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Four years ago, Millie lost her baby
brother Noah before he could be born. She writes a journal to him, exploring
her memories and emotions, and thinks about him every day. When she learns her
mother is pregnant again, she writes to him about her anxieties. What if the
new baby dies like Noah did? Millie takes it upon herself to take care of her
mum while she's pregnant. She cooks, cleans, and brings her mum ginger tea when
she feels sick in the morning. At school, she has two close friends, the bubbly
extrovert, Charlie, and bookish introvert, Emma, who pull her in two
directions. But Chappy Leeann is there to help her sort out her feelings.
Working together to support their parents and the drought affecting their sheep
farm, Millie grows closer to her older sister Vicky and learns to appreciate
the things in her life. As Millie shares all her feelings with Noah, she
reassures her precious stillborn baby brother that even after her new sibling
is born, she will always be his sister. Throughout it all, Millie learns just
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This book contains an important message about the impact of stillborn children on
the lives of siblings too, and highlights the importance of school chaplains in
their ability to help children through their emotions. Siblings are often overlooked as they grieve the
loss of an expected baby.
About the author
Frances Prentice is a mother of six,
including one stillborn, who lives with her husband and two youngest children
on a cattle property in rural Queensland. She juggles her writing with home
schooling, tutoring and running a home school co-op. She loves creating stories
with young people and is planning to self-publish works she has co-written with
young authors. She has a passion for helping people with reading and writing
difficulties so they can experience the joy she has had in literature. She is
an avid reader of middle-grade and young adult fiction, who first dreamt of
being an author at the age of eight. She always thought she would be
middle-aged when she began this career, once she had some life experience. This
is her first middle-grade novel, and a dream come true.
Summary
Four years ago, Millie lost her baby brother Noah before he could be born. When she learns her mother is once again pregnant, she feels excited and scared as well. Will the baby be ok? Life on a rural sheep property in the grip of drought brings its own challenges too, but Millie realises that she is more resilient than she ever believed.
