Summer of Shipwrecks

By Shivaun Plozza
Reviewed by Helen Gearing

Shivaun Plozza’s previous middle-grade novel, Meet Me at the Moon Tree, was a CBCA notable and nominee for the 2024 Australian Book Industry Awards. Like ‘Moon Tree’, Summer of Shipwrecks also features lyrical writing and exquisite characters. It is a beautiful story of complex friendships and changing families – perfect for fans of Nova Weetman’s The Edge of Thirteen and A. L. Tait’s The First Summer of Callie McGee.

‘But I saw the light in Lou’s eyes. I saw the person she used to be. I just need to find her again, like buried treasure.’

When twelve-year-old Sid arrives at Penlee Point, where her family holidays each summer, things are (regrettably) different – her mum’s new boyfriend and his teenage daughter are camping with them. However, Sid is determined that nothing else has to change, and is desperate to see her best friend Lou and finally solve the town’s 150-year-old mystery of disappeared treasure.

But Lou has brought along a popular new school friend who is more interested in boys and sunbathing than shipwrecks and history. As the holiday continues, Sid becomes increasingly desperate to win Lou back, neglecting new opportunities for friendship and connection. Eventually she must decide whether the past is really worth hanging on to – or if that’s even possible.

Summer of Shipwrecks is a tender and poignant story of best friends growing apart, and the grief that accompanies this change. It’s also an exciting mystery of long-ago shipwrecks and lost treasure, and how life continues – even after incredible suffering. For me, a highlight is the relationship which slowly develops between Sid and her almost-stepsister, which vividly relates all the awkwardness, pain, and surprising moments of joy which can occur as two families become one.

Readers ten years and older who like contemporary, character-driven fiction will wholeheartedly enjoy this story.

University of Queensland Press 2024 (includes teacher’s notes)