The Protected (16 page)
Authors: Claire Zorn
Acknowledgements
I could not do what I do without the love and support of my husband, Nathan. I must also thank him together with Marcella Kelshaw for their relentless enthusiasm for Hannah and her story, without which I would have given up long ago. Thanks also to Lauren McCorquodale for her insights into sisterhood â something I have no experience of â and her plot advice. You were the one who knew Hannah had to jump off that cliff which is not a cliff. For technical stuff to do with police and courtroom procedures, much thanks to Kelly Zorn for answering all my tricky questions. For technical stuff to do with paramedic work, a big thank you to Dean Zorn.
For some reason I keep writing stories that feature failing parents, this is in no way a reflection on my own parents who have been nothing but encouraging and supportive. So many thanks to Kaye and George Bryan for being the parents they are. Thanks must also go out to all my parents-in-law: Tine Ten Kate, and Ray and Jenny Zorn, for childminding so I can do my dream job and all the things that go along with it. Finally a big thank you to the people at University of Queensland Press who have helped me along the way, especially Kristina Schulz, Kristy Bushnell, Michele Perry and super publicist, Meredene Hill.
THE SKY SO HEAVY
Claire Zorn
Shortlisted CBCA Book of the Year Awards for Older Readers
Shortlisted Aurealis Awards for Best Young Adult Novel
Longlisted Inky Awards
For Fin, it's just like any other day â racing for the school bus, bluffing his way through class and trying to remain cool in front of the most sophisticated girl in his universe. Only it's not like any other day because, on the other side of the world, nuclear missiles are being detonated.
When Fin wakes up the next morning, it's dark, bitterly cold and snow is falling. There's no internet, no phone, no TV, no power and no parents. Nothing Fin's learnt in school could have prepared him for this.
With his parents missing and dwindling food and water supplies, Fin and his younger brother Max must find a way to survive ⦠all on their own.
When things are at their most desperate, where can you go for help?
A haunting novel from a brand new Australian voice.
âMove over John Marsden: Claire Zorn has arrived.'
Good Reading
âA suspenseful first novel.'
Adelaide Advertiser
âAs post-apocalypse YA novels go, this one is scarily realistic ⦠a powerful allegory with which to explain the asylum-seeker humanitarian crisis in Australia.'
Books + Publishing
ISBN 978 0 7022 4976 1
First published 2014 by University of Queensland Press
PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia
© Claire Zorn 2014
This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.
Cover design by Jo Hunt
Cover photograph by Vectorig/iStock
Typeset in 12/16 pt Adobe Garamond by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane
Printed in Australia by McPherson's Printing Group
Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
National Library of Australia
Zorn, Claire, author.
The protected / Claire Zorn.
ISBN 978 0 7022 5019 4 (pbk)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5287 7 (pdf)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5288 4 (epub)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5289 1 (kindle)
For young adults.
Girls â Fiction.
Families â Fiction.
Bullying â Fiction.
A823.4
University of Queensland Press uses papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
