Zadie Ma and the Dog Who Chased the Moon

Reads . . . like an instant classic and includes Gabi's iconic illustrations and graphic novel elements! And it weaves together all of my favourite things: dogs, stories and friendship. . . I can't recommend it highly enough!

Leesa Lambert, The Little Bookroom

A beautiful middle-grade novel about one young girl’s dream. Zadie Ma, a fourth-generation Chinese Australian girl growing up in post-war Melbourne, desperately wishes to have her own dog to love and cherish. Zadie also has a hidden talent for story writing and magically often what she writes has a way of becoming reality. Zadie Ma and the dog who chased the moon has a distinctive and appealing presentation. It engages young readers with the main story, interspersed with other short symbolic and connected stories, as well as the use of graphic novel features. A truly wonderful read that would be a welcome addition to a home, school or public library and would make an excellent class novel.

Kathryn Beilby, Read Plus

I really enjoyed this book, and its themes of magical realism, storytelling, friendship, family, and the intersection of tradition, duty, and modernity as it worked to tell a post-war, migrant and uniquely Australian story – an Australian experience that shows the diversity and breadth of living in Australia throughout history, as it allows for a voice that we may not always hear have a chance to speak. In doing so, the 2022-2023 Children’s Laureate has given us a world we can experience and fall into, gaining an understanding of the time period Zadie grew up in and how stereotypes affected her [as did] acceptance from people like Sparrow. I loved Sparrow – I loved that she refused to believe in stereotypes and assumptions about people, that even though everyone gravitated towards her, she still chose Zadie over being the most popular girl in school. And I loved the loyalty she had to Zadie, and the loyalty Zadie showed to her – they were true friends. The magic in this book comes from the stories-within-the story that Zadie and Jupiter tell, and it is a special love letter to dogs, loyalty, and friendship and the power of words – both good and bad – and how they affect us and what they mean to us. How words make us and break us. It is the magic of language that shapes us and shapes our world and allow us to communicate and share what is in our hearts. And I also found that it spoke to the importance of understanding each other – especially Zadie and her mum, who needed to share a secret to find out what drove them and their desires as they came to understand each other in better ways throughout the novel. The mystical yet very real feeling of the novel gave it a sense of whimsy and wonder as well as a sense of intrigue. It allowed for the characters to speak for themselves, and to be who they were – it was a truly magical experience because I was so drawn into the story, that there were times I was absolutely absorbed in what was going on, it felt as though I was right there with Zadie, Sparrow, and Jupiter. It is exquisitely well done and captures so many emotions and feelings that I think and hope it will appeal widely and connect to many readers, because like any good book, it gets the balance of specific and universal experiences right and allows us to see inside a world we may not know about or be able to access, and I loved that Gabrielle used her own experiences, giving the novel something special to hang onto and bring to life. A beautiful book to read for middle grade fans.

Ashleigh Meikle, The Book Muse