About the AuthorMargot Finke is an Aussie transplant who has lived in Oregon with her husband for many years. Three kids, grown and successful: seven grand-kids are the light of her life. This is her 13th childrens book, preceded by young teen books, The Revenge of Thelma Hill and Taconi and Claude Double Trouble. Her Wild and Wonderful educational ebook series will soon be available as soft cover books. Margot also runs a Manuscript Critique Service, and her website offers help for new writers. She is a writing coach, and her Musings column is featured in The Purple Crayon. why do you love to read Down Under Calling: Grandma Rose Spins a Web
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Down Under is Calling to You!By PAColeLooking for a mid-grade novel for a `tween-age boy who's interested in all things Aussie? Here's the perfect book for you, Down Under Calling, by Margot Finke. Ms Finke is a transplanted Aussie with memories and stories to share about wild and wonderful Australia. I highly recommend this book to boys and girls who want to learn more about Australian animals. Parents and grandparents will enjoy the growing relationship between Andy and Grandma Rose.In Down Under Calling, Andy's mother wants him to do something productive over summer - not sit around playing video games. She suggests he write letters to his Grandma Rose in Australia. We applaud his mother's pushing Andy knowing that he and his grandmother will get to know each other better through this correspondence. We'll all learn more about Australia through Grandma Rose's sharing her memories with us about growing up `down under.'Andy, being a video game player, is not inclined to write letters - how "borrring," he thinks, as he reluctantly complies with Mom's urging. But once he receives Grandma Rose's first letter, he changes his mind. Grandma Rose has a lot of interesting critter visitors to her garden, which backs to the Queensland Bush, plus entertaining personal stories from her girlhood. Andy is hooked and his friend, a girl named Kelly, is drawn in, too. The summer passes pleasurably on both continents as they eagerly await the next snail mail installment. Andy and Kelly's friendship also grows as they share their personal stories.Letter exchanges make for wonderful stories. We get to experience life in two worlds. In this case we also get Rose's remembrances of her life as a girl in Australia in the 1940's, contrasted with her life today. Andy's perspective broadens and his understanding of his own life's problems also deepens. He develops a warm relationship with his grandmother and gains a close friend in Kelly. They learn more about the creatures in Australia through Andy and Kelly's `Google' searches. Andy and Kelly find more to interest them outside in bike riding and bird watching.If you've ever carried on a correspondence over a period of time you learn a lot about the other person as you share information - and you learn more about yourself as well. Andy learns his parents are having the same problems he's had since his father was downsized, which changed their living situation. The whole family has had to adjust to their altered financial reality. In this day and age sacrifices seem harder to make when we see others are much better off. This story shows how families can stick together in hard times and that expensive, `store bought' fun isn't a true necessity. It's our relationships that really matter.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A beautifully crafted story of bridging the generation gap!By Donna M. McDineThe Aussie from Down Under, Margot Finke, has done it again! Down Under Calls is a beautifully crafted story of bridging the generation gap and ocean separation through good old-fashioned letter writing and sharing stories of one's youth.At the request of his mother, Andy Frazer is reluctant in having to write a letter to his Australian Grandma Rose. It was bad enough his family was forced to move from their spacious home to a cramped apartment. Something about downsizing at his father's job led to this. Along with not being allowed to purchase any more video games he now had to write a letter to some old lady he doesn't even remember. What could he possibly write about?What starts out as a burden quickly turns into a true labor of love. The letter writing becomes a glorious distraction that serves as the propeller of an exploding imagination and curiosity. What Andy learns along the way is invaluable. Journey along with Andy, Grandma Rose, and Andy's closest friend Kelly as their lives become intertwined despite the separation of an ocean.The humorous letter exchanges will have the reader turning the pages as quick as lightening. Author, Margot Finke includes a glossary of Australian words for easy reference. Visit Finke at [...] to learn about her ever-evolving writing career. Be prepared to spend quite a bit of time visiting, for Margot's expertise and humor spill from the pages.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Gentle, engaging story shows what self-publishers can do.By Bev M. CookeFull disclosure: Margot and I know each other by virtue of belonging to the same on-line children's writers group and because we did on-line critiques in an electronic professional writer's critique group.This review is taken from my blog page, and reproduced here. Link: [...]Its always a treat to read a good kids book whether its a picture book, a mid-grade or a young adult book, and its an even better, bigger and happier treat when the book is self-published and can stand as an example of what self-published books can and should be. Margot Finke has been writing for kids for . . . well, a number of years. She has traditional publishing credits, has paid her writing dues, and her talent and mastery of her craft show up well in this self-published work that has just been released.Down Under Calling is partly a series of letters between an Australian grandmother and her American grandson, part typical mid-grade kid has a problem and needs to solve it straightforwardly told story. But Margot melds the two threads seamlessly into a lovely tale of a grandmother and grandson getting to know each other through the medium of written communication. The story opens with Grandma Rose who lives in Deception Bay, Queensland rescuing a joey (baby kangaroo) after some dumb gits (stupid, thoughtless idiots) shoot its mother. While nursing the little creature, she receives a hand written and snail-mailed letter from her grandson, who lives in Portland, Oregon. Hes writing under duress. Mom says I should write you a letter, so here it is. But between the lines, Grandma Rose can hear his distress and unhappiness, and tries to interest him in something other than music downloads and computer games. She talks about the animals and birds that live in the bush behind her house and garden, and tells him stories about her childhood in mid-twentieth century Australia, long before computers and the internet. Shortly after the correspondence begins, she realizes how lonely she is, and how much she misses her daughter, son-in-law and grandson, whom she last saw as a toddler, when she returned to live in her native Australia.For his part, Andy has to cope with a downsized and only recently re-employed father and with the consequences that long-term unemployment brings: debt and reduced circumstances. Theyve lost their lovely house and live in a squalid apartment block, theyve lost their dog, since the rental doesnt allow them, and in order to help clear the debts, Mom has to go out to work. He cant have the computer games he wants, because they cant afford them, and according to Andy, Dad is a grouchy, real skinflint tightwad. In addition, hes in the throes of calf-love with his friend, Kelly, a red-haired neighbour who has problems of her own her parents are divorced and remarried, and the plethora of presents and cash from double the usual number of grandparents doesnt nearly make up for the feelings of abandonment and loss shes grappling with.Margot deftly includes factual information about the flora and fauna of Australia in the book. Its delivered naturally and easily in the context of the story, as the kids go on the internet to dig up information on the animals that Grandma Rose writes about.While the book is never an on the edge of your seat read, Margot has a quiet touch that makes you care about the characters and their problems, has you rooting for Andy and Kelly as their friendship deepens and expands as they explore non computer activities: reading books, biking and birdwatching in the local park. Through the shared letters and activities they learn not only to trust each other, but also Grandma Rose. Margot shows, without ever preaching, how the inter-relationships help both kids to appreciate what they do have, and to learn that while you cant choose your family, you can choose your friends, and sometimes, they can give you what your family lacks.As the book progresses, and the time for Rose to actually move to America draws closer, the reader may tear up at the final goodbye, and grin right along with Andy and Kelly as the family is finally reunited in Portland airport.A lovely, enjoyable read that Id unhesitatingly recommend for any boy or girl from age ten on up.