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Cover image courtesy of publisher.
y separately published work icon Dragonfly Song single work   children's fiction   children's  
Issue Details: First known date: 2016... 2016 Dragonfly Song
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Abandoned by the priestess of the island at birth, Aissa is an outcast, surviving by her wits - until she joins the acrobatic bull dancers who are sent away to compete on the island of the Bull King. A gripping and powerful adventure by acclaimed author Wendy Orr.

'There are two ways of looking at Aissa's story. She's the miracle girl who escaped the raiders. Or she's the cursed child who called the Bull King's ship to the island.

'The firstborn daughter of a priestess is cast out as a baby, and after raiders kill her adopted family, she is abandoned at the gates of the Great Hall, anonymous and mute. Called No-Name, the cursed child, she is raised a slave, and not until she is twelve does she learn her name is Aissa: the dragonfly.

'Now every year the Bull King takes a tribute from the island: two thirteen-year-old children to brave the bloody bull dances in his royal court. None have ever returned - but for Aissa it is the only escape.

'Aissa is resilient, resourceful, and fast - but to survive the bull ring, she will have to learn the mystery of her true nature.

'A riveting, mythic Bronze Age adventure from award-winning author Wendy Orr.' (Publication summary)

Teaching Resources

Teaching Resources

This work has teaching resources.

Teachers' notes from publisher’s website.

Affiliation Notes

  • Writing Disability in Australia

    Type of disability

    1. Trauma-induced selective mutism.

    2. Polydactyly.

    Type of character Primary.
    Point of view Third person.

  • Writing Disability in Australia

    In an interview with Sue Bursztynski. Wendy Orr says of Aissa's mutism:

    As a paediatric occupational therapist, I once worked with a young boy who was electively mute for a couple of years. I discussed Aissa’s scenario with a paediatric speech pathologist specialising in child and adolescent mental health, as well as with a child psychologist, and they both felt that her mutism was logical in that extreme trauma. Psychological truth in fiction is very important to me, even if some plot points, like singing the snakes, merge into fantasy. (Source.)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2016 .
      image of person or book cover 2913299625604080456.gif
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 400p.
      Reprinted: 2017
      Note/s:
      • Published July 2016
      ISBN: 9781760290023
    • Toronto, Ontario,
      c
      Canada,
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Pajama Press ,
      2017 .
      image of person or book cover 3673356735808721209.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 393p.p.
      ISBN: 9781772780376, 1772780375

Other Formats

  • Also large print.
  • Also dyslexic edition
  • Also braille.
  • Sound recording.

Works about this Work

Girls in a Women's World Wendy Orr , 2018 single work
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 33 no. 4 2018; (p. 19-20)
Review : Dragonfly Song Wendy Noble , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Good Reading , September 2016; (p. 58)

— Review of Dragonfly Song Wendy Orr , 2016 single work children's fiction
Fantasy Fiction's Brave New World Ben Anderson , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 27 September 2016; (p. 7)

— Review of The Island Will Sink Briohny Doyle , 2016 single work novel ; Lord of the Darkwood Lian Hearn , 2016 single work novel ; Dragonfly Song Wendy Orr , 2016 single work children's fiction
Fantasy Fiction's Brave New World Ben Anderson , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 27 September 2016; (p. 7)

— Review of The Island Will Sink Briohny Doyle , 2016 single work novel ; Lord of the Darkwood Lian Hearn , 2016 single work novel ; Dragonfly Song Wendy Orr , 2016 single work children's fiction
Review : Dragonfly Song Wendy Noble , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Good Reading , September 2016; (p. 58)

— Review of Dragonfly Song Wendy Orr , 2016 single work children's fiction
Girls in a Women's World Wendy Orr , 2018 single work
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 33 no. 4 2018; (p. 19-20)
Last amended 5 Jun 2020 12:53:44
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