Swallow's Dance

Leira's family flee to the island of Crete just before a huge volcanic eruption destroys their island and sends a tsunami to where they thought they had found safety. Another thrilling adventure by acclaimed author Wendy Orr.

I wonder if the first day of Learning is always like this - do the girls on the hill always feel the ground tremble under their feet?

Leira is about to start her initiation as a priestess when her world is turned upside down. A violent earthquake leaves her home - and her family - in pieces. And the goddess hasn't finished with the island yet.

With her family, Leira flees across the sea to Crete, expecting sanctuary. But a volcanic eruption throws the entire world into darkness. After the resulting tsunami, society descends into chaos; the status and privilege of being noble-born reduced to nothing. With her injured mother and elderly nurse, Leira has only the strength and resourcefulness within herself to find safety.

A thrilling Bronze Age survival story from the acclaimed author of Dragonfly Song.

About the Author

Wendy Orr was born in Edmonton, Canada, but grew up in various places across Canada, France and the USA. She started writing for children after a career as an occupational therapist. She's the author of many award-winning books, including Nim's Island, Raven's Mountain, Dragonfly Song and Peeling the Onion. Dragonfly Song was a CBCA Book of the Year Honour Book and won the 2017 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Children's Fiction and the 2018 Children's Literature Award at the Adelaide Festival.

Wendy had a great adventure of her own when a film producer in Hollywood took Nim's Island out of the library to read to her son. The next day she asked Wendy if she could make it into a movie. Wendy said 'Yes!', they became good friends, and Wendy had the fun of helping work on the screenplay for 'Nim's Island' the movie. Nim at Sea inspired the movie 'Return to Nim's Island', which starred Bindi Irwin as Nim.