Review:
Take it Easy, Danny Allen by Phil Cummings
PanMacmillan, 2008 ISBN
9780330423731
(Age 8-12) The sequel to the engaging and lighthearted,
Danny Allen
was
here, is
just wonderful, as Danny must roll with his parents' decision to move
to the city after the failure of their farm in the Mid North of South
Australia. Remembering comments from his friends at Mundowie sees Danny
suspicious and unsettled, and their arrival in the city is marred by
their friend, Thommo, being taken to hospital after his truck crashes.
Their 'apartment', a third floor cramped set of rooms, where the three
children must bunk in together, is in a strange part of town, next to a
run down old theatre, and a sparkling new Mercedes franchise. Looking
out of the window, Danny sees an eccentric old man replete with a multi
coloured apron, waving at him. The warning words of his friend come
back to him, and he refuse to return the wave, watching instead as the
man scoops something from the road, giving it to the mad old woman he
has already seen around the streets.
The setting is brilliant, evocative of the things a kid would see newly
arrived in a totally new place, with people and things, all so fresh
and rather unsettling. Instead of looking for friends, Danny is
suspicious and backwards, but it takes a loose dog in the park for
friendships to develop, and from there the ease of transition to the
city becomes less difficult. A warm and engaging story,
Take it
Easy,
Danny Allen will find a host of fans in middle to upper primary
schools.
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