Reviewed by Vernita Naylor for Readers' Favorite

Every day we are faced with life’s challenges. Regardless of our culture, adults are guardians over their children and what we instill in them does make a difference. So what happens when ten-year-old Buck Brown who, after spending a week with his grandparents in Wyndham on the Northwest coast of Australia, travels alone to his hometown of Corrigan and the plane crashes? There were several adults aboard, but he is the ‘sole survivor.’ Left of the Rising Sun by John Holland is a story of the journey that Buck experiences on his way home. Will anything that his parents taught him help him in his survival through stretches and stretches of land? Even though he is only ten years old, does he have enough wisdom and capacity to make the trek home while overcoming the weather, animals and locating the things necessary like food, shelter and water? Will he be able to survive?

I found Left of the Rising Sun to be an interesting tale because it was from the Australian cultural perspective. I was intrigued by some of the different terms (billy and billabong) and animals (goanna) unknown to me that were interwoven into the story to create the environment along Buck’s journey. It helped me in several ways: 1) to expand my knowledge of things especially from cultures; 2) to garner a better understanding of what it would take to survive something similar if I am ever faced with this type of circumstance; and 3) if I carefully look around, a lot of my prayers are being answered - it’s just a matter of how I view it, especially during trials and tribulations.

We never know when we leave to take a long or even a short trip where our lives might end up, whether we are traveling by car, truck, bus or plane ... nothing is certain. We must be grateful when we safely reach our destination. This is why knowledge is powerful, learning different ways of life is crucial, and cherishing everything around us is important.