Steven Herrick

Written in verse, this book are the memories from the perspective of each the characters in the story. It is about a country town and how small acts of kindness go a long way to keeping a community alive.
In a country town, in a school just like yours, the kids in Class 6A tell their stories. There's Mick, school captain and sometimes trouble-maker, he often finds himself in front of Mr Hume being asked to explain his actions. However, secretly Mr Hume has a soft spot for Mick, but he must show more be seen doing his job in speaking to him. Mick just wants to make the school a better place, while his younger brother Jacob just wants to fly (often coming to grief). Mick is protective of his brother.
There's shy and lonely Laura who hopes to finally fit in with a circle of friends although she keeps her distance at lunchtime by sitting alone on the chair (made by Mr Korsky) made under the tree.
Pete struggles to deal with his grandpa's sudden death and confides in the birds as he daily leaves an apple wedged in the tree for the birds to eat.
Popular Selina obsesses over class comedian Cameron, while Cameron obsesses over Anzac biscuits and Pookie Aleera - whoever that is! For new teacher Ms Arthur, it's another world moving from a city school to a country school where everyone knows everyone’s business and if they don't they will fabricate events as they see them. Hence the man, seen as Ms Arthur's, with the pony tail and t shirt bearing the name Pookie Aleera is supposedly Ms Arthur's boyfriend.
As for Mr Korsky, the school groundskeeper, he's seen it all before. He grew up in this small town ans is somewhat like a grandfather figure to the children. We hear of his crook back (caused by Jacob falling onto him as he was learning to fly), his picking out apples wedged between the branches of the tree until he finds a note to leave it there for the birds also of his love of lavender bushes as they soothe the soul. A main thread is the friendship with the deceased Mr Walter Baxter and how Mr Korsky misses his chats with him and his death gets him thinking of his own time to come.
My favourite character is Senior Constable Dawe, his visits to the school and the interaction between him and the children. Being a teacher myself I can relate to how the children take most things literally e,g Dawe, no I’m not like a door my named is pronounced like the word door. No you don't spell it Door you spell it Dawe because that is the way it is. No, I don't want to change it to Door, let’s get on with why I’m here, water safety.
Brilliant book, guaranteed to make you laugh, feel an emotional Ohhing and Ahhing as well as realise the power of home baking, recipes in the back of the book for Cameron's Delicious Anzac biscuits and Laura's Chocolate Crackles. show less

Rating: 4.75/5

THIS IS THE FUNNIEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ.

It was laugh-out-loud, I-am-out-of-breath-and-my-stomach-hurts kind of funny. Darcy Pele Frantz Walker is the boy I wished I had in high school as a best friend: hilariously sarcastic, smart, observant and obsessed with Shakespeare. His parents were just as amazing and funny especially the discussions they had and his father's weak attempt at the dreaded sex talk.

One thing is for sure: I know what I will be picking up if I ever feel show more depressed someday.

Oh and be sure that I am going to hunt down every Steven Herrick book if they are as good and funny as Slice is. show less

Herrick, S. (2003). Do-Wrong Ron. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

1865086614

127 pages.

Appetizer: Ron feels like he can't do anything right. He scores goals for the competing soccer team and he's the only one without a "date" to the Best Friends Ball. His parents don't seem to have time for him. And when he finds a guinea pig, Charlie, to make his pet and best friend, everyone in his small town thinks Charlie is a rat. When a new girl, Isabelle, arrives in town with her grandma, there's a show more chance Ron can turn around his luck and do right.

This book in poems can be a subtle way to capture middle grade students' interest in poetry. The book doesn't rhyme, but there is some attention to assonance. But what I a particularly liked is that most of the poems follow a pseudo-wreath format, in which many of the last lines of one poem are the title for the next poem. As I read, it kept me going, thinking "oh, just one more...one more...I want to read what happens next..."

There are still some natural breaks throughout the book, every now and then the point of view switches from Ron's perspective to his new friend Isabelle or to the perspective of Charlie the guinea pig.

I did feel like having Charlie's point of view, which is always presented as "wee wee wee wee...wee," did feel a little young for the age of the characters. But a teacher can still use this to the best of their ability and even though Herrick includes translations to all the "wees," it'd still be a natural activity to have students write their own poems from Charlie's perspective.

Dinner Conversation:

"My name is Ron.
Ron Holman.
Or Do-wrong Ron,
because I have this habit:
I do the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Or the right things at the wrong time?
Or the wrong thing at the right time?" (p. 1).

"Dad's in his study, working.
I knock quietly.
He stares at his computer
as I tell him my latest do-wrongism.
He says, 'It's okay, Ron, it'll wear off.'
'It's not foot odour,' I reply" (p. 4).

"I've tried. I really have.
In my mind I kick the ball in the right direction.
I give correct answers in class.
I mix the cordial in the jug,
but,
between my mind and my feet, hands and mouth,
something gets lost somewhere" (p. 7).

"There's something just right about Isabelle.
I don't normally talk to girls.
Correction.
Girls don't normally talk to me,
but Isabelle is different" (p. 24).

To Go with the Meal:

To teach this book, I'd initially have students focus on their emotional reactions to Ron's experiences. When have they felt like they made a mistake or have done things wrong? Have they ever felt lonely? Students could discuss their feelings, complete free writes or create their own poems.

Another tension is about where Ron lives--a small town in Australia. He wonders what it would be like to live in a big city like Isabelle comes from. Students can think about their own towns and cities. A teacher could also use this book to enhance a lesson on Australia, discussing the geography, culture and language.

Tasty Rating: !!! show less

“If you don’t look at what’s in front of you, /you get overrun from behind.” Herrick’s novel-in-verse is a meditation on the hold the past can have on people, as their actions threaten to sink their futures under waves of paralyzing regret or rash decisions driven by unfulfilled desires. Set in a tiny Australian mining town a few years after World War II, it is a simple tale of two generations (told in nine distinct voices) struggling to cope with the murder of a young woman. Eddie show more Holding wants nothing more than to quit school and work in the mines, like all the other grown men in Burruga. His father Albert has forbidden it, fearful of the dangerous work and filled with rage at his perceived cowardice during the war. Other characters include the aging editor of the town’s small newspaper, a young police sergeant, the glad-handing mayor, and a lecherous teacher at the high school. Everyone has their issues, and the murder of young Colleen, destroying the town’s sleepy status quo, is the stimulus for each character’s fascinatingly varied manner of confronting their demons. A violent and morally ambivalent resolution to the murder case thus is almost as unsettling for the sense of relief it provides some of the characters (and the reader) as it is for the nature of action it consists of. Herrick does a great job of creating a distinct voice for each character, with the exception of Eddie’s love interest Sally (who is rather one-dimensional and unnecessary), using clean, simple verse that avoids elaborate metaphors and overblown imagery in favor of the occasional stroke of insight, made more powerful for its subtle, offhand manner. The murder doesn’t really present much of an opportunity for readers to solve the case, but does make for an exciting psychological study of small-town life turned upside down. Mild profanity throughout, a scene of prostitution, heavy alcohol use, and a disturbing scene of violence. Ages 13+. show less