Review: Queenie in Seven Moves

Twelve-year-old Queenie is finishing Year Six when her much-loved home Peachy gets sold. With little notice, she and her mum Clare must find another rental property.

With the overwhelming demand for housing during the Covid lockdown, this is an impossibility. They find themselves temporarily in a spare flat at the Diamond Sands Seniors Village where Clare works.

The ghostly air of the last tenant is pushed to the back of Queenie’s mind when she discovers the elderly residents are interesting, lively, and with needs and longings like those of younger people.

The roll of music manager allows Queenie to use her considerable music skills and boosts her depleted confidence when performing in public. Craft sessions and cooking lessons fill her days. 

With clever matchmaking skills proving a hidden talent, Queenie brings together two contrasting characters carrying a secret torch for one another.

Their two weeks at the flat fly by and desperate once again, they find themselves sharing a house with Dory, a classmate and Chess whizz and his parents while they search for accommodation.

Their life becomes a voyage of discovery and learning; new beginnings, change and adaption, as they stay for short intervals in one place then another, in seven moves, always hoping a forever home will be found.

 Mother and daughter are enriched by the diversity of the characters they encounter with each of their moves. Their homelessness exposes them to the many definitions of homelessness. Both reassess their understanding of friendship.

Queenie in Seven Moves is a compassionate tale filled with images of human kindness, and the acceptance and change that seems to surface frequently in times of crisis. Beautifully written. A great read!

Title: Queenie in Seven Moves
Author: Zanni Louise
Publisher: Walker Books, $16.99
Publication Date: 1 February 2023
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760655662
For ages: 9 - 12
Type: Junior Fiction