Norman Jorgensen, whose 2008 debut middle-grade novel ‘Jack’s Island’ and 2011 best-selling picture book ‘The Last Viking’ (with illustrator James Foley) were both highly awarded, has crafted another edge-of-your-seat, high-action adventure in The Smuggler’s Curse.
First published in 2016 (and Winner of the 2017 WA Young Readers’ Book Award), The Smuggler’s Curse has been republished by Freemantle Press with an appealing new cover illustration by Perth-based artist Daniel Tinning. A historical middle-grade adventure set in the late 19th century, this story will appeal to readers ten years and older who like pirate fights, cyclonic storms, plenty of gore, and a ruthless military enemy (all within a 48 hour period!)
Red Read lives in the remote colonial township of Broome with his mother, who runs the settlement’s only hotel. His comfortable life is thrown upside down when his beloved mother inexplicably sells him into the service of The Black Bowen, an infamous smuggling vessel. Confronted daily with terrifying dangers under Captain Bowen’s stern rule, Red must quickly adjust to life on the open seas if he wishes to survive – let alone return home and discover what prompted his mother’s actions.
At its heart, The Smuggler’s Curse reads as a tribute to other high-energy, high-stakes pirating classics, like Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Kidnapped’ and ‘Treasure Island.’ Red’s adventures, however, take place closer to home (for Australian readers) in the south-east colonies of the European colonial powers. With vivid descriptions of the Sumatran rebels’ struggle for independence from the Dutch through to Red’s own confrontation with murderous wreckers operating off the northern coast of Western Australia, ‘The Smugglers Curse’ brings its historical settings to life through highly-engaging, non-stop action.
