Stand Up and Cheer

Stand Up and Cheer by Loretta Re (The Wild Colonial Company)

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 9780992306922

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

I enjoyed everything about this book from the factual storyline crafted with perfect prose, to the outstanding characters - both bad and good. All my senses stood at attention from the first page to the last. Right from the beginning, a strong sense of time, place, and social conditions is projected.

It is 1934 in Albury situated on the border of NSW and Victoria. Ten year old Jack is passionate about and well-versed on the subject of planes and the history of aviation. When the Great Centenary Air Race from Britain to Melbourne is announced, all he wants is go to Melbourne to see the planes come in. His father, ‘the Voice of the ABC’, is calling the race. It is a time of great adventure and achievement, but also of great poverty due to unemployment.

Mac Robertson, the chocolate king, announces a free trip to Melbourne. The winner must collect the marked wrappers from Cherry Ripe that spell out ‘Centenary Air Race’. Jack sees winning the competition as his only chance of getting to Melbourne.

Jack’s heartbreaking experience with the town’s bully and his stash of wrappers is one of the many sub-stories that make this book so fantastic. Seamlessly knitted to Jack’s story are the disastrous events that cause the Uiver to be blown off course during a fierce storm. Subtly sifted into that is the conflict that occurs in Jack’s father’s working life. This is juxtaposed with his courageous actions that save the plane and crew, and put Albury on the map.

Loretta Re has written a powerful fictional account of a great Australian historical event in such a way, that it is impossible to put the book down. It has so many themes threaded through it that I’m unable to list them all. The writing is full of vivid scenes, and not a single unnecessary word exists anywhere.

I haven’t been so completely absorbed in a book, or enjoyed one so much, in the longest time. It is aimed at the 8-12 age groups but has everything readers of any age want from a story.