Fleur Beale

When Ellen, Kirby’s mother, suddenly reveals she’s been accepted to work for a refugee programme, Kirby is stunned. But her world falls apart when she’s told she’ll be going to live with her uncle and his family, who she never even knew existed.

But Ellen has been keeping another secret. She grew up as a member of a Christian sect called the Fellowship of The Children of the Faith. Kirby’s Uncle Caleb is an Elder of the group, and it to his family that Kirby is sent to live.

Almost show more as soon as Kirby arrives, Caleb and Aunt Naomi calmly begin their attempt to indoctrinate Kirby to their way of life. Her name is changed to Esther (because all members of the group have biblical names), there are no mirrors and very limited technology. The clothes are modest and old fashioned; she must speak ‘properly’ without using slang or contracted words. There is no TV, newspaper or books other than the Bible, so that the family’s thoughts may always be directed toward God. Discipline is either being shut up in the under stairs closet to learn Psalms or having the whole family forced to kneel, perhaps for an hour or more, to pray for you.

Under the weight of her mother’s abandonment and the strict life within The Fellowship, Kirby struggles to maintain some sense of herself and her identity. She takes comfort in caring for her young cousin Maggie (Magdalene) who is traumatised from the sudden ‘death’ of her older sister Miriam, and in her frank conversations with her cousin Daniel, who also struggles with the groups dictates.

I found I Am Not Esther very realistic. The use of language was an effective and believable way to distinguish those who are a part of The Fellowship, and those who aren’t. Kirby is a strong, compelling character, as is Daniel, in his own quiet way.

This is a psychological book and explores the effects of abandonment, the importance of an environment that allows questions, and the importance of having your own identity - even when it's something as simple as being called by your own name. It is also about having the inner strength to be who you are, even when the consequences may be far reaching, and potentially lifelong, not just for Kirby but also for her mother and their relatives.

Beale clearly portrays the potential harm to young people living in such circumstances. But in questioning the lifestyle, she doesn’t condemn the people. She portrays the friendships and bonds that develop, even though there are fundamental differences in opinions and beliefs.

This is a wonderful book. It is powerful, heartbreaking, but also has moments of simple joy. I easily read I Am Not Esther in one sitting, and was completely captivated from the first page until the last.

From the back cover: Fleur Beale is a former teacher who was inspired to write I Am Not Esther when one of her students was beaten and expelled from his family for going against their religious beliefs. show less

I Am Not Esther by New Zealand author Fleur Beale is an engrossing story about a modern girl, Kirby, whose mother leaves her in the care of her strict and pious brother, Caleb, who along with his wife and children are members of a Religious Sect called Children of the Faith. This faith is rigidly traditional. Kirby is immediately renamed Esther and forced to wear her hair tied back in a braid. Her clothes are replaced by long skirts, she is forbidden to use slang or take lord’s name in show more vain. Failure to follow the rules means immediate punishment, which included long hours on her knees and the whole family praying over her. Women were considered to be the property of the men and early marriages were arranged.

Although terribly confused and angry at her mother for leaving her with these people, she does grow very fond of her cousins, and eventually helps the eldest boy, Daniel, make a break with the community. Although her mother was to have gone to Africa to work as a nurse, it is discovered that she never left New Zealand. Kirby needs to find her mother and discover her reasons for leaving and for abandoning her daughter in this way. Kirby also realizes that she needs to get away as she is in danger of losing her own identity.

Well written and mostly believable, I Am Not Esther was an enjoyable YA read. The story flowed easily and although the Children of the Faith are fictional, the ideas and life style they supported seemed real and gave the reader a good idea of how restrictive a cult like this can be. show less

Opening Sentence: ‘…On Taris, we shave our heads …’

Juno is a young girl who is living in an isolated island society of 500 people that fled the chaos of the 21st century. A group of pioneer scientists volunteered to start the new civilisation on an island “somewhere in the southern ocean,” there they developed an enclosed dome where the atmosphere; water; rain and temperatures are all regulated by computers and it is designed to survive even if the rest of humanity perished. Not show more long after the colony is set up they lose contact with “the Outside”.

JUNO OF TARIS commences when Juno is 12, and she has already started to openly question the rules of Taris. Questions such as why must they all shave their heads every week? Why must they all wear the same clothes and why are her grandparents teaching her to read and not allow her to tell anyone – even her parents? To publicly question the established way brings about the punishment of withdrawing, where everyone has to turn their back on you as you walk by – a very isolating and distressing experience!!! Gradually Juno learns that she is not alone in wanting questions answered, and as it becomes obvious that someone is willing to kill Juno to stop her perceived rebellion she finds she has a loyal band of friends who stand with her and seek the hidden truths as the dome’s technology starts to fail.

The plot the story is built on is powerful and looks at societies, those who control societies, and how they are able to do so. Author Fleur Beale wrote this book with tremendous detail, yet the scientific component was written simply. As a whole JUNO OF TARIS was a pleasure to read and a great story.

All of the characters, both good and bad, were very realistic. The plot was easy to follow and I really liked how each of the chapters ended with three or four snippets from conversations regarding island gossip. It helped expand on information already gained, and set up what was going to happen next; giving the reader an insight into the networking and information sharing of the community.

JUNO OF TARIS won the Esther Glen Award in New Zealand in 2009 – the award is presented to the author whose work is considered a distinguished contribution to fiction for children. Well deserved in my opinion. show less

Opening Sentence: “…’if there is a choice, Juno, you must know – we are going to stay,’ my father said…”

The previous novel, Juno of Taris, ended with the arrival of outsiders and the small community realising that domed island of Taris was in big trouble due to cracks appearing in the protective cover that makes their island airtight, and the support systems failing one by one. Initially leaving was going to be an option with the inhabitants able to choose to either leave the show more island or stay, now the leaving option has escalated to leave now or die. A huge storm is scheduled to hit the island in a few hours and their rescuers think the whole dome will break. This proves true, and as they travel through the fierce September storm on a ship the 500 Taris inhabitants watch the dome disintegrate and carry away all the buildings on the island.

On arrival in Wellington the people of Taris discover that the world is very different from when their elders were first sealed away. The world’s population has been reduced to around a million by a series of pandemics that have ravaged the world; global warming has left whole cities empty. A bomb attack welcomes the Tarians, and when they are housed in a refugee centre they realise they need to quickly familiarise themselves with the new society they are to be a part of, the money, food, technologies, clothes and work.

Willem is the person who rescued the Tarians and soon it is apparent that there is a subversive element within New Zealand that is conducting a hate campaign via the internet, against Willem and as a flow on, the Tarians. Shortly after their arrival a new pandemic breaks out and the Tarians are accused of bringing it to New Zealand. Who hates the Tarians so much that they want to destroy them?

In Juno of Taris, each chapter is ended with a few sentences of different gossipy information recording the Tarians passing information on to each other. FIERCE SEPTEMBER does the same but with an added bonus at the end of each chapter there is the web address of a blog posting which actually exists. If they have access to the internet, readers can access and read the two opposing blog postings. One is someone from the boat who is for the group and the other blog is one of the subversive agitators who are whipping up anti-refugee hysteria, along with comments to both blogs. Such a clever idea – but nothing is revealed that is not in the book, so people without internet access won’t miss out on crucial information.

It doesn’t take Juno and her friends long to realise that things will not be the same outside and if they can stop the pandemic and clear their names then they will leave their temporary refuge and be absorbed into the New Zealand community as individual and small family groups.

I really enjoyed this second book in the trilogy, was well written and narrated from the point of view of Juno. I cannot wait for the final book to come out, but that is not looking like it will happen before 2012 show less