In times of bushfires and billy buttons

Steven Herrick, In times of bushfires and billy buttons, Ford St, September 2023, 221 pp., RRP $19.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781922696366

Steven Herrick is a long-experienced, multiple prize-winning author of children’s books. This, his latest novel for older readers, is a showcase for his talents. He knows how to create characters readers care about, he writes with wit and warmth and earthiness; and in the schools he depicts not all the teachers are dorks.

Ethan is in Year Eleven, his drug-peddling parents are both in gaol, his aunt Helen looks after him at her place, he is smitten with Audrey, and becomes curious in the newcomer, Joshua, who is pretty clearly being bashed at home. His good friend Biggsy is running his own family’s panel beating business while his father fights the horrific summer fires of 2020. And Mr Marshall, their completely-lacking-in-style English teacher turns out to be a deeply human, humorous and ethical man.

Herrick has a gift for dialogue that sparks cheekily—and he likes to push his characters well out of their comfort zones. This makes for a lot of tension, a lot of fun, and in general a celebration of being young, despite the catastrophe facing the planet. Will these teenagers have time to fall in love, fall out of love, find their passions, and do something about the planet’s strife?

A big-hearted book of life. Highly recommended for readers from twelve to a hundred and twelve.

Reviewed by Kevin Brophy

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