Kay grew up in Sydney and moved with her husband and children to remote areas of Tasmania and Western Australia before settling in Far North Queensland, where two spectacular environments meet: the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. The Pearl-shell Diver: A Story of adventure from the Torres Strait. When his father is coerced to join a white trader on his pearling lugger, thirteen-year-old Sario must go to work as a swimming diver to support the family. Other of her works feature animals and the environment, including the non-fiction book Introduced Species in Australia commended in the Whitley Awards by the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales. Much as Broomes indigenous residents appropriate the Japanese funerary offerings, the Japanese diving experts are seen to be appropriating Australian shell. The year is 1898 and the pearl-shell trade is at its height. Research into lesser-known history took her to Torres Strait and the tumultuous time of Federation. Her interest in history was fostered when commissioned to write Patch Parker, Son of a Convict, now a recommended resource by the History Teachers' Association of Australia. Her work in schools with reluctant readers spanned twenty-six years and prompts her to write history simply. Kay began her writing career with feature articles for newspapers and lifestyle magazines before moving into writing educational material for children. With the constant danger of shark attack and the storm of the century approaching, can Sario provide for his family and realise his dream? >Download Teaching Notes<

He can earn more as a pump diver, and is excited by the idea of walking on the sea floor, but the competition is fierce, and the only captain who will take him on runs the worst outfit in the fleet. The year is 1898 and the pearl-shell trade is at its height.

Sario lives with his family on a remote Torres Strait island, which he never wants to leave - but the winds of change are stirring. Engaging and authentic historical fiction about one boy from the Torres Strait trying to work his way up in the pearl-shell industry.

The Pearl-shell Diver by Kay Crabbe