10pm Question

In the book ‘The 10pm Question’ by Kate De Goldi, Sydney Vickerman plays the role of the new girl, who has had more than her share of unfortunate events because of her beloved mother - Freya’s ongoing quest to find her true self has had a huge impact on the way Sydney is today. Along with having to deal with her mother’s difficult ways, Sydney is also forced to look after her two younger twin sisters Galway and Calcutta twenty-four-seven. She is more than just an ordinary 11 year old girl as Sydney captivates the reader’s imagination with her amazingly non-conformist, curious and altruist personality.

Throughout the novel it is evident that Sydney chooses to not conform in the typical acts of her fellow female classmates. An example of this is shown in chapter two of ‘The 10pm Question’ when Sydney is described in the point of view of her peer, Frankie Parsons:
Sydney seemed oblivious to rules of the Brown Baxter sort. She marched to a different drum… She was an independent operator… making friends with a boy in the class rather than all the girls.
- Page 41 , paragraph 4
This suggests that Sydney likes to challenge the set gender based rules and the current ‘trend’ of her classmates. She expresses her individuality with a carefree attitude; not caring in the world whether people approve or not. She’s comfortable in her own skin and is not afraid to do what makes her happy. She dares to not fall into the stereotypical category.

One other trait of Sydney, is her vast interest in just about anything. A phrase that shows this characteristic best is found in this passage:
Sydney was an insatiable questioner; a steady stream issued from her mouth the entire time… She had a bottomless bag of queries about everything and everyone…
- Page 62, paragraph 3
The paragraph is basically saying that Sydney is awfully curious in affairs or concepts she is not familiar with and her urge to understand is immense. Her natural motive of asking questions is a factor to why