Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Penguin Australia (Viking). Hardback, 96 pages.
Description
Abel Jackson loves to dive. He's a natural in the water. He can't remember a time when he couldn't use a mask and snorkel to glide down into the clear deep. Life is tough out at Longboat Bay. Every day the boy helps his mother earn their living from the sea and the land. It's hard work but Abel has the bush and the sky and the bay to himself. Until the day he meets Blueback, the fish that changes his life. Blueback is about people learning from nature.
User reviews
LibraryThing member BlackSheepDances
It is described as an adult fable. It deals with a single mom and her son on the Western Australia coastline. It was a short read and it disappointed. I loved the setup, but it dissolved into a rather preachy ecological lecture on global warming and the overharvesting of the ocean. I can't
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disagree, but felt it a bit pushy from one of my favorite authors. I couldn't figure out who he was trying to reach: is whaling still a problem in Australia? Or was he going for the women-who-poach-abalone demographic? Just sort of disappointing. Show Less
LibraryThing member vanniand2018
I thought that blue back was a heart touching book that was about a boy growing up near the sea and he has this amazing relationship with a groper a great big blue fish as hey both grow up.
LibraryThing member lydia1879
This is a little fable by Tim Winton, and even though I really don't like Tim Winton, or his writing style, I liked this book.
I really don't want to go into too much detail because it's almost a novella and a children's book so to go into the plot would really spoil the story. But it's a very
Winton has a really strong connection with the sea and surf culture and he has a great respect for it, and I think that's evident in this little story. c:
I really don't want to go into too much detail because it's almost a novella and a children's book so to go into the plot would really spoil the story. But it's a very
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vivid and colourful story about a boy and a fish he names Blueback. Winton has a really strong connection with the sea and surf culture and he has a great respect for it, and I think that's evident in this little story. c:
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LibraryThing member Amzzz
A boy, a mum, a fish, a lifelong love of the ocean.
Subjects
Awards
CBCA Book of the Year (Notable Book — Older Readers — 1998)
WAYRBA: Western Australia Young Readers Book Award (Winner — 1999)
The White Ravens (1998)
Environment Award for Children’s Literature (Winner — 1998)
Language
Original publication date
1997
ISBN
9780670078004
Local notes
A simple allegory about a boy who matures through fortitude, and finds wisdom by living in harmony with all forms of life.
Part of the Penguin Australian Children's Classics series.
Part of the Penguin Australian Children's Classics series.
Other editions
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