PB RRP $19.95
ISBN 978 0 7022 5315 7
Reviewed by Jo Antareau
For most teenagers, the thought of an extended
Australian road trip with family and no access to electronic media would be
sheer torture. Hunter is no exception. But as the story unfolds, we find that
he is not just a self-absorbed adolescent and this story is so much more than
the ‘live a simpler life to reconnect with family’ theme that is so overused it
is now a cliché.
Hunter has had a lot to cope with. Grief, his mother’s
mental health issues, a sister with special needs and a new step-father and
baby half-brother suddenly entering his life, on top of having survived an
accident in which others were killed.
The journey is presented to him as a chance for his new blended family
to bond and recover from past wounds, but Hunter gradually suspects there is
more to it than that.
As the story unfolds Hunter learns that the adults in
his life have lied to him. He still resents his father for abandoning them when
he was younger but also misses him deeply following the tragic accident. Buick
has skilfully adopted the voice of a young adult male; the resentment tempered
with humour, whilst keeping the self-pitying to a realistic minimum.
This is ultimately a story about parents learning to
have faith that their children can make healthy decisions for themselves, and
that running away never solves anything. Along the way, Hunter learns to deal
with his longing and grief in tandem with his own growing self-awareness and
eventual forgiveness for the adults in his life, who are as flawed as he is.
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