Harry Kruize, born to lose by Paul Collins
![cover image](https://www.readplus.com.au/covers/harrykruize.jpg)
Hybrid Publishers, 2017. ISBN 9781925272628
(Age: 11+) This book draws heavily on one of the best-known poets
and fiction writers of Australia's colonial period - Henry Lawson
(1867-1922). One of Lawson's recurring themes in his yarns is dogs.
Many a boy wants to have the mateship and loyalty of a dog. The
stories Paul uses are pub yarns written for adults so many of the
underlying morals to the stories will leave kids shaking their heads
wandering what the connection is to the protagonist, 11 year old
Harry Kruze; this is where teachers will revel in helping readers to
dive into the finer details and discuss issues such as family
relationships, mental health and student bullying and examine
Harry's perception that life is 'all jumbled up and fragmented . . .
All messed up. And back to front'.
Harry Kruize describes himself as the Hobbit, feeling like 'a
walking disaster' and 'the class weirdo'. Not surprisingly he goes
through each school day keeping his head down to avoid his nemesis
Gavin Brickson, THE BRICK, while trying to make sense of his
mother's fluctuating moods. Although having a low opinion of himself
he dreams of becoming a writer and likes to think of himself as
represented by font that is 'bold face', 'clear' and 'straight to
the point'.
Paul Collins has cleverly interwoven Harry's voice into a class
assignment where students come up with a list of wishes and diarise
about them coming true or not. Without giving away any spoilers one
of Harry's seven wishes is for a dog, hoping that having a dog and
winning the Dog Day Race Cup might solve his lack of social skills
all the while helped along by some dubious advice from a 'friend'.
Personally I like the cover but I would have preferred to see it
representative of the main character's age. The pages are bordered
by Microsoft Word desktop which students will feel connected to. The
mix of font makes the appearance of the book attractive but a
reluctant reader would benefit from increasing the spaces between
lines. A warning also needs to be made regarding the graphic
goriness depicted in Collins' The dog that wasn't.
Overall, this is an interesting book for readers aged 11+ years. It provides many
opportunities for guided discussion about family relationships, mental
health, student bullying and empathy.
Paul Collins was born in England, raised in New Zealand and
immigrated to Australia in 1972. Paul is the founder of Ford Street
Publishing and runs the speaker's agency Creative Net. He strongly
believes in nurturing Australian talent and has selflessly dedicated
his time to ensuring children continue to be challenged and
entertained by their reading choices. Harry Kruize, born to lose
is one of Paul's 140+ books. For more information about Paul
Collins, stop by his website.
There you will find information about all Paul's books, helpful tips
for young writers and classroom tools for teachers.
Sharon Smith (Children's and Youth Services Librarian Riverina
Regional Library)