Something Special (40th Anniversary Edition)
By Emily Rodda
Reviewed by Mia Macrossan
If you are looking for a writer whose stories appeal to children of all ages, try a book by Emily Rodda, you won’t be disappointed.
Something Special is a reissue of her debut book, first published in 1995. Since then she has gone on to become an icon of Australian children’s literature, with a wide range of titles including the internationally best-selling Deltora Quest and Rowan of Rin fantasy series. She has won the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year for Younger Readers Award a record six times. Recent books include Eliza Vanda’s Button Box – a fantasy about some very unusual buttons for readers aged 10+ and His Name Was Walter, and The Shop at Hooper’s Bend for older readers. As Jennifer Rowe (her real name) she has also written mystery novels for adults, and created the characters and storylines for the TV series Murder Call.
Something Special began as a bedtime story she told to her daughter, the eldest of her four children. Sam is helping her mother sort out second-hand clothes for the school fete. She walks through the rows, sensing memories and magic. Sam knows that some of them are Special (with a capital S). As her mother explains: ‘most clothes you wear are just clothes. You know, but every now and then you get something that you feel so good in, that suits you so well, that it’s a Special’. There is a red satin evening dress, a sensible green and black triangle dress, an old tartan dressing gown, and a houndstooth checked suit. Is it a dream when Sam can see the previous owners wearing their own special outfits, or are they ghosts? And what will happen to these special clothes now, will they find suitable new homes?
Emily Rodda cleverly weaves reality and fantasy in this beguiling story about a girl getting to know some very special people. They are so real you feel you’ll meet them the next time you are out. Sam’s mum trying to get her stall organised and cope with work and family is a delight. Sam herself is a sensitive and charming creation. The book is short, only 80 pages, expressively illustrated in black and white by Noela Young. Readers aged 8+ will enjoy this timeless gentle story.
Teaching Guide
Harper Collins Au 1995
