Libby Hathorn Quotes

“In the summer of raging storms Lara Ritchie must fight the storm within herself. It is through the unexpected friendship with a kindred spirit that Lara discovers the strength to face up to her ordeals.”

“When he hugged her to him she couldn’t respond for a storm of tears was inside her and her mother seemed so close now. He smelled exactly as she’d imagined -of the bush, of fire and wood and sweat and also faintly of tobacco. She wished she could hug him back but she drew away when Mrs Robinson pushed open the wire screen door and greeted him.”

“Tears were not possible for the sorrow for it all had frozen her. Lara stood motionless for some time as the sun slid out of sight behind the trees. The dog stood beside her, silent and still too. The Thunderwith stirred and licked her hand. All at once, Lara’s eyes were drawn from the bleak evening sky to the dog waiting so patiently beside her. She patted its head, grateful for its silent companionship. Then she knelt and hugged it to her fiercely. Oh, Tunderwith!.”

“How can she find acceptance and love in this harsh place? Will the hostile Gladwyn and her kids ever really allow Lara to be part of the family she so longs for?”

“But where did he come from? Has he been sent to her for a reason? Who will explain his mystery to her? ”

“Mrs. Robinson has spared no effort to find Larry Ritchie, a stranger for more than eleven years to Lara. All the while during her mother’s illness there had been the spectre of the home for Lara if her father could not be traced. Mrs. Robinson had been as firm and as positive as Mum. ‘We are getting closer all the time to finding him. I’m sure of it. They’ll find the Man,’ her mother had told Lara over and over during those last weeks of her illness. ‘No child of mine will go to any home. I know Larry will come for you, Lara.’ ”

‘Instead, she stared at the blueness of the sea and the greenness of the tumbling nearby cliffs and wondered why beautiful. places like this could make you feel sad. At this moment she wished she could cancel out the whole beach with its tumbling vigorous surf and all the surrounding panorama that seemed to fill her longing.”

“Lara feels completely alone after the death of her mother. She is an intruder in her father’s new family, living far away from all that has been familiar.”

“Lara found it difficult to know just what to say. Here they were in the hot sun on the verandah of the school principal’s house - her long-lost father, this tall angular man with his piercing blue eyes, and her beloved teacher. Both of them standing and looking at her and expecting a reply of some kind. But she could only stare dumbly at this total stranger, who was nevertheless her only family now. Her father.”

“On the crest of the hill she saw him, a dark sleek form springing up from the grass like a bird startled from its nest. But the dog was not startled. It came towards her with sureness and speed, leaping up at her as she called its name. ‘Thunderwith, my beauty.’ She welcomed it with open arms. ‘My magic dog. Your are here. You’re not a dream at all. You’re here waiting for me.’ She buried her face in its coat and stood quietly for a minute.”

When we find out where Shane lives, it is on the streets covered with newspapers and Shane’s drawings of cats. Although Shane has very little, he wants to give everything he can to make sure that the cat has everything that he needs.

It’s night and the dark is filled with strange sounds as Shane makes his way home. On a fence he finds a stray cat that at first growls and spits at him.

But Shane talks and strokes the kitten to calmness, and decides to take the ‘Spitfire, Kitten Number One,’ home with him.

It’s a story of a boy who lives in an inner city, finds a young cat, and decides to take it home. They must travel through a gauntlet of dark and very scary incidents and places to get home.

No gang of boys, or avenue of dense traffic, or fierce dog can stop Shane carrying his new found friend to the place he calls home.

Shane is a runaway. A homeless boy living on the streets. One night he finds a kitten and is determined to make it his own and take it home. But will he and Cat be able to make their way safely through the night?

Children relate to Shane automatically (due to his being around 8 – 10 years old) and can relate to the fear of being on the one hand stubborn (as many children are at that age!) and on the other hand unable to support oneself and needing the security of your parents.

The boy living on the streets, seeking companionship and the need to protect (possibly the way he wasn’t), jealousy of a well looked after cat with a home, the use of crumbled up (thrown away) paper at the beginning and end of the book.

Way home follows a young boy called Shane and a stray cat that Shane has decided to home. During their journey home, Shane and the cat experience many dangerous encounters such as a gang of lads and a dog.

Throughout this book, Shane is always telling the cat that they are close to home so the reader is left guessing as to where Shane lives.