Have you ever heard of a place called Cockatoo Island? It is an island in Sydney Harbour.
Cockatoo Island used to be a boarding school for orphan girls, it isn't any more though.
You can camp on Cockatoo Island and there is a festival you can go to called the Cockatoo Island Film Festival.
I recently read a book called Escape From Cockatoo Island by Yvette Poshoglian. I wasn't sure that I would really like the book. So I put off reading it for a little while... But when I started, the excitement of adventure kept me turning the pages.
In this story there is an orphan named Olivia who dreams of having a home of her very own. While she is at Cockatoo Island she improves her reading writing and sewing. But when parent after parent come and go and take more lucky girls with them Olivia wonders if anyone will ever want her.
While at Cockatoo Island Olivia meets lots of new friends, the one she admirers most is a runaway boy who manages to escape with her help. Olivia begins to raise her hopes, but when day after day pass with no news of any parents she loses faith again.
Will Olivia ever escape from Cockatoo Island???
I thought I would find it hard to relate to Olivia because I am not an orphan and the story takes place in 1879, amazingly Olivia is such an interesting character that I connected with her immediately. This book is great.
This thrilling story is from a series of books called My Australian Stories. And remember historical stories are just as good as your favourite fiction books.
