{"id":301730,"date":"2025-06-19T07:35:57","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T07:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/momo-celebrating-time-to-read-trapped-by-julia-lawrinson\/"},"modified":"2025-06-19T07:35:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T07:35:57","slug":"momo-celebrating-time-to-read-trapped-by-julia-lawrinson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=301730","title":{"rendered":"Momo celebrating time to read: Trapped by Julia Lawrinson"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Joe (Giuseppe) Varischetti has come with his father from Italy to a remote part of Western Australia to work at a gold mine. Joe cannot help at the mine because he is too young. His father wants him to learn English, so Joe is forced to go to school where he encounters bullying and racism. The year is 1907.\u00a0 This story is presented in a diary format from 19th March to 28th March with a few flashbacks to life in Italy, the trip to Australia, and Joe’s early days at school.<\/p>\n

Torrential rain hits the area and the deep mine is flooded. Every man gets out safely except for Joe’s papa Charlie (Modesto) Varischetti.<\/p>\n

This gripping and powerful verse novel is based on the true story of an Italian migrant worker known as Charlie – who spent over 200 hours or ten days trapped under ground. Rescuers had to wear deep diving gear so at least they were able to give papa some food, clothes and a lamp but he was wet and cold and surrounded by terrified mice. I held my breath through so many scenes. It just seemed so impossible that he could be rescued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I took this book on my train journey today and I read the whole book before I reached my destination. This true story is one that will completely absorb you. You can hear Julia Lawrinson<\/span><\/b><\/a> talking about her book. Julia suggests ages 8-12 but I would think this book better suits a reader aged 10+. I also have a strong connection with this story because I once worked in a coal mining town and over my nine years of working in that community there were several terrible accidents – hearing sirens always put the people in the town on edge. Sadly, there was one terrible accident which took the lives of three miners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I am sure this book will feature in our 2026 CBCA Notable lists but will it be in Younger Readers or Older Readers or Eve Pownall? Here are the teachers notes<\/span><\/b><\/a> from the publisher.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Readings Melbourne<\/span><\/b><\/a> list three reasons to read Trapped:<\/p>\n

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Three reasons to read it:\u00a0<\/p>\n

1. All the miners escape except one, and it just so happens to be Joe\u2019s dad. Can you imagine how scary and confusing that would be? Joe is stuck above ground, trying to figure out what happened. Why didn\u2019t his dad come up with the others? Is he okay? And how on earth will they reach him in time? There\u2019s a huge mystery to solve and a desperate rescue mission ahead, and you get to be part of it from the first page. You\u2019ll be biting your nails (maybe literally!) and rooting for Joe and the rescuers every step of the way.<\/i><\/p>\n

2. The story is inspired by something that really happened back in 1907 in a mining town called Bonnie Vale in Australia. That means the characters, the danger and the rescue are all based on real people who faced something incredibly scary. Lawrinson took this slice of Australian history and turned it into a gripping tale that makes the past feel totally alive. Reading this book isn\u2019t just fun, it teaches you something amazing about bravery, survival and the strength of a small town during a big disaster.<\/i><\/p>\n

3. Trapped moves fast. You can probably read it in a day or two, but the story and the feelings it gives you will stay with you long after you finish. It\u2019s perfect for readers who like stories that grab you right away and never let go. And since it\u2019s packed with vivid descriptions, cool historical details and an intense rescue mission, your imagination will be working overtime. When you turn the last page, you\u2019ll be thinking about what happened long after you close the book, and maybe even looking up more about the real-life event.<\/i><\/p>\n

Background reading:<\/p>\n

On day nine, the divers gave the miner more food, shared cigarettes with him, tied a rope around his waist and started the arduous walk through waist-deep water and knee-deep sludge. At one stage, Varischetti\u2019s mouth and nose only just cleared the water. He staggered to the surface on March 28, after 206 hours underground. He recovered to return to work underground but died of fibrosis at 57.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Tunneling to get him out or pumping out the water would have taken too long and Varischetti would have died before he could be reached. The mine inspector Joshua Crabbe had an inspired idea. He was familiar with pearl diving in the North West and made enquiries about getting divers to rescue the trapped man. Two divers (Curtis and Thomas Hearn) were found holidaying in Perth and as luck would have it they had their gear with them. A special train was organised to get them to the goldfields (taking 13 hours and 10 minutes to arrive) setting a new speed record which was to last for the next 50 years. By the time the divers had arrived Varischetti had been trapped for 3 days. The divers had no knowledge of the flooded mine and during the first attempt to reach Modesto, Curtis became entangled and was lucky to survive.<\/p>\n

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Companion book:<\/p>\n

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I previously read these books by Julia Lawrinson<\/span><\/b><\/a>:<\/p>\n

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You might also have these books in your school library. I do wish the Aussie Bites, Aussie Nibbles and Aussie Chomps series books were still in print – I discovered so many book treasures in these three Australian series.<\/p>\n

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[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":301731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133919,133913,133920,109289,133921,102573,133922,133923,12467,133924,133925,108690],"tags":[4711,7239,133926,31026,3480,1231,7754],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-301730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accidents","category-australian-childrens-book","category-bullies","category-mining","category-multicultural-australia","category-non-fiction-2","category-recount","category-senior-primary-novel","category-survival","category-true-stories","category-verse-novel","category-western-australia","tag-celebrating","tag-julia","tag-lawrinson","tag-momo","tag-read","tag-time","tag-trapped"],"yoast_head":"\nMomo celebrating time to read: Trapped by Julia Lawrinson - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=301730\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Momo celebrating time to read: Trapped by Julia Lawrinson - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Joe (Giuseppe) Varischetti has come with his father from Italy to a remote part of Western Australia to work at a gold mine. 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