Timefire
Age range 8 to 13
In the scorching summer of 2033, Gilbert Black is accused of being a firebug, just like his mother was thirteen years previously. That night a fire starts on his family’s farm. A fire with a tunnel in the centre of it. And that’s when things start to get really weird.
Pulled repeatedly back and forth through time, Gil finds himself at all the big Australian bushfires from the last two centuries. He searches across the years, determined to unlock the secret to his family’s legacy.
Gil can’t change the past, but can he learn from it in time to return home and save his family from the biggest inferno ever known?
‘Timefire is a thrilling page-turner full of intrigue and heart. A fantastic and absorbing Middle Grade novel.’ — Maggie Jankuloska, author of The Rat-Catcher’s Apprentice
‘Original, perilous, you can smell the smoke’ — Neridah McMullin
‘A gripping story of time, family — and fire’ — Pamela Rushby
Nean McKenzie is a children’s writer and optometrist who lives in western Melbourne. Originally from Bendigo, Nean lived in New Zealand, Europe and North East Africa before returning to Victoria. She lives with her family and a cat called Lemonade who purrs, even when nervous. Naan has had three middle-grade novels out with MidnightSun Publishing: Cryptosight (2019), Xenoflight (2022) and Timefire (2023). She was awarded a Maurice Saxby mentorship in 2016, a fellowship for the KSP Writers Centre for 2023 and has a diploma in Professional Writing and Editing from RMIT. When not writing or testing people’s eyes, Nean enjoys running and travelling to interesting places around the world. She also likes bush-walking and reading books, especially those for 8-12-year-olds.
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