Description
From the dream duo of Australian middle-grade comes this time-slip novel that explores the early life of Kate Kelly, sister of the infamous Ned.
Kate and Ruby live in the High Country in Victoria. They're both daring, quick-thinking and prepared to break the rules, and they're both brilliant horse riders-they'd probably be great friends. But they live in different times, 145 years apart.
While galloping through the mountains, Kate rides headlong into a thrilling experience that transports her from 1878 to the future, where she meets Ruby. Kate and Ruby return to 1878, where Kate is secretly taking supplies to her brother Ned and the rest of the Kelly Gang, who are in hiding from the police. Together the girls work to confuse the police and keep the gang from being found and arrested. But the looming disaster makes things less clear-cut for Ruby. They're about the have the ride of their lives!
Outlaw Girls is an exciting, fast-paced time-slip novel, narrated by both Ruby and Kate, about family, friendship, loyalty and betrayal, the complexity of right and wrong, and working out what matters most.
Review
Emily Gale and Nova Weetman have teamed up again to bring us a wonderful, time-slip novel. Set in the Victorian high country, we are taken on a journey through the eyes of Ruby, living in the present time, and Kate, the sister of Ned Kelly, in 1878.
Ruby is a teenager who seems to be getting herself into more and more trouble with her friends, and her Mum is at her wits end, so she decides that sending Ruby to stay with her Uncle Harry on his farm might be the solution. But little do they all know of the adventure that Ruby is about to embark on!
It all starts when she comes across a strangely dressed girl, who at first calls herself Ada, but is really Kate Kelly, who has lost her horse. Ruby agrees to help her but decides to keep her a secret.
Hiding in Ruby’s room, Kate doesn’t know how she got there, or even where she is, but she soon realises that there are things in Ruby’s world that she has no idea of - including, planes, tractors, spas! And when she finds out she is not in 1878, she realises that she must return. And when Ruby joins her and ends up back in a time Ruby can only imagine, she is convinced she is in the middle of a reality show!
But then the actual reality of the situation that they are in starts to dawn on them both. Ruby knows about the infamous Kelly Gang, and what happens to Ned and the others, and it is knowledge that Ruby struggles with. She finds herself caught in a wild adventure, helping Kate and her family, but does she really want to be a part of this herself, knowing how it all ends, and be an Outlaw Girl just like Kate?
Kate and Ruby are both strong willed and feisty characters, and they form a firm and trusting friendship. If only they lived at the same time! This is a wonderful time-slip historical novel, set in and around events that have been so much a part of Australian history. It is a story of growing up and realising the consequences of your actions, thinking of others, loyalty to both friends and family, and understanding that the choices that we face are often complex and difficult. It will be enjoyed by all those in upper primary and lower secondary.
