Trapped! The Entombed Miner of Bonnie Vale

By Julia Lawrinson

Reviewed by Helen Gearing

Lawrinson is a prolific and well respected children’s author, publishing 17 books since winning the 2001 Western Australian Premier’s Award for her debut young adult novel Obsession. Her latest work, Trapped, is a gripping middle grade verse novel retelling the 1907 mining disaster which flooded a remote mine in Bonnie Vale.

When Joe Varischetti’s father leaves their small village in northern Italy to return to the goldfields of Western Australia, Joe begs to accompany him. But nothing could have prepared him for how different life is on the other side of the world: the air is ‘as hot as Zia Olivia’s oven,’ his new home is a tent with canvas walls and a dirt floor, and drunken locals spit at Joe’s father and other foreigners, blaming them for taking Aussie jobs.

When news spreads that Bonnie Vale’s recent, unusually heavy rainfall has become more than an inconvenience – pumps are failing and the mine is flooding, Joe and other townsfolk desperately wait for their loved ones underground to escape. Gradually they all do – except Joe’s dad. As the mine inspector and other officials prepare an epic rescue mission, Joe must look after himself in a still-strange country while holding onto an increasingly desperate hope that his father will remain safe until they can be reunited.

Lawrinson masterfully manages dual timelines with seamless transitions between chapters, allowing the reader to follow every moment of the rescue as well as pivotal moments from Joe’s life before his father is trapped. Sparse text keeps the pace galloping while excerpts from primary sources (and date stamps at the beginning of each chapter) remind the reader that the story is grounded in real, historical events.

While I was initially disappointed that, like a number of recent verse novels, Trapped appears less concerned with poetic technique than providing an accessible reading experience via a form known for short chapters and plenty of white space, the story is utterly engrossing and the characters so well depicted that I soon forgot my objections and was swept along for the ride.

Trapped is an excellent examination of the conditions which can unite a community to overcome long-held prejudice. Readers nine years and older will enjoy this dramatic retelling of the phenomenal rescue mission which gripped an entire nation and made headlines across the world.

Teaching Notes

Fremantle Press 2025

Julia Lawrinson