![]() ![]() ![]() Readers of all ages will enjoy this tale. The Pearl-shell Diver, told from Sario’s point of view, is a perfect introduction to Torres Strait Island life in the late 19th century. Who decides if a boy stays with his family or is taken away to work? Who protects the rights of islanders and children? Have things changed in the last 120 years? The inclusion of politics and power plays of the time are upsetting and confusing but very real. This journey into Torres Strait Island life is gentle, lyrical, eye-opening. Worst of all, one white trader decides he will take Sario as his diving boy whether Sario wants to go or not. Sario’s sister is deaf, also as a result of diving. Sario’s mother’s lungs are permanently damaged from diving too deep for too long when she was young. But trouble also comes with the white man. White traders visit their island to trade cloth, flour, salt and trinkets for pearl shells and dried sea slugs. They search nearby reefs for produce hoisting woven leaf-mat sails in their dugout tree canoe to traverse familiar harvesting sites. Thirteen-year-old Sario and his family live on the proceeds of land and sea on a remote island in the Torres Strait. ![]()
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