All Four Quarters of the Moon
Read an extract
Play sample
  • Published: 5 July 2022
  • ISBN: 9781760899561
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336
Categories:

All Four Quarters of the Moon

From the CBCA award-winning author of A Glasshouse of Stars

Formats & editions
Paperback
5 Jul 2022
EBook
5 Jul 2022
Audiobook
5 Jul 2022
Buy from…
Amazon Apple Books Google Play Kobo Booktopia eBooks.com

A big-hearted story of love and resilience from CBCA award-winning author Shirley Marr, starring sisters and storytellers Peijing and Biju, a lost family finding their way, a Little World made of paper, a Jade Rabbit, and the ever-changing but constant moon.

Making mooncakes with Ah Ma for the Mid-Autumn Festival was the last day of Peijing’s old life. Now, adapting to their new life in Australia, Peijing thinks everything will turn out okay for her family as long as they have each other - but cracks are starting to appear.

Her little sister, Biju, needs Peijing to be the dependable big sister. Ma Ma is no longer herself; Ah Ma keeps forgetting who she is; and Ba Ba, who used to work seven days a week, is adjusting to being a hands-on dad.

How will Peijing cope with the uncertainties of her own little world while shouldering the burden of everyone else? And if Peijing’s family are the four quarters of the mooncake, where does she fit in?

'An enchanting, touching, perfectly crafted story that will live in my heart for a very long time. A novel of family, friendship, culture, honour and identity that is both timely and timeless. I laughed and cried so many times, and felt as if my soul and my worldview were both expanding. An instant classic.' KATE GORDON, author of CBCA award-winning Aster’s Good, Right Things
  • Published: 5 July 2022
  • ISBN: 9781760899561
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336
Categories:

About the author

Shirley Marr

Shirley Marr is a first-generation Chinese Australian living in Perth and an author of young adult and children's fiction, including YA novels Fury and Preloved, and children’s novels Little Jiang, A Glasshouse of Stars, All Four Quarters of the Moon and Countdown to Yesterday. She describes herself as having a Western mind and an Eastern heart. She likes to write in the space in the middle where they both collide, basing her stories on her own personal experiences of migration and growing up in Australia, along with the folk and fairy tales from her mother. Arriving in mainland Australia from Christmas Island as a seven-year-old in the 1980s and experiencing the good, the bad and the wonder that comes with culture shock, Shirley has been in love with reading and writing from that early age. Shirley is a universe full of stars and stories and hopes to share the many other novels that she has inside her.

portrait photo of Shirley Marr

Also by Shirley Marr

Countdown to Yesterday
A Glasshouse of Stars
See all

Praise for All Four Quarters of the Moon

All Four Quarters of the Moon is an enchanting, touching, perfectly crafted story that will live in my heart for a very long time. A novel of family, friendship, culture, honour and identity that is both timely and timeless. I laughed and cried so many times, and felt as if my soul and my worldview were both expanding. An instant classic.

Kate Gordon, author of CBCA award-winning ASTER’S GOOD, RIGHT THINGS

Gentle, observational prose carries the novel’s intentionally paced events, folk tale references, organic character growth, and a heartening message of embracing change and impermanence.

Publishers Weekly

Fans of sisterhood stories are in for a heartfelt treat with this gentle novel centered around family, resilience, and immigration . . . Taken from the author’s own experiences, the touching characters and relationships in this story will linger with readers for a long time.

Van McGary, Booklist (Starred review)

A big-hearted story and a beautiful ode to sisters. In a lyrical, moving way Biju and Peijing experience the good, the bad and the wonder that comes with culture shock . . . Together, they navigate this time through the safety of magic, myth and imagination in storytelling. It’s very real and very inspiring . . . I couldn’t recommend it more.

Better Reading

All Four Quarters of the Moon is a story about a young girl. Of two sisters. Of everlasting friendships. Of cultures and growing up. Of the fragility and preciousness of life. But at the very centre of it, a heartwarming story of family . . . I am truly humbled by the reading experience.

Tien's Blurb

Highly recommended . . . A truly heartwarming and poignant story for middle years students

ReadPlus

Peijing’s story is enchanting and lyrical, with a big heart . . . These timely and timeless stories could be destined to become classics, a reflection of a broader and diverse Australia . . . It’s lyrical, magical, beautiful, and comforting.

Ashleigh Meikle, The Book Muse

Awards & recognition

CBCA Book of the Year Awards

Notable Book  •  2023  •  Younger Readers

Discover more

Article
Shirley Marr shares experience as child that inspired new book

‘That memory will stay with me for a long time, it was really touching and something I will always remember.’

Article
All Four Quarters of the Moon book club questions

There’s so much to talk about in this big-hearted story starring sisters and storytellers Peijing and Biju, a lost family finding their way, a Little World made of paper, a Jade Rabbit, and the ever-changing but constant moon . . .

Teachers' notes
All Four Quarters of the Moon

penguin pop image
penguin pop image