SYNOPSIS

Five pupils from Stagfire School are sent to an old mansion, Old Harwick Hall, ahead of their classmates. he! are placed in a group."hile waiting in a room for the others to arrive, with the aid of flashes of lightning, one of them discovers a secret door which leads to a tower room. he! find an old al#um. On the cover, it reads, Richard Clayton Harwick-My Story. Read and Weep. From the $ournal, the children uncover the stor! of a #o! who runs awa! from the sinister influence of a loveless stepfather. he discover! of his stor! sets the five children, %laudia, Pi&ie, %olin, 'alph and 'o##o, thinking and telling their own stories of their #roken homes. %laudia(s stor! of her green p!$amas relates how she learns to understand and accept her father(s girlfriend. %olin(s stor! of he )lue#ird of Happiness ends in his continued search for his stepfather whom he loves. 'alph(s stor! of his three stepmothers illustrates how complicated life can #e for a child from a #roken home with more than one stepmother and numerous step*si#lings and half*si#lings. Pi&ie(s stor! is one of dealing with stepsisters and understanding what it is like to #e on the other side of the coin when she gets to hear her stepmother(s point of view. 'o##o(s stor! is a#out starting afresh with his stepfather in a situation where a child can make or #reak a relationship. +espite their different #ackgrounds and stories, the children realise that the! have more common than differences with each other. he! realise that the! are not the onl! ones with their stories of stepfathers, stepmothers, step#rothers and stepsisters, half*#rothers and half*sisters, and that nothing has reall! changed over the !ears for children caught in similar situations.

hemes
Family unity
The nucleus of moral values, the family unit, is being invaded by outsiders (step or steps) and this causes disharmony.

ealing !ith adversities

"oung children and adults may find difficulties dealing !ith frustrations, fears and sadness.

#eing happy
$ife has dealt us one hard blo!, there is no reason for us to be unhappy for ever. For e%ample, &laudia realises it is not fair to hate her ne! stepmother, 'tella.

Thin( long enough before ma(ing a decision

)ichard *ar!ic( made a rash decision to run a!ay and that had changed the lives of his stepfather, mother and sister.

'ibling rivalry
)esentful step+siblings cause burden and hostility in a home.

&oping !ith change

,ll pain eventually heals and that !e have the po!er to change things for the better.

#eing brave
&haracters li(e &laudia and -i%ie are brave as they confess to their o!n rotten behaviour.

ealing !ith 'eparation and ivorce

.t deals !ith a social phenomenon that many people are e%periencing, the idea of a divorce as someho! horrible. 'eparation and divorce, and the events leading up to them, interrupts the stability and predictability that children need.

Setting
I,-

The novel is set in the modern 20th century. The story begins on a wet, rainy night with storms raging in the sky as the five main characters make their way ahead of their classmates to Old Harwick Hall for a week-long field trip.

P./%-

Old Harwick Hall

t is described as !absolutely private" and !a towering mansion with duncehatted turret". t has !dark windows" and a !huge oak and iron door". t is used to belong to the wealthy Harwick family. #ive pupils from $tagfire $chool are sent here ahead of their schoolmates on a stormy night

he ower 'oom in Old Harwick Hall

% room e&uipped with beds pointing to the centre. This is the room where the five characters, 'i(ie, )laudia, *alph, )olin and *obbo first gather when they arrive.

The room where )olin notices a secret door in the wall.

/ tin! room
%ccessible through a secret door in the wall of the tower room. The room is full of cobwebs and dust on the furniture. There are si( vaulted windows, a lantern, candelabra, some books, cushions and a tiny carved wooden cow with three legs in the room. The characters discover a mysterious old diary belonging to *ichard )layton Harwick. This is when they realise that the room belonged to him in the past. 'i(ie reads aloud the story of a boy and his stepfather which leads to each one of them telling their own story.

,O'/. 0/.1-S
F/,I.Y IS -0-'Y HIN2

This is the main message in all the five stories from &laudia, )alph, &olin, -i%ie and )obbo. $ove is the factor that binds the family together but sometimes the family unit brea(s do!n due to a lac( of understanding bet!een parents. /ost of the time, children are not prepared for such a situation and this lands them in an a!(!ard and painful situation. .t is important to minimi0e the impact of divorce on children and to ma(e sure they do not feel un!anted or unimportant. -arents must al!ays try to (eep the family together despite the brea(do!n in their relationship.

/.. HIN2S /'- +IFFI%1. )-FO'- H-Y /'- -/SY

)ichard refuses to even attempt to get along !ith his stepfather. 'imilarly, &allie says she !ill never accept his stepfather. $ucy says that she has to (eep trying as it is ultimately her home and her family she is fighting for. )alph reminds everyone at the end that in all their problems, someone !ill have to ma(e the effort to !or( it out. There is a need to !or( on every relationship and be open to differences in personalities and ideals in order

for the relationship to develop and succeed. There is a need to cast aside pre1udices and accept differences !ith an open mind. 2n top of that, in order for others to accept you, you have to first be acceptable. The children !ho eventually find some happiness li(e &laudia, -i%ie and )obbo, deal !ith the differences in their ne! family and not run a!ay li(e )ichard and &allie.

P/ I-N%- IS 0I' 1-

.t is important to practice a lot of patience in difficult times. 3o parents !ould !ant a divorce if they can help it. *ence, everyone affected by a divorce must be patient and tolerant. )ichard &layton *ar!ic( does not sho! enough patience !hen he leaves his family because he cannot get along !ith his step father. ,s a result of his action, his mother dies of heartbrea( and his sister blames him for being selfish and cruel. .n -i%ies story, she does not sho! much patience to!ards her step siblings. 'he refuses to share her bedroom !ith *etty. 'he is also hard headed and argues intensely !ith her step mother.

+ON( 2I0- 1P HOP-

&olins story is the saddest of all. *e does not give up hope of one day finding 4ac( !hom he accepts as his o!n father. *e saves all his money and plans to loo( for his dad !hen the time is right. &olin is a very determined person despite his young age. *e (no!s !hat he !ants. )obbo also hopes his sister &allie !ill accept their stepfather )oy. *o!ever, &allie resents )oy and decides to live !ith her real father in the end.

"- ,1S .-/'N O /+/P SI 1/ IONS

O N-"

&hildren from bro(en homes have no choice but to learn to adapt to ne! situations. This may be unfair to the children !ho seem to be the victim of circumstances beyond their control. *o!ever, in the five stories told, !e learn that adapting is better than resisting although it ta(es a lot of patience and effort on the childrens part. &laudia sho!s she is a rational and sensible child to accept her step mother. )alph, !ho has three step mothers, gets along !ith all of them despite their different personalities.

YO1 '-/P "H/ YO1 SO"

)ichard resents his stepfather !ho in turns reacts !ith hostility. .n contrast, )ichards sister, &harlotte, accepts her stepfather !ho in turn treats her (indly. 'imilarly, )obbo gets on !ith his stepfather, )oy unli(e his sister, &allie, !ho has a stormy relationship !ith )oy. 5hen &laudia ma(es an effort to be nice to 'tella, it leads to a positive starts in their relationship, and similarly !ith -i%ie, !ho is able to start afresh !ith her stepmother and stepsisters !hen she agrees to mend barriers !ith $ucy. 5hatever !e put into a relationship is !hat !e get in return. .f !e feed a relationship !ith hostility and distrust, !e !ill receive the same. .n other !ords, you reap the conse6uences of your action.