‘A good mark doesn’t mean a good life’: Why author’s heroine is a non-academic kid

When it came to choosing a heroine for her debut teen novel, author and teacher Rosie Schonell decided to celebrate the non-academic kids. Here’s why.

When Rosie Schonell set her debut tween novel in an all-girls’ private school, she made sure one of her heroines was feted for her “can-do” attitude, not for being an academic success story.

The experienced teacher wanted to give primary-school kids – who are under constant pressure to meet NAPLAN targets, pass selective school tests and excel in other academic measures – a role model to admire who succeeds because of her emotional resilience.

“There are so many traits that we can recognise that aren’t about exams and aren’t about the mark or if you pass,” says Schonell, the Sydney-based author of Breaking School Rules Is Easy (The hardest part is not getting caught).

Author Rosie Schonell’s tween heroine has a ‘can-do’ attitude. Picture: iStock

“At this age, kids are under so much pressure. We’ve got 11 and 12-year-olds who have been tutored for three or four years to go to the selective school and I just keep thinking ‘those poor children’. The stress they must be feeling and then not to make it, where do they go from there? It’s really important for parents to teach them that it doesn’t mean you’re not going to do well.

“It’s about having a ‘can-do’ attitude and no matter what, keep getting up … and I think that’s a really important thing to teach kids. A good mark doesn’t mean you’re going to have a good life, a happy life, and you’re going to do better and be better than the person who doesn’t get the mark.

“Sometimes a child can just have the best courage, inner courage and can-do attitude and they’ll get where they want to get. I hope they get that from reading the book.”

Teacher and author Rosie Schonell.

Rosie Schonell’s novel, Breaking School Rules is Easy (The Hardest Part Is Not Getting Caught).

In the debut novel, Schonell loves the “dangerous, edgy” adventures of her heroines, who defy their school rules to become super sleuths tracking down long-lost treasure and, along the way, facing their fears.

“They have a good moral compass, they’re good kids, they’re just breaking out a bit,” says the 60-year-old, who has three children in their 20s.

Breaking School Rules Is Easy, published by US-based Wings, is a celebration of “girl power” and what it means to be a good friend.

“I wanted that sort of sense of if you face your fear and move through feeling anxious to become better and face more challenges,” says Schonell, who has taught English at primary and high school and worked with children with learning difficulties.

Schonell says she made sure to include many nods to the book’s Aussie roots, including bushfires, bushrangers, scorching hot weather and the warning warble of a kookaburra before it rains.

“There’s not many tween books set in Australia – they’re mostly American and English – and I was trying to make it very Australian.”

Got a story tip for us? Email [e-mail]

Originally published as ‘A good mark doesn’t mean a good life’: Why author’s heroine is a non-academic kid