The lucky ones by Tohby Riddle
Penguin,2009. ISBN 978014300569
(Age: 15 plus) Having just finished high school in Sydney in
the
1980s, Tom
and his best friend, Cain, drift through summer with parties, girls,
music and
cars. Tom begins art school where he tries to 'find out the meaning of
life'. Life
continues to change as his mother leaves home and when Cain moves in
with Virginia,
change is
accelerated. The Harbour Bridge provides a
constant presence and challenge, both physically and metaphorically, to
the
protagonists and it is through their attempts at climbing it that Tom
is able
to come to some realisations. Throughout the novel, life varies
depending on
which side of the bridge the boys are currently standing.
This is a slow moving novel, yet the very nature
of the
narrator's drifting only serves to heighten the mood and describes
perfectly
the time between leaving school and becoming a fully fledged adult as
one seeks
to discover what life is all about. The presence of the boys at Dylan's
press
conference cleverly highlights the erosion of their illusions about
their idol
as they are exposed to real life scenarios and the conclusion provides
hope for
the future.
Jo Schenkel