AustLit logo
person or book cover
Courtesy of Allen & Unwin.
y separately published work icon Jasper Jones single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2009... 2009 Jasper Jones
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Late on a hot summer night in the tail end of 1965, Charlie Bucktin, a precocious and bookish boy of thirteen, is startled by an urgent knock on the window of his sleep-out. His visitor is Jasper Jones, an outcast in the regional mining town of Corrigan. Rebellious, mixed-race and solitary, Jasper is a distant figure of danger and intrigue for Charlie. So when Jasper begs for his help, Charlie eagerly steals into the night by his side, terribly afraid but desperate to impress.

'Jasper takes him through town and to his secret glade in the bush, and it's here that Charlie bears witness to Jasper's horrible discovery. With his secret like a brick in his belly, Charlie is pushed and pulled by a town closing in on itself in fear and suspicion as he locks horns with his tempestuous mother; falls nervously in love and battles to keep a lid on his zealous best friend, Jeffrey Lu.

'And in vainly attempting to restore the parts that have been shaken loose, Charlie learns to discern the truth from the myth, and why white lies creep like a curse. In the simmering summer where everything changes, Charlie learns why the truth of things is so hard to know, and even harder to hold in his heart.' (Publisher's blurb)

Exhibitions

17252249
17024129

Adaptations

y separately published work icon Jasper Jones Kate Mulvany , 2014 2014 Strawberry Hills : Currency Press , 2016 7441879 2014 single work drama

'Corrigan is a town populated by barnacles: hard shells that clench themselves shut and choose not to know.'

'Charlie Bucktin is a geeky thirteen-year-old living in a country WA town in 1965. He's probably the only teenager who reads books in a town that's sport mad. His best mate Jeffrey Lu is Vietnamese, and isn't having such a good time of things either.

'Jasper Jones is an Indigenous 14 year-old that lives on the outside of town and the wrong side of the tracks. One summer night, Jasper takes Charlie to his secret glade in the bush. Charlie witnesses a terrible discovery and is suddenly embroiled in a plot with more twists and turns than any of the novels he so dearly loves.

'Barking Gecko is thrilled that talented playwright and actor Kate Mulvany will adapt Craig Silvey's multiple award-winning, best-selling novel, Jasper Jones for WA audiences.' (Production summary)

form y separately published work icon Jasper Jones Shaun Grant , ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) Australia : Porchlight Films Bunya Productions , 2016 8368946 2016 single work film/TV

On the night that Jasper Jones, a young Aboriginal man and social outcast, shows Charlie Bucklin the dead body of young Laura Wiseheart, Charlie's life is changed forever. Believing Jasper to be innocent, Charlie embarks on a dangerous journey to find the killer, defeating the local racists, facing the break up of his parents and falling head over heels in love as he discovers what it means to be truly courageous.

Source: Screen Australia.

Reading Australia

Reading Australia

This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.

Notes

  • This book won the 2011 Australian Publishers Association Best Designed Fiction Book sponsored by Penguin Books Australia.
  • Ranked #6 in ABC1's First Tuesday Book Club '10 Aussie Books to Read Before You Die' 2012 voting ballot.
  • This book was awarded the inaugural University of Canberra Book of the Year in 2013.

Affiliation Notes

  • Associated with the AustLit subset Australian Literary Responses to 'Asia' as the work contains a Vietnamese character.
  • This work is affiliated with the AustLit subset Asian-Australian Children's Literature and Publishing because it has a Vietnamese character, and because it has been translated into Chinese and Korean.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2009 .
      person or book cover
      Courtesy of Allen & Unwin.
      Extent: 368p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: May 2009.
      ISBN: 9781741757743 (pbk.)
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Windmill Books ,
      2009 .
      image of person or book cover 8417956654832589993.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 299p.
      ISBN: 9780099537540 (pbk.), 0099537540 (pbk.)
    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2010 .
      person or book cover
      Courtesy of Allen & Unwin.
      Alternative title: Jasper Jones : A Novel
      Extent: 397p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: May 2010.
      ISBN: 9781742372624 (pbk.)
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Knopf ,
      2011 .
      image of person or book cover 6030230632743523760.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 312p.
      ISBN: 9780375866661 (trade hardcover), 9780375966668 (hardcover library binding), 9780375896781 (ebook)
    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2016 .
      image of person or book cover 3881747317936958289.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 397p.p.
      Edition info: Film tie-in edition.
      ISBN: 9781760295929, 1760295922
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Windmill Books ,
      2017 .
      image of person or book cover 6159104651843586256.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 299p.p.
      Edition info: Film tie-in ed.
      ISBN: 9781786090416, 1786090414
Language: Italian
    • Varese,
      c
      Italy,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Giano Editore ,
      2010 .
      image of person or book cover 6740313571166956216.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 332p.
      ISBN: 9788862510752

Other Formats

  • Braille
  • Sound recording.
  • Large print.

Works about this Work

Parochial Canons : Teaching Australian Literature in Western Australia Claire Jones , Patricia Dowsett , 2023 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , 10 August vol. 23 no. 1 2023;

'In recent years, various studies have drawn attention to a lack of Australian literature being taught in secondary classrooms in Australia, with these findings often attributed to teachers’ minimal experience of Australian texts during their senior secondary and tertiary education. This paper draws on a state-wide study of texts studied in Year 12 English and Literature classrooms in Western Australia in 2018, which revealed that Australian works, and particularly Western Australian texts, were popular inclusions for study. The externally examined English course in WA not having a prescribed text list, yet this condition of text list expansion does not necessarily ensure that a wider variety of texts will be studied in schools. This paper explores some possible explanations for this situation by referring to sites of sociability and to the work of John Guillory on canonicity and cultural capital (1993), to consider the impact of a parochial canon on Western Australian English subjects.' (Publication abstract)

y separately published work icon Craig Silvey's Jasper Jones Adam Kealley , Cheltenham : Insight Publications , 2021 23871956 2021 single work criticism 'The Insight Text Guide on Craig Silvey's Jasper Jones is a comprehensive and accessible guide to the novel for secondary school students of English. It provides detailed notes on context and background, genre, structure and language, as well as an analysis of each chapter. Characters and themes are covered in depth. Essay topics, guidelines on responding to a topic and a complete sample essay give students invaluable support for their own assessment tasks.'(Publication summary)
Adolescence Adrift : The Lost Child in Contemporary Australian Gothic YA Fiction Adam Kealley , 2021 single work criticism
— Appears in: Young Adult Gothic Fiction : Monstrous Selves/Monstrous Others 2021;
Aboriginal Perspectives in English Classroom Texts Jessica Scarcella , Cathie Burgess , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: English in Australia , vol. 54 no. 1 2019; (p. 20-29)

'According to the NSW K–10 English Syllabus, all students should engage with ‘texts that give insight into Aboriginal experiences in Australia’. Along with the inclusion of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cross Curriculum Priority, this suggests that texts in English should develop deep understanding of Aboriginal cultures, experiences and perspectives. This project uses critical discourse analysis followed by content analysis, adapted from Lowe and Yunkaporta’s (2013) Cultural Analysis Matrix, to analyse representations of Aboriginal experiences and perspectives in six commonly used classroom texts to ascertain the nature and depth of the Aboriginal voices, experiences and perspectives within each text. This paper argues that texts which include Aboriginal characters and experiences through non-Aboriginal perspectives remain at risk of tokenism and/or shallow inclusion. However, texts which embody and value Aboriginal ways of knowing, doing and being demonstrate a capacity for more nuanced and genuine insights into Aboriginal experiences in Australia.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

12 Books Every Australian Should Read Anna Vallen , 2016 single work essay
— Appears in: Australian Geographic [Website] , February 2016;
'Take a literary journey to the interior with these 12 must-read Australian books, representing a cross section of Australian literature, meditating on landscape, history and what makes us Australian.'
Coming of Age in Small-Town '60s Australia Rebecca Starford , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 2 May 2009; (p. 23)

— Review of Jasper Jones Craig Silvey , 2009 single work novel
Dudes with Attitude Delia Falconer , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , May vol. 4 no. 4 2009; (p. 21)

— Review of Jasper Jones Craig Silvey , 2009 single work novel
Well Read Patrick Allington , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 16 May 2009; (p. 26)

— Review of Jasper Jones Craig Silvey , 2009 single work novel
Books Susan Hewitt , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 23 May 2009; (p. 28)

— Review of Jasper Jones Craig Silvey , 2009 single work novel ; Ways of Escape Hugh Mackay , 2009 single work novel ; True Colours : Lauren Huxley and Her Family : From Tragedy to Triumph Lisa Davies , 2009 single work biography
Small-Town Trials of an Unlikely Hero Rebecca Starford , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 23-24 May 2009; (p. 29)

— Review of Jasper Jones Craig Silvey , 2009 single work novel
A Resident Boo Radley Craig Silvey , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25-26 April 2009; (p. 26-27)
Silvey's Tale Strikes a Chord Katphin Moo , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 2 May 2009; (p. 51)
Silvey Lining Jan Hallam , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 16 May 2009; (p. 27)
The End of Childhood Sally Pryor , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 22 August 2009; (p. 11)
Freo Writer Wins Hearts and Awards for Indie Novel William Yeoman , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The West Australian , 28 September 2009; (p. 17)
Last amended 13 Jul 2021 12:05:49
X