‘Everything was the same, except me…I felt as if I had shattered into tiny pieces, tiny pieces that I had no idea how to fit back together.’
This gripping story by Sue Whiting begins with the end and takes readers on a rollercoaster ride of emotions as Chance questions right and wrong, real or fake and seeks the truth at home and in her online world.
Chance Callahan is in Year 7 and lives with her mum Nadia, a writer who also helps newly arrived refugees with English and settling into the community. They share their lives with Missa-D, Alek and Dut Deng, their much loved Sudanese next-door neighbours. When Chance and the Deng family organise a surprise reality TV makeover for Nadia’s house, the show’s reporter, Amos Kandinsky wants to know ‘the story behind the story’ and unexpectedly exposes a hidden truth that will change Chance’s life forever.
You won't be able to put this book down as Chance grapples with a truth that challenges everything she believes including her own identity. What is the truth? Who do you trust? Do you tell the truth even if it means you could lose everything? Can you forgive someone for hiding the truth? Chance discovers that life isn’t black and white.
When you have finished reading, go back and look carefully at the front cover that has been so thoughtfully and creatively designed to reflect the story. What is the significance of the newspaper cuttings and sepia tone? Why is Chance blindfolded and standing on a ledge with Tiges? I wonder how you would design the front cover and the elements of the story you would include.
Listen to Sue Whiting talk about The Book of Chance and what inspired her story.
If you enjoyed the mystery and suspense in The Book of Chance as much as I did and haven’t read Missing by Sue Whiting, then I highly recommend you do!
Happy reading!
