Henry Hoey Hobson

by Christine Bongers

Random House Australia. Junior Fiction, Australia. Paperback, rrp $16.95

When Henry arrives at his new school, he discovers he is the only boy in Year Seven. Could things get any worse?

Yes and they do. The Year Six boys bully him and the Year Seven girls tease mercilessly. Mum is too tired and overworked to notice or help. New neighbours move in, vampire-like creatures complete with a coffin and strange midnight activities. Surely this is as bad as it gets?

No it isn’t. But Henry is a survivor who doesn’t give up. He finds new friends in unexpected places and guises.

The narrative is well-paced – humour and heartache, trauma and triumph. The reader immediately empathises with Henry as he struggles to deal with the new obstacles each day brings. Some are only small but matter a lot to a teenage boy. And some are life-changing.

Long before Henry trains for the swimming carnival, the reader is already on his cheer squad. This is truly a heart-warming story abut growing up and getting on with what life throws your way.

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