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Chargement... How Hedley Hopkins Did a Dare, robbed a grave . . . (2005)par Paul Jennings
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Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. This story covers a very short period in the young life of Hedley Hopkins. It is a tale told with great humour and compassion and acknowledges the need in us all to belong in this world and make sense of our own place in it. The story opens in 1956, Hedley is a recently arrived English migrant living with his parents and younger sister Kate. Though, in many ways, his family is very like the Australian families that surround them, there are subtle differences that set Hedley apart. He is lonely, and at this point ready to take risks and go against his better judgement in order to fit in. Hedley’s state of distress over his situation leads him to ask for, and then accept, a dare from a gang of boys at his school. The successful completion of this dare will earn him a tacit acceptance and a place within the school hierarchy. The dare is to remove the skull from an opened grave in the sand dunes and bring it to Ian Douglas, the leader of the gang. Completing this task is a solid thread that drives the action in the story. This sits alongside the other concerns of Hedley’s existence – his changing body and relationships at school and at home. Hedley’s interaction with Mr Hooper and the students from the Billabong Home for Retarded Boys, his hateful teacher Mr Tinker, his relationship with his parents and his sister and his difficulty in getting accurate, helpful information about his body all interconnect to create a story, and a character, that encourage empathy from the reader. This is a fast paced, entertaining read about the many threads which make up one’s life. Simultaneously, it is a thoughtful exploration of strong emotions and difficult issues handled with a deft humorous touch. aucune critique | ajouter une critique
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Hedley Hopkins has a few problems: he is the new kid at school, straight off the boat from England in the 1950s. The only friends he has made are the kids at the Loony Bin. But if he could just fulfil a dare and dig out the hideous skull hidden in a grave in the sand dunes, he could impress the bullies at school and become their friend. But Hedley is not so sure. Weird things are happening to his body. Is he being punished for his terrible actions? And if his uptight parents ever found out what he was up to, they might blow up.Full-moon murderers, an open grave, religious conversions and sexual awakening meld sometimes poignantly, sometimes hilariously, in this riveting, stunningly original account of growing up in 1950s Australia. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999ÉvaluationMoyenne:
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Dear past Lauren: you're an idiot.
This is a cracking read, with the usual great Jennings humour and creepiness and relatability. I initially thought that with the gang and the dare it would be 'A Good Tip For Ghosts' the extended dance remix. Again, past Lauren is an idiot. Nobody should listen to her. There's way more to this book than that.
The author's note at the end was a nice little bonus: 'I didn't make [character spoiler] an Aboriginal man because it is not my right to tell that story.' After talking with Ambelin Kwaymullina at last year's Continuum, the importance of Aboriginal culture and storytelling, down to who has the right to use which parts of language, has been on my mind and I appreciate Paul's respect of that. ( )