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Kelsey and the Quest of the Porcelain Doll

Kelsey is a captivating story of adversity, adventure and love. Set in the immediate aftermath of the 2010 floods in Pakistan, Kelsey makes a new friend and becomes a young aid worker.

Themes: Pakistan, floods, family, love, resilience  and kindness in difficult times.

Award

CBCA Notable Book, 2015

Published 2014

Queensland University Press

Australia

This book is available in other formats: Large Print, Dyslexic, Daisy or Braille at Read How You Want. Click the Other Formats button to purchase.

What people are saying

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Last year my teacher, Mrs Penner, gave me a bundle of ages. Her mother, Mrs Hawke, had just finished writing the draft of her latest book. I received the draft because this story was for readers my age and she wanted to know what I thought.
         As I read I was taken on a wonderful adventure to the flooded countryside of Pakistan, where I met Kelsey. I liked the way the chapters jumped between Kelsey and her porcelain doll on their journey to reunite.
        That bundle of pages that I received last year is now this beautiful book. Congratulations Mrs Hawke. I know many children will love this adventure story as much as I did.
                                                 Gracie, 8.


I finished your book this morning. What a lovely, lovely story. Your work is so measured and considered, simply written but with such an undertone of richness. Congratulations. And thank you too, for acknowledging me at the back as one of your readers. Very generous.
                                         Janeen Brian, Author


Kelsey is an awesome book, full of adventures, and you can read it over and over and over again, without stopping. I've read it five times already.
                                                   Amelia, 9

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This wonderful story is a delight for young readers. The book shows the growth of someone who finds themselves in new surroundings. There are laughs to be had along the way as well as thought-provoking moments. Rosanne Hawke['s] personal experiences shape the vivid descriptions in the book.
           Bookzone, 'Sunday Telegraph', Sydney by Gemma Piali

Pakistan for Children. It is rare to find an exceptional novel for children with the current emphasis on YA literature rather than on children's books. Kelsey and the Quest of the Porcelain Doll (UQP) is an exceptional book for younger readers. With her background of living in Pakistan as an aid worker, Hawke has incorporated cultural and lifestyle details authentically into a perfectly formed story.

                              Joy Lawn, 'Boomerang Books

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Rosanne Hawke's junior novel, Kelsey and the Quest of the Porcelain Doll is a captivating mixture of enchantment and adventure with the added bonus of being rich in cultural awareness and humanity, attributes Hawke is well known for. Finding one's sense of place, belonging, and being loved and appreciated are emotions every child will have little difficulty identifying with. Just how Rosanne Hawke manages to do that through the eyes of a doll is about to be revealed.

                            Dimity Powell, Boomerang Books

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Through Kelsey's friendship with Shakila we gain a better understanding of what life is like for the people in this part of Pakistan. The circuitous route that the porcelain doll takes … is an exciting adventure that Rosanne Hawke skilfully weaves into the main tale of Kelsey's visit to a foreign land. Little girls everywhere will love this story. Highly recommended.
See the full review in 'Good Reading' July 2014, p 66.

                           Wendy Noble, Good Reading


This is a charming story, beautifully written, that provides a glimpse into the richness of another culture. Amy Jo's and Kelsey's stories converge at the end in a fanciful twist that is both delightful and neatly executed.

                                 Jane Smith Magpies July 2014.

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