Melody Finch

“You see, Melody, the thing about people who turn into animals is that they never know when, where or how it’s going to happen. One minute, they’re a person, the next, they’re an animal.”

Melody Klomp is a plucky 12-year-old from Charleville, Queensland, with an endless curiosity about nature and an unbreakable bond with her beloved Nanna Bell, who lives in the Coorong, South Australia. On the day Melody finds out that Nanna Bell plans to sell her cherished riverboat because of the devastating impacts of the drought on the Coorong, a mysterious thunderstorm passes over Melody’s farm, turning her into a bird; a diamond firetail finch.

Melody Finch then begins a magical outback adventure, travelling along Australia’s inland rivers, trying to reach Nanna Bell to tell her that big rains in Queensland will save the Coorong. She meets many wonderful birds, frogs, seals, and even a platypus, that help her on the journey and teach her how to work together to survive the impacts of drought and other environmental challenges.

Melody Finch is an eco-fiction chapter novel for middle-grade readers about the hardships of drought in Australia’s Murray Darling Basin, as seen through the eyes of its native wildlife.