I really quite enjoyed this. It was great to read another stand-alone John Marsden (and yes I was guilty of leaving it unread on my shelves for waaay too long). This book spans a very short space of time where Winter is trying to remember/work out what happened when she was younger. It's an often told tale, but told well it's definitely worth it. This was. ( )

Goodness. ?�You want your daughter to know just how strong, smart, and brave a teenage girl can be? ?áEncourage her to read this. ?áNow, it's a very concise book, so we don't know exactly how Winter got to be so amazing... but a reflection on the hints given about her backstory will make it clear that she is believable, not a fantasy. ?áI would love to know why her parents named her Winter, though... I can't figure that out and it would be good to discuss with someone....

(Btw, the time-stamp is correct - I couldn't sleep, so I picked this up, and boy oh boy then I *really* couldn't sleep!) ( )

After twelve years of living with distant relatives, sixteen year old Winter had decided that it is time to return to her childhood home. Upon her return, questions concerning the events of her parent’s death are uncovered leaving Winter confused but determined for answers.

I applaud Marsden on writing such a fantastic and well written novel. Many novels that I read nowadays have excess and so many unnecessary words spat out onto the pages, but in Winter you can see that each word has a purpose and meaning stringing together wonderful paragraphs.

“I so wanted this moment to be profound. I wanted to stand at the gate and drink it all in, gazing at the stone pillars and the spaces for the coach lamps, at the long drive lined with rhododendrons and hydrangeas. I wanted to see what had been wisps in my mind, and bring the vague dreams and memories back to life.”

Winter was depicted perfectly as a moody, confused teenage girl. The climax was perhaps a little disappointing as I was expecting something bigger to happen but Marsden managed to keep the storyline fast paced and engaging. I will be definitely reading more of Marsden’s work. ( )

see http://www.sfsite.com/03b/win100.htm ( )

Since the death of her parents in a sailing accident, Winter has been at school and cared for by relations. When sixteen, she returns to the family property, Warriewood, with a half-formed ambition to run it herself. Despite her name, Winter is warm-tempered and easily offended but experience has made her independent and suspicious. She sacks the incompetent and dishonest farm managers, falls half in love with a neighbour, begins to restore the farm and learns, painfully, the truth about the death of her mother. A short, eventful read.