Breaking Loose by Deirdre Ibbotson

This story will enthrall you, as you follow Sophie’s life from the time she was four years old. Then, she lived in a small Australian town situated on the edge of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland during World War II, when the country was threatened with an invasion from Japan. Her father arrives home from the war in 1945 and the family moves to Surfers Paradise, a relatively new beach town. All the while, her older brother, Bruce, has spent most of his time "locked away" in boarding schools. The family moves again to postwar Brisbane, where Sophie settles in, is mature for her age and shows entrepreneurial skills. She enjoys her life there until her resentful brother suddenly arrives home to stay. The family dynamics change drastically, especially when her father takes a job in the South Pacific. While giving a colorful overview of the post-war era in Australia, Sophie shares the things that molded her character and turned her into a free-thinking and independent woman.