The Lighthouse at Pelican Rock

By Stephen Hart

Cover and internal illustrations by Kathy Creamer

Published June 2018

ISBN 9780994528056, RRP $17.99

After 12-year-old Megan Evans almost dies, she is packed off to the tiny, remote coastal village of Pelican Rock to recover. Sure she is going to be bored in a place which doesn’t even have the internet, she discovers there is much more to Pelican Rock that she expected. Are the pelicans really magic? What is the secret of the ruined lighthouse? Has she found the place where she belongs? And, perhaps, not just a place…

This first novel by talented new writer Stephen Hart is a magical, moving, memorable story that will grip readers from the start.

A joy to read: the kind of story that made me want to be a writer. (Cassandra Golds)

Read a review of the book here.

Book also available in Large Print, Dyslexic, Braille and Daisy editions at Read How You Want.

About the author:

Stephen Hart was born in Singapore to English parents, and emigrated from England with his family when he was seven.

At one stage, Stephen was an archaeologist and travelled the world to investigate its past – a strange place that we can never really know but can visit in our imaginations. He no longer works in archaeology but his fascination with the unknowable remains.

He loves lighthouses and other magical places and thinks reality is something that happens to other people. He likes all wombats, most dogs, some cats, and thinks pelicans are very special.

Stephen lives with his family in a magical part of Sydney but won’t tell anyone where that is. They have to find it for themselves!

About the illustrator:

Kathy Creamer is a children’s illustrator and writer who has been published by Oxford University Press, Reed International, Christmas Press and Second Look. Kathy has been illustrating children’s books for a number of years. She has a Master of Arts degree in Children’s Book Illustration from the Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University in England, where she attended lectures given by many prominent illustrators, such as Quentin Blake, James Mayhew, John Lawrence and Martin Salisbury.  Kathy works mainly with watercolour, colour pencil, ink and wash. She has a varied style, and enjoys creating humour and movement in her images.  Kathy has a list of favourite illustrators, but if asked to choose, then Shirley Hughes would be at the top, along with Graeme Base, Jackie Morris, Julie Vivas, Chris Riddell, Anne Spudvilas, Raymond Briggs, and Maurice Sendak.  Her website is at www.kathycreamer.com Her work can also be seen at www.scbwi.org

Selected reviews:

This book really intrigued me. I am not usually a fan of time travel but this book was certainly a winner. Hart has cleverly woven the past with the present and allows Megan to move effortlessly between the two worlds. She develops a beautiful relationship with her aunt and finally finds the love that she has craved. Megan connects with a number of characters in the small town, all for various reasons. This allows her to make strong connections to the town and its goings on. Themes such as friendship, family dynamics and mystery are delved into. There are lots of smaller story lines that are interwoven in the story and it is intriguing to try and match them all together. It certainly kept me turning the pages. I would recommend this book for children 11 and up as some of the storyline can be quite complex. A welcome addition to the collection. (Read Plus, June 15 2018)

Staying with Aunt Rachel, Megan learns acceptance. What she has always believed is now a certainty. Her mother is not interested in her at all. Her entire focus is on her talented younger brother’s needs and her expectations of him. As for Megan’s father, his indifference towards her is painful even to the reader. This acceptance nurtures Megan’s inquiring character. She takes an interest in the old lighthouse and its many hidden secrets. There is something magical and mysterious about it and the lighthouse keeper, whose journals Megan is given access to.  The strange pelican that visits her creates a life-changing shift for a young girl who finally finds herself, and her place in the world, in the strangest manner.

There are many sub-stories built into a storyline that keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end. Terrific characters, tension, and well-paced progress, added to lots of unexpected turn-offs through the plot, kept me longing to know what the outcome will be. Then came the completely unexpected ending! (Kids’ Book Review, June 17, 2018)