Birrong Books Birrong Books i(6496291 works by) (Organisation) assertion
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1 y separately published work icon Tunnel to Tar-Ra Susan E. Boyer , Glenbrook : Birrong Books , 2024 29198910 2024 single work children's fiction children's historical fiction science fiction ''Tunnel to Tar-Ra' is the exciting the story of perilous adventures of four fictional teenagers who travel back in time. Investigating a tunnel leading from Sydney's 'Hero of Waterloo' hotel, they eventually find themselves in a cave, in 1791, near Sydney Cove. During their first afternoon, overlooking Dawes Point (Tar-Ra), Jemima, Oliver, Millie and Archie, meet Nanberry, an Indigenous youth. Nanberry commences covert assistance by helping them with a secluded night bush-camp. The time travellers have stepped into a living history book. As recorded in journals, letters and reports by the British First Fleet settlers of Sydney Cove they meet Aboriginal and convict people, they witness or hear of events and see the settlement living conditions of those times. During their adventures the time travellers experience some living conditions in Sydney Cove. They witness an amputation, the flogging of a convict and the daring ocean escape of convicts William and Mary Bryant. They meet and engage with diverse inhabitants who lived in Sydney Cove at the time and learn so much about those early settlement days. Seeing the plight of the Indigenous people firsthand does not escape them. After witnessing clandestine events, the youngsters become separated. With Nanberry and Boorong's assistance they reunite on Me-Mel Island (Goat Island). Whilst on the island they share campfire stories that provide an opportunity for readers to consider ethical issues. They eventually locate the entrance to the cave that can lead them back to modern-day Sydney.' 

 (Publication summary)
1 y separately published work icon Stories of Life at Sydney Cove Susan E. Boyer , Glenbrook : Birrong Books , 2016 10600575 2016 selected work biography children's

A 'young reader' version of Boyer's Across Great Divides: True Stories of Life at Sydney Cove.
1 2 y separately published work icon Across Great Divides : True Stories of Life at Sydney Cove Susan E. Boyer , Glenbrook : Birrong Books , 2013 6496320 2013 selected work biography

This work 'brings to life the diverse personal experiences of people living in and around Australia's first colony. It demonstrates the varied reactions of participants to their unique situation. It shows the situations of convict women, such as Esther Abrahams and Ann Inett and their relationships with military men. It relates the experiences of convict men like James Ruse, Henry Kable, William Bryant and others who saw and seized the possibilities of their new position. Some succeeded beyond their imagination; some failed disastrously.' (Source: Publishers website)
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