Thirteen stories, thirteen people, one town. These short stories are nicely varied and contrasted but each is set in the same small town over a twelve month period. You will find humour, pathos and a little horror. Paths cross and people part. Brothers and sisters are shown together and apart. And then there's the guy who mistakes a young, female teacher for a new student. Bad move.

Book information
Title, subtitle Town
Author James Roy
Number of pages 298 pp
First Published 2007 St Lucia, Qld by University of Queensland Press
Book Type1 Short stories
Genre Family.School
Reading age 11 to 17


Annotation:
Thirteen linked stories told by thirteen different adolescents over thirteen months (February to February) in an unnamed Australian town.
These stories, which vary in length, create a jigsaw-like effect as various characters are shown from the perspective of the teller. The interactions, slowly revealed, are fascinating.

Themes in this book:
Adolescents. Country children. Individuality. Relationships. Year.

Short Stories. Age 16+ A collection of thirteen linked short stories, Town is told from the perspectives of thirteen high school students living a year in an unnamed, yet familiar, country town. Town is an interesting read, not only in terms of its structure, but also the content and themes of the interwoven stories. The themes of each story are different, ranging from love to death, family, friendship, loss, lust, differences and reputation.

Each story is told with a personal and unique voice, showing the talent of this award- winning writer. Thirteen different characters speak through these stories and their voices are as diverse as their experiences. The characters are girls and boys, nerds, loners and jocks, all easily identifiable stereotypes and completely different. Their stories challenge the stereotypes, leading the reader to see the secret and private lives of these individuals and raise questions of image, reputation and identity.

Town could be used easily in any English class, either as a collection or as individual short stories due to its wide range of themes, characters and conflicts. Whilst some of the stories contain more confronting issues and language suitable for older readers, others could be used for slightly younger readers, from age fourteen.

Kelly Crock (WA) ( )