With his secret like a brick in his belly, Charlie is pushed and pulled by a town closing in on itself in fear and suspicion as he locks horns with his tempestuous mother falls nervously in love and battles to keep a lid on his zealous best friend, Jeffrey Lu.Īnd in vainly attempting to restore the parts that have been shaken loose, Charlie learns to discern the truth from the myth, and why white lies creep like a curse. Jasper takes him to his secret glade in the bush, and it’s here that Charlie bears witness to Jasper’s horrible discovery. So when Jasper begs for his help, Charlie eagerly steals into the night by his side, terribly afraid but desperate to impress. Rebellious, mixed-race and solitary, Jasper is a distant figure of danger and intrigue for Charlie. His visitor is Jasper Jones, an outcast in the regional mining town of Corrigan. The Monthly has labeled Jasper Jones as an ‘Australian To Kill A Mockingbird’ which I think is a little too kind, but that is not to say it is not a rip-roaring Aussie Yarn.Late on a hot summer night in 1965, Charlie Bucktin, a precocious and bookish boy of thirteen, is startled by an urgent knock on the window of his sleep-out. It also addresses the hotbed of political uncertainty that was prevalent in Australian society during the Vietnam War.īack when the Australian team were good and breaking records for the right reasons. Part crime, part coming of age and part romance, Jasper Jones deals with racism in a way that many of us who have spent time in regional areas are familiar with. Silvey has a gift for utterly realistic conversation that I have rarely seen. The plot may be a little familiar but it is the dialogue that is the shining light of this novel.

Young teenager Charlie Bucktin, woken in the middle of the night by the intriguing, half indigenous Jasper Jones, is led to a gruesome discovery, a secret burden that only the two of them will carry for the summer. It was also short listed for the Miles Franklin Award. They include ABIA Book of the Year, Winner of the Booksellers Choice Awards and Australian Independent Booksellers Award. The accolades it has garnered are indeed impressive and far too many to record here, but for the interested they are fully listed on the Allen and Unwin website. It is what I call a creeper, beginning slowly, a couple of sales a week, and then suddenly I look now and see an empty space every five days or so where we have sold out. He said, “I’ve already read it, and I don’t normally read books and I want to buy it for my mate, ‘cause he doesn’t read either but it’s a really good book”.Īnd after finishing it myself I can certainly concur. Very late one night (we close at midnight on weekends) a breathless, long-haired, skateboarding teenager galloped into the shop and asked for a copy. I’ve been watching sales of Jasper Jones over the past two years with interest.

Jasper jones silvey