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'In the boarding house it doesn't matter who hit you first, or if they miss-hit, you have to get them back. It's kid against kid, dog against dog. We all have rabies. We all have pinks disease. We're all foaming at the mouth. Tit for tat, the strong rule the weak, the weak cry. Only those who can find the mean streak in them survive. I'm a survivor. Briggsy taught me that. If you're weak, unspeakable things happen to you. The bastards won't get me.
It is the 1960s in Perth, Western Australia. For Thomas Muir - cool and steady - life is a thing that goes on outside him. But for his brother, hot-headed Jack - believer in honesty and justice - life must be wrestled to be understood.
Jack Muir's years of survival and his coming of age in a boys' boarding school are sharply revealed in this dislocated memoir. Jack's story is funny and raw. It will strike a nerve in those who were there - and in anyone who has ever asked how it is that one becomes a man.' (Publisher's blurb)
Notes
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Dedication: I dedicate this book to all those boys who carried their scars into manhood.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
- Large print.
Works about this Work
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Non-Fiction Books
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 4 - 5 April 2009; (p. 24)
— Review of Boy On A Wire 2009 single work novel -
[Review] Boy on a Wire
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 23 no. 1 2009; (p. 56-57)
— Review of Boy On A Wire 2009 single work novel -
[Review] Boy on a Wire
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of The Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 53 no. 3 2009; (p. 35)
— Review of Boy On A Wire 2009 single work novel -
[Review] Boy on a Wire
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newsletter of the Australian Centre for Youth Literature , May no. 1 2009; (p. 20)
— Review of Boy On A Wire 2009 single work novel -
Non Fiction
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 4 July 2009; (p. 26)
— Review of Boy On A Wire 2009 single work novel
-
Pick of the Week
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 18-19 April 2009; (p. 30)
— Review of Boy On A Wire 2009 single work novel -
[Review] Boy on a Wire
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , March vol. 88 no. 6 2009; (p. 32)
— Review of Boy On A Wire 2009 single work novel -
[Review] Boy on a Wire
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: InCite , May vol. 30 no. 5 2009; (p. 30)
— Review of Boy On A Wire 2009 single work novel -
Carrying a School Boy's Scars into Manhood
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 9 May 2009; (p. 12)
— Review of Boy On A Wire 2009 single work novel -
Well Read
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 23 May 2009; (p. 26)
— Review of The Book of Emmett 2009 single work novel ; Boy On A Wire 2009 single work novel
Awards
- 2010 longlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
- Perth, Western Australia,
- Western Australia,
- Country towns,
- 1960s