Worse Things
Age 8+
Poetry
Worse Things is a story about connections, the ways they are made, and what happens when they are lost or illusive, from the award-winning author of Pearl Verses the World and Toppling.
Winner of QLD CBCA Bilby Award for Younger Readers 2021
Worse Things follows the lives of three main characters: Blake, an Aussie Rules football player who suffers a devastating injury; Jolene, a hockey player who hates the game and and is grieving over the recent death of her father; and Amed, a soccer-loving, non-English speaking orphan who feels like an outsider since arriving in Australia after being raised in a refugee camp.
Worse Things by Sally Murphy and Sarah Davis, selected as an Honour Book in the CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Readers category 2021.
A touching and inspirational story about connections and the things that bind us all.
Resources
Creators
Sally Murphy grew up loving books, babies and beaches, and nothing much has changed. Now she is grown up (though she tries hard not to be), she thinks a perfect day is one which involves reading, writing, walking or swimming at the beach, time with her six (also grown up) children, her grandchildren, and long-suffering husband. When she isn’t doing these things, Sally is a university academic, teaching teachers how to teach. For more information about Sally, please visit her website www.sallymurphy.com.au
Sarah Davis is a multiple award-winning illustrator, and associate art director for Walker Books Australia. She won the CBCA Crichton Illustration Award for her first picture book, Mending Lucille, in 2009, and since then has gone on to illustrate more than 40 titles, in a range of styles and genres. She has an Honours degree in literature, and her love of language and narrative underpins her illustration work. With each project she experiments with new ways to construct visual narratives, working across a range of media. Sarah has collaborated with many major publishing houses and commercial clients across Australia, New Zealand, the USA and the UK. An experienced presenter with a teaching background, she regularly speaks at schools, festivals and universities throughout Australia and internationally. Sarah is also proud to be an ambassador for Room to Read.
Reviews
a really quick emotional read told in verse… 4/5
Blue Fairy Tales
Highly recommended… a wonderful story of finding your place, of belonging, of working out who your friends are, of reaching out.
ReadPlus
Beginning from the covers, this verse novel is stunning in every way. It is an experience not to be missed.
Kids Book Review
4 stars. A wonderful collection of prose verse
I Dream of All the Books - Instagram
I loved reading this highly engaging, captivating and also heart-felt book!
Alphabet Soup
