Status
Call number
Genres
Collection
Description
For 17-year-old Tom, life is about rugby, his mates and his family, who are well respected in their small country town. But a night of celebration changes his life forever. Tom's older brother, Daniel, starts a fight at the 'sudden death' pre-final party - then, worse, Daniel is involved in a car accident on the way home. Their cousin, Fin, suffers irreversible spinal injuries and the two other passengers are killed. Tom's world explodes as Daniel is sent to jail and the Brennans are forced to leave town. While Tom and his sister, Kylie, adjust to life at a new school, their mother takes to her bed and their father tries to balance the pain of his family with the debt of his paralysed nephew. The past is never far away. Tom is a survivor, but he needs a ticket out of the past just as much as Daniel. He will find it in many forms.… (more)
User reviews
In a small community the waves that reverberate
This is a powerfully told story with all the more impact because any one of us might one day be in the situation that faces the Brennans. You can’t go back and as Tom finds, you can’t just forget. The only way is forward.
The relationship between Tom and his brother Daniel is very important in Burke’s book. Their cousin, Fin, was also like a brother to them, and their mother’s brother was close to Daniel and helped Tom come to terms with circumstances.
2006 Winner CBCA Award - Older readers