This spooky little book catches the edge of things just right - the boundaries of what we know about each other, the line between tame gardens and wild places, the quick switch in the fall between bright afternoons and surprisingly dark evenings, and on and on. It's murky, secretive, beautiful territory. I love when I can't really say whether it's realistic fiction or fantasy because it depends on what you choose to believe. ( )

Good, but I never really got completely involved in the story.

FROM SYNC: There were only eleven of them, like eleven sisters all the same age in a large family...

On the television news they heard gunfire and the sound of helicopter blades and bombs falling. The little girls hung on to the brink of a hugeness that they knew was there but had no way of discovering.

The Vietnam War rages overseas, but back at home, in a year that begins with the hanging of one man and ends with the drowning of another, eleven schoolgirls embrace their own chilling history when their teacher abruptly goes missing on a field trip. Who was the mysterious poet they met in the garden? What actually happened that day? And most important, who can they tell about it?

In beautifully crafted prose that shimmers and fades, Ursula Dubosarsky reveals how a single shared experience can alter the course of young lives forever. Part gripping thriller, part ethereal tale of innocence lost, The Golden Day is a poignant study of fear and friendship, and of what it takes to come of age with courage.

Each chapter has a title from a work of art by Charles Blackman. ( )

Strange little book of mysteries -- enjoyed the voice, enjoyed the Australian setting, enjoyed the ineffable unknowns. Lovely. ( )

A very short story by Australian author, set in Australia. Girls from this school go on a field trip to the gardens with the school teacher and their teacher goes missing. This is a story of how one deals with secrets and friendships. set in the 70s, Vietnam war and hippies. ( )

This short book unsettled me. Even after waiting a couple of days to write my review, I'm still not sure how I feel, or if I understood it.

This book is based on the facts that children will keep adult secrets, even when they shouldn't; a group of children who experience the same tragic event, bond in a way that changes them, permanently. After their teacher, Miss Renshaw, disappears, Cubby, one of the students, sees so many things for which she has no background knowledge. Her innocence makes her an unreliable narrator. I'm still wondering if I should view the story through her eyes, or my own jaded ones. Icara, another more realistic student, due to her own circumstances, sees things in a totally different way, but we aren't in her head. Miss Renshaw quotes follow.

P. 15 "Far flung."
P. 19 "We won't mention Morgan. Will we?"
P. 21 "Save your tears for greater sorrows, girls."
P. 24 "the world needs dreamers, not realists."
P. 68 "Not now. Not ever."
( )