Miracle on Separation Street

Bob Graham (author/illustrator)

Walker Books, Australia: 2010

ISBN: 9781406324617 

Genre: realistic fiction

Issues: community, family

Jack and his little brother Duggie live with their parents and a guinea-pig called Madam Brown in a small apartment. It's not the most salubrious neighbourhood but Jack's Mum has a great capacity to see the best in people and show that to her sons. Having spent too many rainy days stuck in the small flat with two rather active boys, Jack's Mum decides it is time to get a car.

 Not the shiny, large beasts that she sees when she walks Jack to school. Just something that is 'big enough to carry a horse' so that she and the family (including Madam Brown) can get out a bit more. But having worked hard to earn the money for her gift to the family, Jack's Mum is devastated when the car goes missing. Sometimes life doesn't turn out quite the way you expect;  sometimes astonishing things happen – maybe even a miracle.

Bob Graham, a well-regarded and much-awarded writer/illustrator, has a great capacity to find the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life. Written as a first-person narrative from Jack's point of view, Miracle on Separation Street challenges stereotypes and celebrates the small joys of life.