Trash by Andy Mulligan

Raphael is a dumpsite boy. He spends his days wading through mountains of steaming trash, sifting it, sorting it, breathing it, sleeping next to it. Then one unlucky-lucky day, Raphael’s world turns upside down. A small leather bag falls into his hands. It’s a bag of clues. It’s a bag of hope. It’s a bag that will change everything. Soon Raphael and his friends Gardo and Rat are running for their lives. Wanted by the police, it takes all their quick-thinking, fast-talking to stay ahead. As the net tightens, they uncover a dead man’s mission to put right a terrible wrong. It’s three street-boys against the world…

I loved this book. It is one of the best young adult books I have read in years and would recommend it to students in Years 7 to 10 in particular, but it is a captivating and charming story that anyone would enjoy.

Trash seems to be set in the Philippines (although this is never stated) and begins on a huge mountain of rubbish. People live in and around this garbage eking out an existence for themselves and their families. They dig through the rubbish to find anything that they can eat, use or sell. When fourteen year old Raphael finds a key in the refuse it sets him and his friends on a life changing adventure.

One interesting aspect of the novel is the use of multiple narrators. The boys’ story is told in the past tense by several characters and the reader pieces the story together to get the whole picture. I really liked the use of multiple perspectives as it added suspense and you certainly wanted to read on to see what would happen next.

I thought of the film Slumdog Millionaire as I read Trash. The main characters are complete underdogs and the huge divisions between the rich and the very poor are conveyed clearly to the reader. The poverty, the corruption, the cruelty of the boys’ world comes across vividly in a very real and disturbing way.

Trash is available from all good booksellers and I urge you to read it.

 

Sydney Bridge Upside Down

There was an old man who lived on the edge of the world and he had a horse called Sydney Bridge Upside Down. He was a scar-faced old man and his horse was a slow-moving bag of bones, and I start with this man and his horse because they were there for all the terrible happenings up the coast that summer, always somewhere around.

David Ballantyne’s haunting novel Sydney Bridge Upside Down was originally published in 1968 and it is a fascinating read. It is a neglected New Zealand classic that has been rediscovered for a new audience. The book is a coming of age story with gothic elements and a young adult classic.

I have read it twice now and I know that I will read it again as there is so much to absorb in it. It is unsettling, it is odd and it is unforgettable.

The narrator of Sydney Bridge Upside Down Harry Baird lives in tiny, isolated Calliope Bay on “the edge of the world” with his mother, father and younger brother Cal. Summer has come, and those who can have left the bay for the attractions of the distant and unnamed city. Among them is Harry’s mother, who has left behind a case of homemade ginger beer and a vague promise of return. Harry and Cal are too busy enjoying their holidays, playing in the caves and the old abandoned slaughterhouse, to be too concerned with her absence. When their older cousin, the alluring Caroline comes from the city to stay with the Bairds, Harry is infatuated. Caroline and the boys spend the long summer days exploring the bay and playing games. However, Harry is very protective of Caroline and jealous of the attention she receives from men (which is a lot). The idea of a great summer holiday is overshadowed by certain “accidents” in the old slaughterhouse and a general air of suspicion and distrust pervades.

Once we realise that Harry is an unreliable narrator the story shifts a gear and we start to view his account with some suspicion. The mysterious and dark atmosphere is further developed and you just know things aren’t going to end well as Harry’s paranoia builds and we begin to understand about “all the terrible happenings”.

Sydney Bridge Upside Down isn’t a light read but it is a most fulfilling one. Grab it if you can.

The Dark Side of Young Adult Fiction

The huge success of Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games trilogy shows the interest young readers have in exploring dark and dangerous worlds. Often these post -apocalyptic worlds remind readers of problems in our present times. So why does this appeal so much to teenagers?

Paolo Bacigalupi the author of Ship Breaker believes “that young adults crave stories of broken futures because they themselves are uneasily aware that their world is falling apart”. He states that “we might pummel them with advertising that says they should buy a new iPod, or Xbox, or Droid XYZ, and that everything in the world is shiny and delightful – but whether we’re looking at the loss of biodiversity, or the depletion of cheap and easily accessible energy, or the hazards of global warming, our children will inherit a world significantly depleted and damaged in comparison to the one our parents handed down to us. And they know it”.

Read about Ship Breaker here.

My Reading Resolutions

As I have posted, I have had a real think about my reading habits and resolved to make some changes. Here are my reading resolutions for 2011:

1) Take the time to read for pleasure

I read a lot as part of my job but I no longer read books for pleasure. I don’t let myself be captivated by books as I once did, so in 2011 I am going to change that!

2) Clean up that To Be Read pile

I have so many books that I would like to read gathering dust on shelves – I have literary prize winners, classics, young adult novels … you name I have it. They are just sitting there unread and unnoticed, but this year I will read them!

4) Leave my comfort zone

I will read some new writers and books from genres that I usually avoid. I am going to try and broaden my horizons this year.

So what are your reading resolutions for 2011? As far as New Year resolutions go, reading more has to be one of the most enjoyable (and achievable) ones out there.