Flash Jack

I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but that's what I had been doing for many years with this book. Now that I have finally 'read' the story I was pleasantly surprised. ( )

Jack is a bright, thirteen year old boy who returns with his family after a summer break to find that their house has been burgled. Computers, sound systems, the television and Jack’s skateboard are amongst items stolen. With two weeks until school recommences the world without ‘toys’ looks bleak and uninteresting. The family has only recently moved from rural Harrietville to the city for work and schooling, and old friends and familiar places seem far away.
Jack’s older brothers, Sean - sporty, at University, and Frank - sixteen with attitude, are extremely distressed by the theft. For Frank in particular, who lived for his music, all that he saved for, lived for, is gone.
The family is experiencing difficult times with the relationships between the members at breaking point; constant verbal confrontations are commonplace. The theft seems too much to bear.
Into this tense situation, Jack’s father Dave throws a lit torch. The bathroom window has been accidentally left open whilst they were away and he refuses to ‘ignore’ this fact when filling out the insurance claim. Consequently, their insurance is not valid and they have no way of replacing the stolen items.
Dave Lightfoot feels he is making a moral stand in telling the truth – the other members of the family find this difficult to comprehend.
We view this difficult time through the experiences of Jack, now left alone with little to do. Jack really misses his skateboard most, and wanders the neighborhood in search of entertainment and time out. Jack meets Diana - older, different, more worldly wise yet childlike – who is unlike anyone Jack has ever known. They form a relationship that becomes important to Jack. As Jack and Diana, and then Frank, plot to salvage items that they know to be theirs from the robbery, the situation becomes life threatening yet full of drama and intrigue for the teenagers. As family relationships are stretched and tested, it becomes obvious that Diana was more involved in the robbery than she has admitted and that it will take strength and caring to bring the family back together.