pete the Sheep: The Musical
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| | Related articles | |
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