Review: Letters From Robin by Jon Appleton

In the 1980s and 1990s Australian author Robin Klein was at the top of her game. Each of her books were utterly beloved by young readers (and a few older ones, I suspect,) including Penny Pollard's Diary, Hating Alison Ashley, People Might Hear You and Came Back to Show You I Can Fly. Many, many children from across Australia would write to Robin to tell her how much they loved her books. Jon Appleton, growing up in New South Wales went one better. He was Robin's pen pal and the creator of Rippa Reading, a magazine for schoolchildren about books. Letters From Robin celebrates the unique friendship between the pair, while shedding a light on what was a golden era for Australian middle grade fiction. 

This was an enjoyable read. Many of the books and authors mentioned in the book were immediately familiar to me--as they were the same ones that I had grown up with. In fact, I can even remember seeing Jon Appleton on The Afternoon Show talking about books and getting enthusiastic about one or two titles. It was amazing to get the backstory on an utterly beloved author, and a truly remarkable, prolific era for Australian children's fiction. 

Highly recommended. 

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