Jasper Jones - Craig Silvey

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.

A good friend recommended this book to me and she usually has been spot on the money, and she didn't let me down this time either. I would probably not have selected this book on my own, the cover didn't grab me and the story sounded like a book more suited to young adults, but I soon forgot my original preconceived ideas and was glued to the story! 

This has been hailed as the Australian version of "To Kill A Mockingbird", which was obviously what the author was trying to channel as he referenced the book and Atticus Finch several times. Like TKAM there are many themes that run through the story line: mystery, friendship, romance, comedy, betrayal, racism, but most of all I think this is a coming of age book where a child takes the first steps into young adulthood and learns that things in the adult world are more complicated than they first seem.

The whole thing is very well written and the characters are so vivid and each has an individual personality and 'voice' that is clear throughout the book.  

One I definitely recommend for all age groups, and as an added bonus of reading this book you will be helping support an Australian writer!