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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Malcolm Fletcher is a disenchanted school teacher, struggling to keep to his doctor's prescribed diet for his weight. On the last day of school, he finds that Ben Burton, a fifth grader, has brought his deaf and mute sister Annie to class.
Fletcher initially mocks Ben and wishes Annie weren't in his class, but he soon discovers after setting the class a poetry writing task that Annie is literate. Fletcher interrogates Ben on Annie's intelligence, growing disgusted at his own neglect, and declares Annie will begin to come to school. He leaves the school with renewed cheer at the thought of a child needing him as a teacher.
Notes
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This story first appeared as an extract from the novel Mallawindy by Joy Dettman.
Affiliation Notes
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Writing Disability in Australia
Type of disability Deafness and mutism.
Type of character Secondary. Point of view Third person.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Related Works
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y
Mallawindy
Sydney
:
Pan Macmillan Australia
,
1998
Z469323
1998
single work
novel
'Ann Burton was born on a river bank the night her father tried to burn their house down.
'Six years later her sister Liza disappears while they are staying at their uncle's property. What Ann sees that day robs her of her memory and her speech.
'Ann escapes her anguished childhood, finding love and a new life away from Mallawindy.
'But there is no escape from the Burton family and its dark secrets.
'Ann must return to Mallawindy and confront the past if she is ever to be free.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
- Country towns,
