Summer Brook Spring: Summer Brook Besties, #1

By Lynne Lumsden Green

INTRODUCING THE SUMMER BROOK BESTIES

 

Can two people from opposite ends of the earth really be friends?

 

Summer Brook Spring is the first book in a cosy series for kind and curious young readers who love books, animals and best friend adventures.

 

10-year-old Freya Patel think it is RUBBISH her family are living at Summer Brook Farm, her Gran's farm in Australia, for a year. It is so far away from everything she knows, and all her friends at home in London.

 

Emma Lloyd is excited to have a girl her own age living next door to the dairy farm that has always been her home. But can a country girl be friends with a girl from a big city on the opposite side of the planet? When Maisie the cow gets in trouble, Freya and Emma must join forces to save her little calf.

 

The Summer Brook Besties series offers young readers an escape to a cosy place where life isn't easy, but where problems are solved through cooperation and kindness. Freya and Emma learn about friendship and family through their adventures together in a farming community in Australia. 10 chapters with original illustrations by Caitlyn McPherson.

 

This is a thoroughly modern take on the cosy Enid Blyton series so beloved by readers, featuring diverse characters and contemporary issues that offer rich opportunity for home and classroom discussion. Four books are planned for release in 2020/21.

 

NEXT: SUMMER BROOK BESTIES #2

 

Bushfire Christmas

 

Christmas in Australia is in summer. It's too hot and too strange for Freya. Emma is irritated and hurt by Freya's longing for home and they fall out. When bushfires devastate the area, their squabbles seem petty—but is it too late for the Summer Brook Besties' friendship?

 

FIRST REVIEWS FOR SUMMER BROOK SPRING

"A purely delightful book about an 11 year old who has to move from England to Rural Australia. I adored the way the authentic view of Australia, it's landscape, and hardships wrapped around me like a familiar blanket. Not only is the landscape beautiful, but the writing is rich in description and emotion. The view point of Freya was so spot on and memories from my own child hood flooded back from her perspective and way of seeing the world around her." Neen Cohen

 

"Titbits of information are woven into the story, providing insights about how it might feel to experience Australia as a newcomer. The pictures are delightful. This book is a wonderful introduction to the series, with questions left unanswered, compelling the reader to stay tuned for the next instalment. An enjoyable read!" Carrie Molachino

 

"This is a beautiful story, of exploration, friendship and rural Australian farm life. Enjoyable read, looking forward to the next in the series.

My 8 year old son read it. He told me it was 'cool they were on a farm and when can he read the next one?'" Jem McCusker

• Language: English
• Publisher: Iron Bridge Publishing
• Release date: Mar 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9780648651383

Lynne Lumsden Green

Lynne Lumsden Green is an Australian author of fiction and non-fiction. A zoologist by training, Lynne was Harper Collins Voyagers Science Queen for 15 years. She lives in Ipswich, Queensland with her family, two cats, and rooms full of books.

Book preview

Summer Brook SPRING

Chapter 1  First impressions

Chapter 2  The girl next door

Chapter 3 More new faces

Chapter 4 An invitation

Chapter 5 A sumptuous feast

Chapter 6 The summer brook

Chapter 7 Stuck in the mud!

Chapter 8 Book buddies

Chapter 9 Calf care

Chapter 10 Home at the farm

SUMMER BROOK BESTIES #1

Summer Brook

SPRING

––––––––

Lynne Lumsden Green

Chapter 1

First impressions

It was only a few hours since Gran Rose met them at the Brisbane airport, but Freya Patel hated everything about Australia already. Even the airport had been a shock: it was so small compared to Heathrow. She stared miserably out the dusty window of her grandmother’s battered white SUV.

The countryside didn’t look like Freya’s idea of spring at all. Wasn’t this part of Queensland supposed to have rainforests and stuff? There was less colour in the landscape than in the English autumn they left behind. There were seemingly endless dry yellow fields of bleached grass, and strange trees that looked half dead. It was rubbish that her family was going to live here for a year.

Beside her, Sam was straining at his seatbelt to lean between the front seats. He had been delighted when their father Colin had announced he was taking a year off from the bank so they could help Gran Rose sell her farm. It was alright for Sam, he didn’t have any best friends to miss, not like Freya.

Freya’s mother Anna was sitting on the other side of Sam.

‘I expected it to be greener than this,’ she said. Was that worry in her voice? Too late for that now, Mum, thought Freya.

‘It should be, Anna,’ Gran Rose replied. ‘That’s climate change for you. We’re officially in drought. It’s been two years since we’ve had proper rain around here.’

‘Hard for us Londoners to imagine!’ said Colin. Even the rain didn’t want to be here, Freya grumbled to herself.

‘Drought is a feature of Australian life,’ Rose continued, ‘But the Scenic Rim—that’s what we call this region—has a temperate climate. That’s what drew the original settlers, it’s good for farming. Though the real farmers do it tough these days.’

‘Real farmers?’ piped up Sam.

‘Summer Brook Farm isn’t a working farm, Sam,’ Rose explained. ‘It was once, but my brother sold most of the land before I inherited it from him. The farm you’ll see is what is called a hobby farm.’

‘What happens to the animals in a drought?’ said Anna. That was typical of Mum, always so interested in everything.

‘The farmers have to buy in feed and water for their animals. The wildlife come closer to humans in desperation. It’s tough all around.’

‘I don’t know why anyone would live out here,’ Freya sulked. For a moment the only sound was the rumbling of the engine and the sound of the wheels on the tarmac.

Gran Rose said, ‘Your Pop and I were very happy out here, Freya. I hope you’ll see why in time.’

It was less than a year since Pop Patel had died. That’s why they’d come; Dad said the farm was too much for Gran all on her own. Freya didn’t know her father’s parents as well as she knew her mother’s, who lived just two train stations away in London, but Gran Rose and Pop Patel had visited every other Christmas, and she loved them both dearly. She realised she’d made her grandmother feel bad.

‘Sorry, Gran,’ she muttered. Her Dad smiled over his shoulder at her from the passenger seat.

‘That’s okay, pet. I know you’ll be homesick at first. But your

grandad and I moved many times, and I promise you, home is where you make it.’ Gran Rose caught Freya’s eyes in the rear-view mirror and smiled. Freya couldn’t help smiling back.

The scenery changed as they approached, then passed through, another small town. Everything felt wrong to Freya. The buildings seemed small and rickety and too far apart, compared to London’s brick terraces and tall towers, and there were hardly any people. Even the advertising signs bore unfamiliar brands. It was a relief to see the familiar logo of a fast-food chain on one. She was far too far

from home.

‘Not much further!’ said Rose. ‘This is our road.’

The bitumen was now just one car wide, and the ride grew bumpy. Then the bitumen stopped and they were travelling on gravel. This was not what Freya would call a road! They seemed to travel a long way before Rose turned into a driveway and parked in front of what looked like a falling down stable.

‘Here we are!’ Gran Rose announced with satisfaction.