Black Water

by David Metzenthen

"When Farren Fox's father is missing at sea, all Farren wants is for his brother, Danny, to come home from Gallipoli. But when Danny does return from the war, he is vastly changed. And with the arrival of the mysterious child Souki, the sole survivor of a midnight shipwreck, the lives of both Fox brothers are altered forever"--P. [4] of cover.

Genres: Young Adult

309 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

As a child, David Metzenthen was a nature boy; he loved fishing and farm work, exploring the bush, and being outdoors under the stars. He also lived very much inside his own head; feeling that the world was a place of unlimited adventure. He harboured dreams of becoming a cowboy, a fisherman, a farmer, a sailor, or a writer. Instead he left home at eighteen, with a copy of Jack Kerouac's On the Road for company, and hitch-hiked his way around New Zealand. Returning to Australia, David worked as a builder's labourer and advertising copy writer before finding success as a writer of books for children and young adults.

David Metzenthen now lives with his wife and two children in Melbourne and is one of Australia's top writers for young people. He has received many awards for excellence, including the 2000 CBCA Book of the Year Award: Older Readers for Stony Heart Country, a 2003 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Wildlight, and a 2003 Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Boys of Blood and Bone. In 2004, Boys of Blood and Bone also won a NSW Premier's Literary Award and was an Honour Book in the CBCA Book of the Year Awards: Older Readers. His novel Black Water was an Honour Book in the 2008 CBCA Book of the Year Awards: Older Readers, and Jarvis 24 won the CBCA Award for Book of the Year: Older Readers in 2010, as well as being shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award, WA Premier's Literary Award, Inky Awards and SA Festival Awards for Literature.

Reviews

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, it was slow-moving and thoughtful and really beautifully written. I loved Farren, I liked the way he took such pleasure from simple things and the beauty of the natural world. He saw the best in everyone and found stuff to be positive about even in the face of overwhelmingly awful circumstances. He was an optimist, and I felt a glow of kindred-spirit-ness with him. I wanted to hang out with him and enthuse about the way the sun lit up the squares of different coloured crops in the paddocks, "like rectangles of paint in a paint box".

It was also a really good, realistic exploration of PTSD and how it affected the soilders that came back from WWII (particularly Farren's older brother Danny). Farren and his friend Robbie had a lot of interesting discussions about whether the war was a good or bad thing and why the glorious, patriotic way it was portrayed by the radio and government and so forth was so different to the account given by the people who came back from it.

I did find that it dragged on a little bit, however, especially at the end - and I'm a fan of slow, character-driven books without too much action or plot, so I think a fair few of the intended audience (teenagers) would probably find this quite boring.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

The short chapters meant that there was a lot of going over of the same thing - and I expected more to happen than turned out at the end.

[Gemma Wiseman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swan Island near Queenscliff
Near to the bustling conundrum of life
Yet far enough away to be
Different
But not so indifferent to World War I

Extract from my post on Songlines on the Winds

A book to delight teenage boys! The main characters brothers, Farren and Danny, galumph and thrash through the emotional, physical and mental challenges of living on an island near the mainland. Even the female characters have their wild streak; even the young Souki from Furneaux Island. It's amazing what gifts may be hidden on a wind scourged beach of black kelp.
p.91 "...it crossed Farren's mind that although death seemed big, life was even bigger..."

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

way too descriptive. dry story. boring setting. bland, monotonous, a thief of my time. DO NOT READ.

[St Clare's Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is set in World War I.

[Hayden1]

stoped reading got bored

[ellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started out as a good book but I eventually got more and more bored until it was a chore to finish it...

[Ojesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading the blurb I decided that the book looked interesting, so I borrowed it. The book is about a boy by the name of Farren and how after the disappearance of his father and his mother was passed away, all he wanted was to be with his brother. However his brother was in war and it was difficult for him to come back. When coming back along Farren was happy but he was also with Souki. Souki was the only survivor of a shipwreck. The book had a really slow start and it just kept consistently boring me. There may be others that might enjoy the slow start to the novel however for me I think this book would not be interesting to many thanks to it. It gets a little better when reading onwards, but for me the only part I liked was probably Farren’s approach to situations and how he saw them. Farren was a positive person and had a nice approach. I also feel that the blurb is a little misleading in saying the Fox brothers lives are altered forever, as that's what hooked me in but that's also what thought for it seemed like a good book. For me personally I would not recommend this book to teenagers but probably more to adults and people who would like and enjoy slow books.