Ursula Dubosarsky uses historic references in her book to create a haunting mystery, that intriguingly adds depth to the eerie book. Ronald Ryan was the last man to be hung by order of the court in 1967. Ursula Dubosarsky mentions Ronald Ryan at the beginning of the book “the year began with the hanging of one man, and ended with the drowning of another” (Dubosarsky, page 3). The man that she is referring to that was hung is in fact Ronald Ryan. When Cubby, Icara, Martine and Bethany are in a laneway written on the wall is “Who Killed Juanita?” (Dubosarsky, page 131). This is referring to Juanita Nielsen, who mystifyingly went missing from her home in Sydney in 1975. This could be foretelling what might have happened to Miss Renshaw and