Obernewtyn (novel)

rdf:langString Obernewtyn (novel)

rdf:langString Obernewtyn

rdf:langString Obernewtyn

rdf:langString right

rdf:langString Australia

rdf:langString Les Petersen

rdf:langString English

rdf:langString Print

rdf:langString I dream of those other worlds and places where life is enchantingly complicated, more honourable, and where there is still room for noble deeds and great quests; a world in which even a Misfit might become a hero.

rdf:langString Isobelle Carmody, Obernewtyn, Penguin Books 1994, back cover

rdf:langString As a girl, I felt myself to be a Misfit. I was the eldest of eight children and I grew up in this tough neighbourhood where there were kids that beat up odd kids like me who read and wrote stories. I longed not to fit in and be like the other kids, but to find people who were like me. And of course like probably every kid, though I did not know that then, I longed to have something important to do. I longed to be special. I think this is the natural result of the powerlessness of children in a world of adults that don’t always seem to be looking after the world all that well.

rdf:langString Obernewtyn

rdf:langString Obernewtyn is the first novel in the Obernewtyn Chronicles series by Australian author Isobelle Carmody. Carmody began writing it at the age of fourteen, and reworked the novel through high school and university. Much of the inspiration for the protagonist, Elspeth Gordie, comes from her own life experiences. It was published by Penguin Books in Australia in 1987 and shortlisted for the Book of the Year for Older Readers in the Children's Book Council of Australia Awards. A science fiction-fantasy novel set in a post-apocalyptic world, the story follows Elspeth Gordie, an orphan with special mental abilities, who lives a life of fear and danger. When her abilities are brought to the attention of the ruling, totalitarian Council, she is banished to the remote mountain institution of Obernewtyn, where all "Misfits" are sent. The leaders of Obernewtyn are secretly searching for the old weapons that had sent the world to the brink of despair, and Elspeth finds herself embroiled in a plot that risks more than just her personal safety. The book has been published in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Germany and Portugal. The Library Journal stated it was a "thought-provoking tale of courage and sacrifice"; other reviews found it one-dimensional and difficult to follow. Adapted as a stage play by Caroline Heske, it was performed in Darwin, Australia in 2004 by the Corrugated Iron Youth Arts Theatre.