Introduction by Simmone Howell
Seymour is bored and lonely, and running from a gang of kids when he opens a back-lane gate. And there is Angie. She is older than Seymour, confident, cool and alluring, and she treats him with the affection of an older sister. Seymour is captivated—through Angie he is awakened to the fun and adventure in life. But Angie has a dark side—a secret that threatens to destroy her. And as Seymour begins to understand that all is not well he knows he has to help her.
Came Back to Show You I Could Fly is a heartwarming account of an unlikely friendship that shows a very human side of drug addiction.
Came Back to Show You I Could Fly won a Human Rights Award for Literature in 1989. It also won the 1990 Australian Children’s Book of the Year Award, Older Readers, and was shortlisted for the 1990 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and the 1990 NSW Premier’s Literary Award, as well as named a White Raven book at the 1990 Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Say A Little Prayer, the film version, was released in 1993.
All in the Blue Unclouded Weather, $12.95, 9781925498325
Introduction by Amie Kaufman
All in the Blue Unclouded Weather begins the story of the Melling sisters, four girls growing up in an Australian country town in the post war years. Vivienne is the youngest, always the last to wear the hand-me-down clothes—after Grace and Heather and Cathy—and always longing for something new and special. But although life is hard for the Melling family and the sisters have their tiffs, this is a heartwarming and often humorous story of loyalty and affection—under blue unclouded skies.
Dresses of Red and Gold, $12.95, 9781925498332
Introduction by Fiona Wood
The Melling sisters and their mother are preparing for a wedding. Cathy is to be bridesmaid and her dress is a thing of awe and beauty, but not in Cathy’s eyes—she hates the idea of being a bridesmaid. Vivienne would love to wear it, and perhaps she will.
Dresses of Red and Gold, the second book in the Melling Sisters Trilogy, is a warm and humorous story of four sisters—their rivalries and their loyalty and affection—growing up in an Australian country town in the 1940s.
The Sky in Silver Lace, $12.95, 9781925498349
Introduction by Alice Pung
The Melling family has moved from Wilgawa to the city suburb of Lacey’s Bay. There’s a new school, a new place to live and new friends to make—this is exciting, but also terrifying, especially when the first potential friend Vivienne meets is large, bold and threatening.
The Sky in Silver Lace is the third and final book in the Melling Sisters Trilogy, Robin Klein’s humorous and heartwarming tale of four girls—Grace, Heather, Cathy and Vivienne—growing up in the Australia of the 1940s.
Robin Klein
Robin Klein was born 28 February 1936 in Kempsey, New South Wales, into a family of nine children. Leaving school at age 15, Klein worked several jobs before becoming established as a writer, having her first story published at age 16. She would go on to write more than 40 books, including Hating Alison Ashley (adapted into a feature film starring Delta Goodrem in 2005), Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left (adapted into a television series for the Seven Network in 1992), and Came Back to Show You I Could Fly (adapted into a film directed by Richard Lowenstein in 1993).
Klein’s books are hugely celebrated, having won the CBCA Children’s Book of the Year Award in both the Younger Readers and the Older Readers categories, as well as a Human Rights Award for Literature in 1989 for Came Back to Show You I Could Fly. Klein is widely considered one of Australia’s most prolific and beloved YA authors.
About Text Classics
The Text Classics series is designed to unearth some of the lost marvels of our literature, and to allow readers to rediscover wonderful books they have never forgotten. These books are milestones in the Australian experience. We have chosen them in the conviction that they still have much to say to us, undiminished in their power to delight, challenge and surprise us.
In memory of Diana Gribble (1942–2011). The visionary Diana founded Text in 1990. She wanted to create an independent publishing house that would find books to enlighten, challenge and entertain us. In keeping with this vision, Text Classics are iconic books by our most loved writers.
