Wait, what?

I shall make it known before I begin that I am not a Tim Winton fan. I have read a couple of his books and have not enjoyed them at all.  However, in getting to the end of the challenge, I needed to read a few preloved books, or quick books, to ensure I made my target (which I will).

So, without waiting for Christmas books, and with no further visits to the library, I chose a few books from our book case, which I have already read and loved, as well as a couple of my husband’s books. I asked him about this one, and he asked if I was aware that it is written by Tim Winton, which I wasn’t, but my husband said that the Lockie Leonard series is meant to be his better works. So I thought, it’s short, why not?

So I read it.  It was a quick easy read – being young adult fiction, and it was reasonably enjoyable. Teenage boys might be more of the target audience here. I enjoyed the fact that Tim used proper punctuation throughout (unlike Dirt Music, where he did not use quotation marks, much to my horror and disgust).

I thought the characters were engaging enough. Some of the quirks of his friendship seemed plausible. The fact that he was attracted to an 11 year old (the main character is 13) disturbed me a little and I did not enjoy this plot thread. The ongoing conversations around being depressed also worried me a bit. The other major thing that I did not enjoy about this book was the main plot line not being resolved! The book is called Scumbuster and focuses on the boys wanting to clear up the harbour and stop the factories from dumping their waste into the water. Just when this storyline begins to really get some traction and progress, the book ends!!

I give this book 2 stars, as I got to the end of it, and it is what it is.