On Gallant Wings

Thirteen-year-old Ava lives in Darwin with her family and their homing pigeons, of which Essie is Ava’s favourite. A Japanese family live next door and their son, Kazuo, is Ava’s best and only real friend. When Darwin is bombed in 1942, Ava and her mother are evacuated in a cattle train with the remaining women and children. Kazuo is transferred to the men’s camp, separating him from his parents and siblings. Living by rules and rituals has always been how Ava has felt safe, but when Kazuo escapes, she is faced with the hardest decision of all—whether to report a ‘potentially dangerous’ escapee to the authorities, or to protect a beloved friend…