What This Book Is About
On a stormy night in 1891, a ship carrying exotic animals is wrecked off the coast of southern Victoria, Australia. Evie is ten. She has not spoken since her parents drowned two years earlier, and she lives with her ornithologist grandfather in a crumbling house.
On the beach after the wreck she finds a survivor: a rhinoceros. She takes him home and keeps him there, until the Royal Melbourne Zoo sends someone to claim him. The wreck in the story is based on a real one, the SS Bancoora. Illustrated by Astred Hicks.
Available at Popular bookstores, Kinokuniya, and the Singapore National Library.
Why We Recommend This Book
For A2-B1 students (G6-G8), this book is an excellent choice for three reasons.
First, it is historical fiction built on a real event. The shipwreck at the centre of the story is based on the loss of the SS Bancoora, which gives students something concrete to examine: what a novelist keeps from the record and what she invents around it.
Second, at Lexile ~700L, it's very accessible for A2-B1 readers, with emotional depth that doesn't require complex language to appreciate. Evie does not speak, so almost everything the reader learns about her has to be inferred from what she does—exactly the skill literary analysis asks for.
Third, it is an Australian book, published in Australia and set there, so it broadens students' exposure to English beyond the British and American varieties they mostly meet—valuable in an IB context that values international-mindedness.
Reading Level Guide
Too challenging at A1. Build foundations with graded readers or illustrated picture books first.
Right in the sweet spot. Accessible for strong A2 readers, comfortable for early B1.
An easy read at B2. Try The Good Thieves or Heart of a Samurai for more challenge.
Other UWC Recommended Books for This Grade
Not sure if this book is right for your child? Take our free 30-minute English assessment to find their CEFR level, then choose books that match.