Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky by Rebecca Lim
About Rebecca Lim
Rebecca Lim is an award-winning Australian writer, illustrator and editor and the author of over twenty books, including Tiger Daughter (a CBCA Book of the Year: Older Readers and Victorian Premier’s Literary Award-winner), The Astrologer’s Daughter and the bestselling Mercy. Her work has been shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, Queensland Literary Awards, Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award and Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards, shortlisted multiple times for the Aurealis Awards and Davitt Awards, and longlisted for the Gold Inky Award and the David Gemmell Legend Award. She is a co-founder of the Voices from the Intersection initiative to support emerging young adult and children’s authors and illustrators who are First Nations, People of Colour, LGBTIQA+ and/or living with disability, and co-editor of Meet Me at the Intersection, a groundbreaking anthology of YA #OwnVoice memoir, poetry and fiction.
Quote from Rebecca Lim
“I’m extraordinarily honoured to have been shortlisted for this vitally important prize. Thanks to the esteemed judges, the HNSA, and the ARA Group for their generosity, and for supporting historical fiction for readers and writers of all ages. Besides hopefully being a stirring tale of adventure, Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky also functions as a corrective, a thought experiment, and an elegy for a lost era in which the stories of lesser-known Australians went unsung and unheard.”
About Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky
Thirteen-year-old Fu, his younger sister, Pei, and their mother live in a small rural community in Southern China that is already enduring harsh conditions when it is collectivised as part of Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward campaign that ultimately led to economic disaster, widespread famine and millions of deaths.
After tragedy strikes, and threatened with separation, Fu and Pei set out on a perilous journey across countries and oceans to find their father, who left for Australia almost a decade ago. With nothing to guide them but a photograph and some documents in a language they cannot read, they must draw on all their courage and tenacity just to survive – and perhaps forge a better life for themselves.
An unforgettable story of family, resilience and the complex Asian-Australian experience from the esteemed author of Tiger Daughter, winner of the CBCA Book of the year for Older Readers.
From the Judging Panel
Rebecca is skilful at weaving complex issues like racism, death, and famine with careful sensitivity through the innocent worldview of siblings 13-year-old Fu and his 11-year-old sister Pei. Lyrical and evocative, this powerful story tells historical truths about Mao’s Great Leap Forward (the unfurling of communism) and Australia’s appalling Immigration Restriction Act, the White Australia policy. Rebecca balances life’s harsh realities with powerful themes of bravery, resilience, and finding unexpected kindness in unlikely places. Her depth of research is woven with meticulous skill. Rebecca’s descriptions are imaginative and original, making it that dopamine-driven term we readers love to call a page-turner. Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky is an important novel, inviting readers to travel into the past to learn, laugh, and empathise through Fu and Pei’s courageous journey … knowing hope is on the horizon.
