Everybody Jam

Danny Dawson lives on a remote cattle station in the Australian outback. After the accidental death of his elder brother Jonny, which the family seems to choose to blank out, Danny desperately seeks attention and approbation from his father by trying to prove he can be as good a stockman as his brother was. Danny is also angry because Sissy, his 14-year-old sister, is pregnant and won’t say who the father is. Things get worse when an inexperienced female Pommy backpacker arrives; she has been hired to help out as the Dawsons reach the month-long muster of their cattle from the desert.

The plot moves at a good pace as the drought plays havoc with the family fortunes and nothing happens without some pending catastrophe. Into the mix Lewis adds a cast of striking local characters and a convincing knowledge of life in the outback. Strongest of all is the confused teenage narrator’s authentic young male voice.

This is a debut coming of age novel that exudes a raw reality reflected in the language and in prevailing attitudes to Aborigines, Pommies, women and what constitutes a real man – a very disparate culture to our own. It will well repay attention from male teen readers and makes Ali Lewis one to watch.