Overview
A page-turning read about father-son relationships and the many ways of being a man. Eddie doesn't want to be in school; he wants to work in the mines. But his dad won't go down in the coal pits, and he won't let his sons go either. Nothing much happens in the town of Burruga, except for fights at the pub. Then one Friday night a girl is found dead by the river, and every man in town comes under suspicion. Eddie is drawn into secrets and a bitter struggle for revenge.
A teen's first love, sexual awakening, murder, cowardice, vengeance, and forgiveness . . . these are the powerful ingredients for Steven Herrick's gutsiest book yet. Herrick deftly reveals a cast of vivid characters in this USBBY Outstanding International Book, a chilling story of malice, power, and the courage to forgive.
Taylors Bend is named after a bloke who owned some of this valley a long time ago. Mr. Taylor lost his sons in the Great War, and all he had left was a few hundred head of sheep and the river that flooded his fields most winters. They say when his sons didn't come home, he tied himself to a tractor wheel and jumped into the water at the deepest part. No one could find his body, so they named this bend to remember him. … —FROM THE BOOK
Editorials
VOYA -
In this riveting novel in verse, nine authentic voices unravel a shocking murder in a post-World War II Australian mining town. The crime forces the citizens—even the burdened police sergeant and the wise, Our Town-type newspaper editor—to face their faults, fears, regrets, and desires. The body of a beautiful teenage girl is found on the beach. Her friend, the sensitive and physically strong Eddie, who would prefer to work in the mine rather than the classroom, suspects his abusive teacher, but he eventually discovers that his own father witnessed the crime. Haunted by cowardice and self-hate, the father decides on vigilante justice, and inadvertently pulls Eddie into an intended execution and suicide. Eddie emerges as a town hero. As in Judy Blundell's What I Saw and How I Lied (Scholastic, 2008/VOYA February 2009) and another novel in verse, Witness by Karen Hesse (Scholastic, 2001/VOYA October 2001), a powerful combination of action and reflection makes this page-turner a book that will encourage teens to question judgments and labels. Eddie, supposedly a loser from a reject family, risks his life to protect his father and then accepts his father's flaws. Coming-of-age, Eddie courageously challenges his vain and perverted teacher and pursues the girl that the town sees to be too good for him. His upwardly mobile brother who plays the system is the real failure. The array of suspects and levels of guilt in the crime will engross a wide range of older teens and spur lively discussion reaching far beyond the central murder. Reviewer: Lucy SchallChildren's Literature -
This is a compelling story of Australian teenager Eddie Holding's struggle to make his war-scarred dad understand his need to work in the mines after graduating from high school. Told from the perspective of nine characters in the small town of Burrga, we soon learn that, despite the mayor's optimistic hope for the town's future, nothing will be the same after a young girl's body is found along the nearby river's edge. As Eddie does some of his own investigating and follows up on a few hunches, we also witness his ever-growing affection for Sally, a classmate, and his conflicted emotions and sense of right and wrong as he discovers disturbing truths about his neighbors, including a teacher. Beautifully written in sparse, clean, free verse ("We built this three-room log house/ that looks like a squat brown toad/ sitting on a rise/ about to jump into the Jamison River."), we are immediately drawn into the drama, the ensuing investigation, and glimpses of who Eddie will become as a man in this poignant coming of age story. Reviewer: Maggie ChaseSchool Library Journal
Gr 9 Up
This novel in verse tells the story of teenage Eddie Holder, who lives in a small Australian coal-mining town in the years after World War II. He longs to quit school, work in the mine, and spend time with his friend turned girlfriend, Sally. His brother, Larry, wants nothing more than to finish school and escape the town. Their father, Albert, has recently returned from the war a bitter, broken man and is determined that neither he nor his sons will ever set foot in the mine. Then a beautiful girl is murdered and suspicion falls on many of the men in the town, including the shady schoolteacher, some miners, and Albert and Larry. The story unfolds in a series of one- and two-page poems, each told from the point of view of a character. While the voices of Eddie, Larry, and Sally are strong and engaging, the poems from the adults, such as the teacher and the mayor, can be laborious. The strongest plot element is the mystery, which is well developed and has a surprising yet satisfying outcome. Some sexual scenarios make this most appropriate for older teens. Overall, a multilayered and affecting read.-Laura Amos, Newport News Public Library, VA