Cover art for We Didn't Think It Through
Published
A & U Children's, July 2023
ISBN
9781760526931
Format
Softcover, 304 pages
Dimensions
19.8cm × 12.8cm

We Didn't Think It Through

Not in stock
Fast $7.95 flat-rate shipping!
Only pay $7.95 per order within Australia, including end-to-end parcel tracking.
100% encrypted and secure
We adhere to industry best practice and never store credit card details.
Talk to real people
Contact us seven days a week – our staff are here to help.

WINNER: 2024 MARION ACT Book of the Year, Books for Older Readers

SHORTLISTED: 2024 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature

SHORTLISTED: 2024 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Indigenous Writers' Prize

NOTABLE BOOK: 2024 CBCA Book of the Year, Older Readers

SHORTLISTED: 2024 Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Young Adult Literature

SHORTLISTED: 2024 Readings Young Adult Prize

The thought comes to me: This is how I die. Dally is going to lose control and crash us into a pole or a house and we will be killed on impact.

The justice system characterises Jamie Langton as a 'danger to society', but he's just an Aboriginal kid, trying to find his way through adolescence.

Jamie lives in Dalton's Bay with Aunty Dawn and Uncle Bobby. He spends his downtime hanging out with his mates, Dally and Lenny. Mark Cassidy and his white mates - the Footy Heads - take every opportunity they can to bully Jamie and his friends. On Lenny's last night in town before moving to Sydney, after another episode of racist harassment, Jamie, Dally and Lenny decide to retaliate by vandalising Mark Cassidy's car. And when they discover the keys are in the ignition... Dally changes the plan. Soon they are all in Mark Cassidy's stolen car cruising through town, aiming to take it for a quick spin, then dump it.

But it's a bad plan. And as a consequence, Jamie ends up in the youth justice system where he must find a way to mend his relationships with himself, his friends, his family and his future.

'A lightning bolt to the soul. The Boy from the Mish announces a bold, necessary new talent.' WILL KOSTAKIS

'This compelling coming of age story is told with a voice so authentic, it pulls the reader into another life. Main character, Jamie, makes all the mistakes of a teenager struggling with the pain of the past and the turbulence of the present, but his humour and honesty creates empathy for someone who would otherwise be misunderstood. Gary Lonesborough's use of language, including sections of verse, is so well done it described the indescribable. The pace kept the pages turning and the ending brought relief and hope for the future'. - Judges' comments, ACT Literary Awards

Related books