Dale and Tomias are best friends. Dale’s grandfather was the first white man to setle here at Long Hole, where Tomias’s ancestors have lived since the dreaming. Their Mums grew up together too.
Now they’re in year seven, their last year at the community school. It’s supposed to be fun – but the arrival of Gordon and his father, Mr Armstrong, has changed things. Mr Armstrong manages the community and his new rules upset everyone. Gordon thinks HE owns the place.
The Barrumbi Kids is a delightful story about growing up in Australia’s remote communities. Dale and Tomias, and their friends, move between Aboriginal and white cultures – fishing, hunting, playing and going to school. They get into trouble and they learn about themselves, about each other and about the wider world.
Leonie Norrington spent much of her childhood on a remote community in Australia’s north, part of a large Irish-Catholic family. She later worked in journalism. This is her first novel for children.
Barrumbi Kids is a an exciting novel, suitable both for classroom and private reading.
The Barrumbi Kids, by Leonie Norrington
Scholastic, 2002