She lives with her parents on the ghostly and remote Christmas Island.
Located in the Indian Ocean, the area is famous for its red crab migration and the small and threatened bat species, the pipistrelle.
It is also known for its countless arrivals of boat people.
Mum is a bat specialist, currently researching the disappearance of these tiny bats from the previously over-populated area.
She is dedicated to her work and due to this, her family takes second place in her life, which includes lengthy absences from home.
These absences have psychological consequences for Coralie, and her dad who runs a small diving business for tourists.
The dwindling of various threatened species of animals and plants on land and beneath the sea, are one of the many themes used in the backdrop of this impressive novel.
A new detention centre (referred to as a reception centre) is being built at North West Point for the influx of boat people that continue using this route to enter Australia.
With the New Moon, the island is turned upside down with the arrival of eighty-nine asylum seekers whose boat crashes into the cliffs, forcing an emergency rescue mission to save as many lives as possible, under severe weather conditions.
This remarkable book addresses many migratory issues – animal and human, entwining them delicately within Pip Smith’s excellent poetic prose.
The lives and backgrounds of the rescued boat people are intricately examined together with the decisions they make to leave their lives for a new country, risking everything. The reasons for those decisions, and the final outcomes, are laid bare with an honest acceptance.
Smith has created a brilliant series of stories emerging from the many themes, to create a complex weaving of lives and the exploration of the human need for change, which at times, comes at great cost to family members in loss and grief of various kinds.
Title: The Pull of the Moon
Author: Pip Smith
Publisher: UWA Publishing, $26.99
Publication Date: 6 June 2025
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760803032
For ages: 10 +
Type: Middle Grade Fiction
