Reviewed by Wendy Haynes
Roddy Malone has just started back to school in
Brisbane in 1942, after threats of war with Japan. Right after the Darwin
bombing, deep trenches were dug in Roddy’s school grounds, sandbags stacked
against buildings in the city street.
Though only
nine, Roddy was proud to start his first job as a newsboy selling newspapers on
the busy streets of Brisbane. He befriends three American soldiers who take him
under their wing when he is picked on by two older boys, also newsboys trying
to muscle in on his turf.
But one evening on his way home, Roddy witnesses a
street fight between America and Australian soldiers. After helping an injured
American soldier and reporting the riot to his boss Mr. Sadler, the story was
never reported on or recorded in the newspaper Roddy sold, and in fact, it was
kept low-key at the time.
Author Pamela Rushby explores and tells that story in this
historical junior middle-grade novel and spans from 1942 to 1945. Roddy takes
the injured American soldier Hank to his place -- where else could they go? Nursed
back to health by Roddy’s single mother, they become close friends.
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