# The Midnight Zoo > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Midnight_Zoo > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Midnight_Zoo.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Midnight_Zoo > Source revision: 1356505521 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 2010 novel by Sonya Hartnett For the Australian phone-in quiz show, see [Midnight Zoo](/source/Midnight_Zoo). The Midnight Zoo Author Sonya Hartnett Language English Genre Juvenile fantasy Publisher Viking Penguin Publication date 1 November 2010 (2010-11-01) Publication place Australia Media type Print (hardcover and paperback) Pages 186 Awards Carnegie Medal (shortlisted) ISBN 9781406331493 OCLC 692664057 Dewey Decimal A823.3 LC Class PR9619.3.H3345 M53 2010 - [Children's literature portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Children%27s_literature) ***The Midnight Zoo*** is a 2010 novel by [Sonya Hartnett](/source/Sonya_Hartnett). It was first published on 1 November 2010 in Australia and was then released in the United States a year later. It follows the story of two gypsy boys that find an abandoned zoo after fleeing a traditional celebration. The novella has gained critical praise for its "lyrical" prose and for the illustrations in the United States version, done by artist Andrea Offermann. ## Plot It is midnight in a destroyed village somewhere in Europe. Through the moonlight, two boys, one with a baby in his backpack, come walking. The realism of the opening paragraphs is disrupted by the personification of Night. Clearly we are in for a fabulist story. The two boys have been on the road for weeks, scrounging an existence in a landscape often devoid of humanity and sustenance. The back-story to the boys’ current situation reveals itself slowly: their family has been slaughtered by soldiers two months previously. They find a pitiful zoo which miraculously has survived the war that has ravaged its village. Also miraculous is that each of the animals in the zoo speaks to the boys. Over the course of one night, we are given the stories of the animals, the zoo, and its most recent zookeepers. This is not a chronological telling but the narrative events come to us almost like a play, with limited settings, such as glimpses of the boys’ travels, the zoo, and the Rom camp. The structure of the novel is instrumental in our interpretation of events. While the story can be read as a narrative of survival during war, much of its significance operates beneath the surface of realism. Symbolic meanings are fundamental to understanding the narrative: its time frame, the survival of the zoo, its midnight setting. ## Critical reception *The Midnight Zoo* received positive reviews from critics, mostly for the "lyrical" prose and the illustrations from Andrea Offermann in the American version. *[Kirkus Reviews](/source/Kirkus_Reviews)* called it "[a]n evocative story" with "lyrical, spare prose".[1] *[Booklist](/source/Booklist)* was similarly favorable, but it said that the ending "may confuse some readers".[2] *[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)* gave it a [starred review](/source/Starred_review) and said that Harnett "mak[es] a profound case for the futility of war while exploring questions about responsibility and freedom."[3] *[Library Journal](/source/Library_Journal)* also gave it a starred review, saying that it was also good for adults who were "interested in wartime fiction and thought-provoking, fable-like tales",[4] while its juvenile companion *[School Library Journal](/source/School_Library_Journal)* called it a "beautiful and sad book [that] will stay with readers long after the story is done."[5] ## Awards and nominations *The Midnight Zoo* won the [CBCA](/source/Children's_Book_Council_of_Australia) [Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers](/source/Children's_Book_of_the_Year_Award%3A_Older_Readers) in 2011.[6] It was also shortlisted for the [CILIP](/source/CILIP) [Carnegie Medal](/source/Carnegie_Medal_(literary_award)) in 2012.[7] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett, Andre Offermann"](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sonya-hartnett/midnight-zoo/). *Kirkus Reviews*. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2013. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Dean, Kara (August 2011). ["Midnight Zoo, by Sonya Hartnett"](http://www.booklistonline.com/The-Midnight-Zoo-Sonya-Hartnett/pid=4861601). *Booklist*. Retrieved 29 July 2013. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Children's Review: The Midnight Zoo"](http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7636-5339-2). *Publishers Weekly*. 8 August 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2013. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Selwyn, Laurie (1 November 2010). ["The Midnight Zoo"](http://bookverdict.com/details.xqy?uri=Product-35398584.xml). *Library Journal*. Retrieved 29 July 2013. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Tesauro, Caroline (1 September 2011). ["The Midnight Zoo"](http://bookverdict.com/details.xqy?uri=Product-66134392.xml). *School Library Journal*. Retrieved 29 July 2013. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["There's more to the story"](http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/theres-more-to-the-story-20110818-1iynp.html). *The Age*. 20 August 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2013. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Knight, Gavin (Summer 2012). ["Literacy Standards"](http://www.questiaschool.com/library/1G1-296378367/literacy-standards). *NATE Classroom*. **17**: 67+. v t e Works by Sonya Hartnett Picture books The Boy and the Toy (2010) Come Down, Cat! (2011) Junior fiction The Silver Donkey (2004) Sadie and Ratz (2008) The Children of the King (2012) Teen and young adult fiction Wilful Blue (1994) Sleeping Dogs (1995) The Devil Latch (1996) Princes (1997) All My Dangerous Friends (1998) Stripes of the Sidestep Wolf (1999) Thursday's Child (2000) Forest (2001) Surrender (2005) The Ghost's Child (2007) Butterfly (2009) The Midnight Zoo (2010) Adult fiction Trouble All The Way (1984) Sparkle and Nightflower (1986) The Glass House (1990) Black Foxes (1996) Of a Boy (2002) Landscape with Animals (2006) Golden Boys (2014) v t e Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers 1946–1949 The Story of Karrawingi the Emu by Leslie Rees (1946) Shackleton's Argonauts: A Saga of the Antarctic Icepacks by Frank Hurley (1948) 1950–1959 Whalers of the Midnight Sun by Alan Villiers (1950) Verity of Sydney Town by Ruth C. Williams (1951) The Australia Book by Eve Pownall (1952) Aircraft of Today and Tomorrow by James H. Martin & W. D. Martin (1953) Good Luck to the Rider by Joan Phipson (1953) Australian Legendary Tales by K. Langloh Parker (1954) The First Walkabout by Norman B. Tindale and Harold Arthur Lindsay (1955) The Crooked Snake by Patricia Wrightson (1956) The Boomerang Book of Legendary Tales edited by Enid Moodie Heddle (1957) Tiger in the Bush by Nan Chauncy (1958) Devil's Hill by Nan Chauncy (1959) Sea Menace by John Gunn (1959) 1960–1969 All the Proud Tribesmen by Kylie Tennant (1960) Tangara by Nan Chauncy (1961) The Racketty Street Gang by L. H. Evers (1962) Rafferty Rides a Winner by Joan Woodberry (1962) The Family Conspiracy by Joan Phipson (1963) The Green Laurel by Eleanor Spence (1964) Pastures of the Blue Crane by H. F. Brinsmead (1965) Ash Road by Ivan Southall (1966) The Min-Min by Mavis Thorpe Clark (1967) To the Wild Sky by Ivan Southall (1968) When Jays Fly to Barbmo by Margaret Balderson (1969) 1970–1979 Uhu by Annette Macarthur-Onslow (1970) Bread and Honey by Ivan Southall (1971) Longtime Passing by H. F. Brinsmead (1972) Family at the Lookout by Noreen Shelley (1973) The Nargun and the Stars by Patricia Wrightson (1974) Fly West by Ivan Southall (1976) The October Child by Eleanor Spence (1977) The Ice Is Coming by Patricia Wrightson (1978) The Plum-Rain Scroll by Ruth Manley (1979) 1980–1989 Displaced Person by Lee Harding (1980) Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park (1981) The Valley Between by Colin Thiele (1982) Master of the Grove by Victor Kelleher (1983) A Little Fear by Patricia Wrightson (1984) The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge (1985) The Green Wind by Thurley Fowler (1986) All We Know by Simon French (1987) So Much to Tell You by John Marsden (1988) Beyond the Labyrinth by Gillian Rubinstein (1989) 1990–1999 Came Back to Show You I Could Fly by Robin Klein (1990) Strange Objects by Gary Crew (1991) The House Guest by Eleanor Nilsson (1992) Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1993) The Gathering by Isobelle Carmody (1994) Angel's Gate by Gary Crew (1995) Foxspell by Gillian Rubinstein (1995) Pagan's Vows by Catherine Jinks (1996) A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove by James Moloney (1997) Eye to Eye by Catherine Jinks (1998) Deadly, Unna? by Phillip Gwynne (1999) 2000–2009 48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earls (2000) Wolf on the Fold by Judith Clarke (2001) Forest by Sonya Hartnett (2002) The Messenger by Markus Zusak (2003) Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (2004) The Running Man by Michael Gerard Bauer (2005) The Story of Tom Brennan by J. C. Burke (2006) Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (2007) The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett (2008) Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (2009) 2010–2019 Jarvis 24 by David Metzenthen (2010) The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett (2011) The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner (2012) Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (2013) Wildlife by Fiona Wood (2014) The Protected by Claire Zorn (2015) Cloudwish by Fiona Wood (2016) One Would Think The Deep by Claire Zorn (2017) Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Fiona Wood and Simmone Howell (2018) Between Us by Clare Atkins (2019) 2020–present This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield (2020) The End of the World Is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell (2021) Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim (2022) Neverlanders by Tom Taylor (2023) Grace Notes by Karen Comer (2024) I'm Not Really Here by Gary Lonesborough (2025) Picture Book (1955–present) Early Childhood (2001–present) Younger Readers (1982–present) Eve Pownall Award for Information Books (1988–present) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Midnight Zoo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Midnight_Zoo) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Midnight_Zoo?action=history)). 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