AustLit

'Untidy Towns reads like an ode to many of Australia's country towns- for all their faults, they provide a sense of security, a safety and a camaraderie difficult to find else-where. They are the 'untidy' towns of the title, perhaps ironically, the same towns whose signs advertise their contribution to the 'tidy towns' competition.'(Introduction)

'Why do some books simply take off while others, arguably better written languish on shelves? Nevermore appears to be the next Harry Potter, if we are to believe the press, falling into the first category.' (Introduction)

'Sparrow opens through an uncompromising window into a harsh world - a party of eight people and their adult supervisors on a broken-down boat travelling back to Derby in the north of Western Australia after a weeks boot camp. Radcliffe, volatile  at the best of times, but totally unpredictable off his 'meds', puts a ho;e in the fuel line and the fuel tank (and the boat) blows blows up. Our main character, known then only as 'the boy' dives overboard and turns his back on the mess of the boat and the mess of his prison life.' (Introduction)