Ironbark (Barry Jonsberg, A&U, $17.95, pb ISBN 9781741149555, June) ***

It can be difficult to find a text suitable for teenage boys; trying to blend the idea of the masculine identity with modernity without being condescending or appearing to lecture. Barry Jonsberg uses a somewhat traditional premise to explore the idea of the modern young male pitted against the elements in order to find himself. With a ‘rites of passage’ plot that also highlights the generation gap, Ironbark is the tale of a teenage boy forced to stay with his reclusive grandfather in a shack in the forest, forgoing the gadgets of his everyday life, for the older man’s simpler existence. The language of the 16-yearold protagonist reflects current trends, however Jonsberg loses credibility when attempting to lift the character of the grandfather off the page. Littered with references to a truly Australian, particularly Tasmanian, landscape, Ironbark reads well with the pace of the plot neither racy nor static. Jonsberg resisted the temptation to make the protagonist too reflective, using intermittent journal entries to disclose the pre-story. There is enough interest evoked to want to continue to discover how the old and the young generation merge and how respect for both is achieved.

Fiona Edwards is an editor, journalist and teacher and is studying for a higher research degree in Australian contemporary fiction

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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