Stride’s life is thrown into disarray when his father dies. Life is hard enough when you’re a teenager, and sudden change doesn’t help! Frustrated, he finds comfort in the companionship of Ferd, his father’s cockatoo. The turbulence begins to subside when Stride encounters Jess, a dreadlocked surfer-girl who makes his stomach knot with the nervous energy of a crush. Grief has disconnected Stride from his mother, and when she puts the family home on the market, this is too sudden, too soon for Stride, and this fracture widens. But when a bushfire suddenly sweeps through the coastal village destroying houses and threatening lives, Stride realises the true importance of family, risking his own safety to reconnect his. Set in a coastal town in Australia, this book tackles the themes of loss, change and family relationships, and is told in a realistic manner. This is an engaging boy-coming-of-age story, of which there currently seem to be only a few for this age group. It would be a great class novel to be taught at upper primary and middle years.

Julia Jackson is a freelance reviewer who has worked in bookstores for a number of years

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