This magnificent and imaginative novel is the
Fogarty Literary Award Winner. An historical journey through time, philosophers,
paper cranes, origami and secrets, it explores human weaknesses and strengths through
meaningful stories that link together.
Jessie has lost her parents in a car accident. She
is now in the care of her older sister Kay. They have moved into their grandmother’s
vacant house as she was placed in a home long ago.
In the corner of a room, Jessie finds the carpet
torn. Beneath, the girls discover a metal box built into the floor. It hides
an old book, The History of Mischief.
It contains a surprising and in-depth history of
mischief and mischievous acts and their progression through time.
From Greece to Egypt and to Aristophanes, servant
to the king, who works to confiscate manuscripts from incoming vessels to be
added to the Library of Alexandria.
In China, its secret forests and tales of prophecies
and weapons. In Poland, tales of dragons and ghosts come to life as the mischief goes
to work on the men in the underground salt mines.
Thrilled by the French and then the Ethiopian
adventures, Jessie finds herself testing out what she reads about in The History
of Mischief with good intention, but which always get her into trouble. The
journey leads to London, England, then Australia.
Jessie gets deeply involved in research about who these
people were and why and how they were chosen by the mischief. The library is an
endless source of information. Computer searches, books borrowed and inter-branching
become an obsession.
These countless books distract Jessie from her
grief. She makes friends with the unusual Theodore who at first is extremely
irritating but later turns out to be a rock in Jessie’s life and she in his.
Rebecca Higgie is a Western Australian author and
booklover. She has crafted a superlative novel full of adventure, history, magic
and myth, as fluid and gentle as flowing water. The explosive ending shocks with
its absolute perfection, for it reveals how far people go, what they will
sacrifice, to shield those they love.
Title:
The History of Mischief
Author: Rebecca
Higgie
Publisher:
Freemantle Press, $19.99
Publication
Date: September 2020
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9781925816266
For
ages: 12+
Type:
Young Adult Fiction
