Samantha Tidy

The Blue Polar Bear

Billy the polar bear has noticed that his father has been behaving strangely lately - why does he like to eat Bluespike Eels when all the other polar bears eat Silvertail fish like Billy? When Father Bear eats a Bluespike Eel, something terrible happens and the other bears have to come and look after him, whilst Billy stays with his auntie. A poignant story for children affected by parental dual diagnosis (mental illness/substance abuse). 

A commissioned book, to assist Australian children aged 5 - 7 with parental dual diagnosis (mental illness/substance abuse), transition towards understanding and acceptance.

Genre: Children's picture book
Publisher: Department of Community Services, NSW © 2006
Author: Samantha Tidy
Illustrator:  Ian Forss
Awards: 2006 Gold Award for Promotion of Mental Health (Aus/NZ);
2006 NSW Premier's Public Sector Awards - Highly Commended - Service Delivery Category
Availability: All child psychologists and social workers in NSW received a copy in 2006, and your local library Australia-wide may have a copy.

Read The Blue Polar Bear online by clicking here.

Heaven, as it is on Earth

Heaven, as it is on Earth: Representations of literary heavens in contemporary literature, with a focus on Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones

This Masters degree exegesis examines the landscape of heaven depicted in the contemporary novel, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.  I examine the various characteristics of the heaven (or ‘afterlife’) depicted in Sebold’s novel, with the aim of ascertaining the narrative effects of using this device. 

Using Ingrid Daemmrich’s analysis of the paradisiacal motif in literature as a framework (Daemmrich, I 1997, Studies on Themes and Motifs in Literature: Enigmatic Bliss, The Paradise Motif in Literature, Peter Lang, New York), I reveal characteristics in The Lovely Bones that are both consistent with and challenge traditional literary representations of heaven and which therefore demonstrate that the text utilises the established literary motif of heaven for symbolism and meaning, but in a contemporary context.

I explore the growing trend of contemporary literary heavens by reviewing two other literary heavens that are relevant to this scholarship. I examine where as writers and readers, we ascertain our concept of heaven (in society’s religious foundations and from prior literature), and for the relevance of the key text, I briefly discuss the author’s likely cultural influences. Having established the novel’s lack of alignment with a religious version of heaven, I then examine the nature of and the narrative effect of, the personalised heaven depicted in the novel, The Lovely Bones.

In doing so, I explore one of the new portraits of heaven in literature, an example which represents a growing trend away from portraying a classic edenic heaven shared by all humanity (and traditional to literary representations of heaven), toward a contemporary, personalised heaven that seeks to meet the wants and desires of the individual in our modern society. With reference to literature’s ability to reflect back to us, our society’s beliefs and values, I examine what this new portrait of heaven reveals about society.

You can purchase a book format, of the above 20,000 word thesis, through Amazon. Click here.

Cappuccino Diva: a novel 

Revised Second Edition now available on Amazon and iTunes

Click here to buy Cappuccino Diva from Amazon in book form, or go to iTunes to buy as an eBook.

Cappuccino Diva is a musical tale set in Fremantle in the late 1990s. Runner Up for the prestigious TAG Hungerford Award in 2000, it is a charming novel, suitable for young adults, and adults alike.

At 21, Angie has returned to her hometown of Fremantle after a short stint in London. Deep in its skin she resettles, and with the creative thread of the town's artists and musicians, she hopes to sew herself a new suit of confidence. Connecting the modern tale with Fremantle's local history is a piano - travelling across the suburbs and the century to meet Angie when she finally finds what it is she believes is searching for. 

It's a novel about the joys of share-housing in your early twenties. It’s about love, saving a forest, starting your own rock band, and remembering that some boys are just not worth chasing.

Reviews for Cappuccino Diva, first edition, published 2003:

A vivid portrait of everyone’s beloved Fremantle. A well-told story that promises much. The Sunday Times

Don't be fooled, that this is in any way a love story or even a light romance. Cappuccino Diva is a story of self discovery, of self belief and self absorption. As the novel unfolds, Angie grows in a manner which is both endearing and believable. This is also a book about a place - Fremantle. The port city, forever struggling to be more than a suburb of Perth, is an entity that those who have spent time there have to love. Author Samantha Tidy captures the elements of Fremantle with a precision which will make those who have lived there home sick. The houses, the cafes, the hotels and - most importantly - the people, fill the pages with the life that is Fremantle.
Aussiereviews.com

Comes with a literary pedigree.
The Australian

Endearing, partly because of the narrative voice and partly because of loving details of the Fremantle landscape. 
Sydney Morning Herald

Genre: Adult/Young Adult Novel
Publisher: Black Coffee Press © 2003. Storytorch Consulting, © 2011. 
Awards: Runner Up, 2000 T.A.G. Hungerford Award for Fiction,Western Australia.
Curriculum nomination: 2006 - 2010 textlist, WA Curriculum: English as an Additional Language.  
Availability: Amazon, iTunes, Borders online.

The Flying Dream

Casey is 12, and her mum gets sick a lot. She sometimes stays at a foster parent's place, with her younger brother, when her mum is ill. At that hospital, there are people who will help Casey's mum get better but she worries, because it's not the first time. One night she has a dream, and when she wakes up, something feels a little different. It feels like things might just be okay...

A commissioned book, to assist Australian children aged 8 - 12 with parental dual diagnosis (mental illness/substance abuse), transition towards understanding and acceptance.

Genre: Children's picture book
Publisher: Department of Community Services, NSW © 2006
Author: Samantha Tidy
Illustrator:  Connah Brecon
Awards: 2006 Gold Award for Promotion of Mental Health (Aus/NZ); 2006 NSW Premier's Public Sector Awards - Highly Commended - Service  Delivery Category
Availability: All child psychologists and social workers in NSW received a copy in 2006, and your local library Australia-wide may have a copy. Alternatively read this book online below.

A hard copy is available for $24.95 plus postage - use the contact form on this website to enquire.

Read The Flying Dream online by clicking here.