Sue Lawson

Sue Lawson certainly knows how to write a book that keeps the reader engaged. I was not particularly keen to read "Freedom Ride" but once I started I couldn't put it down. I loved the main protagonist, Robbie. I enjoyed following his journey as he went from ignorance to acceptance to confusion to anger and finally to action. Focusing on racial discrimination in a small, rural town the author has managed to bring an ugly period in Australia's history alive, capturing the hatred, prejudice, show more hypocrisy and segregation perfectly. A great read. show less

Another wonderful novel by Sue Lawson. This book tore at my heart. I loved Alex and the devotion he showed towards his little sister, Mia. I could feel his grief, his loss and his guilt and I wanted to do serious bodily harm to his father and older brother, Ethan, for the way they constantly belittled and humiliated him.

Through alternating chapters the story moves from the hospital to pre-accident. In the hospital chapters, the reader meets Mackie, the girl in the bed next to his own. show more Although Mackie was unconscious throughout the novel I felt I came to know her along with Alex as he read her scrapbook while keeping her company. It was heartbreaking seeing her list get less adventurous but Mackie provided Alex with an anchor when he desperately needed it.

“You Don’t Even Know” is not a happy read. It was full of raw emotion and I shed tears for Alex and Mackie. A beautiful coming of age story. show less

Told in alternating "now" and "then" chapters as experienced by the main character Alex. Alex is a middle child of a rich family in Year 9 . His father idolises the oldest son Ethan in Year 12 who is a rower and cannot understand why Alex hates rowing and prefers to play water polo. We see the father through Alex's eyes: a bullying, self-righteous bigot who refuses to believe anything the middle child says and always takes the older boy's side. We see the mother as the peacemaker but also show more weak in the face of the father's torments . Then there are the two younger children Harvey in Year 7 and Mia who is 4; Mia is Alex's saving grace - a beautiful child who adores her older brother as he is the only one who will play with her.
Then tragedy strikes. We, the readers are unsure what it EXACTLY is until the end but we know that the NOW is Alex in hospital shunned by all except his mother. Running parallel to all this is the patient in the bed next to Alex: a girl called Mackie who is in a coma dying of terminal brain cancer.
This is a gripping book about perspective and belief. I loved how Lawson would end a NOW chapter with a certain word and then start the THEN chapter with the same or similar word..very clever. Alex is so believable as is Lawson's descriptions of hospital day-to- day drudgery - meals and cleaners and student doctor visits. Excellent but the subject matter will be confronting for some. show less

Callum has been sent to live with his grandparents, whom he has never met, on a sheep property after something terrible happens at his old school in Melbourne. Full of anger and self-loathing, Callum finds it hard to fit in and rejects anyone who tries to befriend him, including his grandparents.

Callum is a wonderful character. Despite his anger and hostility, he has a gentle, caring side to his nature which makes him extremely likeable. In short chapters, interspersed between the first show more person narrative, the reader gradually discovers what happened and why Callum can't forgive himself. Other characters I really related to were Callum's grandfather and Benny, a boy who was brain-damaged after a horrific accident which killed his younger brother.

Having lived on a sheep farm myself for over 20 years, I loved the setting of this book and I feel that the author captured the positives and negatives of rural, small town life perfectly. This is a moving novel about a boy trying to run from his past and deals with loss, forgiveness and living with our actions. Congratulations Sue, a great story!! show less