Meet Nellie

It's 1849 . . .
and Nellie O'Neill is arriving in South Australia on a ship bringing orphan girls from Irish workhouses. Nellie and her best friend, Mary, have left the famine in Ireland far behind, and are full of hopes and dreams for the future. Nellie longs to learn to read, to be part of a family once more, and never to be hungry again. But with no job and no one to turn to, how will Nellie make her wishes come true?

Meet Nellie and join her adventure in the first of four stories about an Irish girl with a big heart, in search of the freedom to be herself.

About The Author

Penny Matthews is a freelance writer and editor based in Adelaide. She has written three junior novels, several chapter books for beginning readers, and picture books for all age groups. Her picture books include Pudding and Chips (a Children's Book Council of Australia Notable Book in 2005), Little Red Bear (shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards in 2004) and A Year On Our Farm, which was the CBCA's 2003 Book of the Year (Early Childhood) and an Honour Book in the Picture Book of the Year awards. In 2010 Something About Water was joint winner of the Wilderness Society's Environment Award for Children's Literature. A Girl Like Me, her first young adult novel, was also a 2010 CBCA Notable Book and won the Sisters in Crime's 2011 Davitt Award for Young Adult Fiction.

As well as being an author of note, Penny is a much-valued member of the Books for Children and Young Adults team at Penguin Australia. She co-ordinates and edits the highly regarded Puffin Aussie Bites and Nibbles program.

About The Illustrator

Lucia Masciullo grew up in Livorno, Tuscany, among smells of saltiness and rosemary. She always loved painting and after graduating in Biology she decided to pursue her dream career as an artist. In 2006 she moved to Brisbane and since then has been happily working as a fine art painter and freelance illustrator. She has recently illustrated Sonya Hartnett's The Boy and Toy.