‘Excuse me. I have to find my family,’ Letty said.
Letty ducked beneath the woman’s elbow. Through a gap in the railing she saw Papa standing on the jetty, by himself. Then she saw that the gangplank was being pulled in. The ship was getting ready to sail, Letty realised. And she was still on it!
When Letty is left to watch her big sister’s trunk, she takes her job seriously – so seriously that she follows it onto the ship. Before she knows it, she is trapped on the ship as it sets sail for New South Wales. There is no way to get off, so, even though Lavinia doesn’t want her there, she is bound for a new life. First, though, there’s the gruelling journey to survive.
Meet Letty is the first of four stories featuring Letty, set in 1841. Part of the My Australian Girl series, this first instalment focuses on the hardships of Letty’s journey to and arrival in Sydney , with subsequent volumes to follow her adventures in the new land. Young readers will be drawn into the series , keen to know what happens to the likeable Letty.
Meet Letty (Our Australian Girl), by Alison Lloyd
Puffin, 2011
ISBN 978014330540
This book can be purchased from good bookstores, or online through Fishpond.