#australian education system suck ass

[urmumsgyatt]

me who’s expected to study all the content i learnt in all of my classes the entire year in the span of 4 weeks before my exams: is it too late to drop out

[booksandwords]

Australia's Nightingale : Nellie Melba by Cassy Liberman

Rating: 5/5

Illustrator: Sarah Carter Jenkins and Emma Borgherst Age Recommendation: Middle Primary - Teen Art Style: Combination of art nouveau inspired and watercolour Topic/ Theme: Biographic, the price of success and happiness. Setting: 19th century, primarily Europe. Series: Inspirational Australian Women

The art is simply beautiful. Sarah Carter Jenkins and Emma Borgherst have severely different styles that work perfectly to tell the story of a woman that out of her time. Nellie Melba defied convention and those around her to achieve her success, at a cost. The primary art style is reminiscent of art nouveau. This is significant and clever, bel canto, the vocal style Nellie Melba was trained in mirrored this style.

For a woman whose face is printed on our money, whose house I don't live that far from and whose museum I also don't live far from, I know very little about her.. (because the education system in Australian in the 90s and early 00s sucked). Nellie Melba is a seriously inspirational woman she went her own way, raised her siblings and lost a sister she likely saw as a daughter. That she was a divorcee is not something I knew but I guess I should have. Also, her husband was a bit of an ass. Realistically I saw the focus of the biography as the price or cost of success. For Helen Porter Mitchell the cost she nearly paid was dear, she is a woman who had two loves in her life. The stage and her son, George. Her love of one almost cost her the other. She was educated and a businesswoman at a time when it was almost unheard of.

I really need to find out more but suffice to say that this bio has done part what a biography should do, it inspired me. I want to know more. This is reviewed more is an adult perspective, I'm not sure how a child would see this. It is a tad wordy the art may be complicated or just so unknown for them. But I wonder if it might be a research or a read to even for older children. I love this but I am 31 and not a parent, not the target audience. Not that it will even stop me from ever enjoying books.