Scot GardnerReseñas

7/10, this was a good Australian YA novel and even though the last book I read was also by an Australian author this is better in every way since it has fewer problems than the other one and I would like to read the other books this author has written up until this point and since then so where do I even begin? It starts with the main character Merrick Hilton first going to a party and he mucks around since there's a pool in the house when suddenly he's had enough of the city life and leaves on his bike towards the country. This novel was just such an immersive journey of the character escaping from his home and going to some random lonely desert town, and meeting some characters along the way. Most were forgettable, but the two main characters Merrick meets are Felicity and Victor, Felicity is rather flat since the only purpose she had was Merrick's girlfriend, but Victor is full of life and is like an old pal that you would see once and never see again, but remember for the rest of your life. Most of the book was just travelling around and contemplating, and I thought the book was dragging until Merrick meets Felicity and brings some action into this book. If you like Every Day or the Sun is Also a Star, you'll love this however I have read better books since then and I've found a book like this called Where the Road Leads Us by Robin Reul which I think you'll enjoy if you want a book similar to this.

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4.

CW: death of loved one, drug overdose, abuse, neglect, child homelessness, assault

Well that was gritty and gripping!

I was thrilled to discover this tense survival story with a male protagonist as they are currently under represented in YA fiction. It followed two different timelines as we follow Sparrow surviving after a boating accident, and surviving as a homeless child before the accident. I love that Sparrow found kind people who watched out for him and offered him the support he needed. It's wonderful to have such an engaging book to add to my booktalks.

I normally hide content warnings but this one is not a plot spoiler and think needs to be mentioned. There are a couple of quite stomach churning animal deaths in this survival novel so proceed with caution.

Aaron Rowe has just started his first day at his new job as a funeral director. He is grateful for the job in more ways then one, primarily because it gets him out of going to school but the bonus is he'll get payed. There are some obvious draw backs to the position, though it is not the dead bodies as one would expect, it is the living that are left behind and their grief that has stirred something in Aaron.

It has been years since Aaron has had trouble sleeping, but now the nightmares have returned. But just as bad as the dreams is the sleepwalking. So now it's not only the dark disturbing images that fill his sleeping mind that frighten him, it's the fear that he could wake anywhere, at the beach, outside a cafe, at the lookout. But scarier is the possibilities of what Aaron has done in his sleeping state.

the dead I know is about a tough yet vulnerable boy who is struggling with his hidden past and his current circumstances. Although a book about death the meaning behind its pages is life. A story that speaks to all those who have been left behind to pick up the pieces in the wake of a death of a loved one. Aaron's tale is an urban mystery that is shaded in tragedy, death, dreams and crustless sandwiches.

A collection of short stories all centered around a small country town and an outdoor education camp. Martin's story about meeting Pippa from a neighbouring school while doing debating is the most memorable. The two supposedly fall instantly in love/like but there's a serious catch with Pippa's Dad and Martin's Dad. (SPOILER: Think very closely related!)
Has to be for older readers due to the copious amounts of swearing and slang names for sexual actions. One that boys might like as it has been compared to Town by James Roy.
NB Accidentally read this again recently - the story about the computer that gives you THE ANSWER - until it crashes- is a good one too and its the first one in the book so good to grab the kids straight into the book.

"The Dead I Know" surprised me. From the blurb, l thought I'd bought an Australian Urban Fantasy novel. I was more than half way though this short little book before. I finally understood that I was reading mainstream fiction.

By then I was hooked and quite happy with my accidental selection of the story of Aaron Rowe, an isolated, broken teen, plagued by a recurring nightmare and prone to walking in his sleep, who may find salvation through his job as a funeral director in training.

The story is a first person account of Aaron's first few weeks working in a funeral home, coming to terms with caring for the bodies of the dead and drowning in the grief and distress of the living left behind. Aaron's natural reticence is so pronounced that,even living inside his head, it took a long time to mine the pieces of his past and weld them together into a story that gives the true context for his actions.

The descriptions of Aaron's work are detailed, even when dealing with the most unpleasant aspects of his job but there is nothing voyeuristic about these scenes. In fact, the time Aaron spends with the dead starts to feel like a sanctuary of calm compared to the mystery, stress and violence in the rest of Aaron's life

in the end, this is a book about the damage death can do to the living and the power kindness has to heal and create hope.

These big themes are handled with a simple realism that amplifies the emotional impact of the story without lapsing into melodrama or cliche. It was a compelling read with a distinctive voice..

The audiobook is narrated by the author. He also has a very distinctive voice. The first time his working class Australian drawl hit my sesnsitve, over-educated, English ears, I thought, "Good grief. He sounds like he can barely construct a sentence, never mind write a novel." I wondered if I could get through five hours of listening to a voice like that. Within a few minutes, Scot Gardner's talent shone through and I set my prejudices aside and settled into the rhythm of the story

To anyone considering this book, please do yourself a favor and completely ignore the blurb. Go into The Dead I Know with no preconceptions, and just let it sweep you up and away. I can't believe how easy this read was. For the first time in my reading life, a book that dealt with monumentally heavy topics felt like it flew by. That might not make any sense now, but trust me when I say you'll see what I mean if you choose to add this to your reading list.

Aaron's past started as this vast and empty space. I was presented with a boy I knew nothing about. A troubled boy who others looked at with mistrust or disdain. Slowly, little pieces of him began to come to the surface. Gardner expertly led me into the gritty truth that surrounded Aaron's past, into the darkness that he tried so hard to keep suppressed, and finally I was able to see why our main character was so broken inside. I honestly believe that this was the perfect way to tell this story. Aaron felt real. He intrigued me. This book just wouldn't let me go.

I'm not sure what else to say here. This review is short, but my words have dried up. I've waited this long to write a review, simply because I couldn't figure out how to express how this made me feel. It was unlike anything I've read so far, and for that it garnered five stars without a second thought.

Awesome book set in the far north near Darwin. Sparrow is in remand/youth detention and on an excursion to help out a remote aboriginal community when the boat he is on with other prisoners sinks. Unfortunately, Sparrow is also mute and so when the rescuers come looking for him, he can't yell to get their attention and the mangroves are too thick. This soon becomes a survival story with flashbacks to Sparrows wayward past and how he got into this situation. Scot Gardner at his best, an excellent book for fans of Hatchet.

Will went to private school, and Julian went to juvie. Will is running from a family secret, and Julian is running from the goat next door. The boys meet pushing trolleys, and they find a common enemy in the Westie hoons who terrorise the carpark. After a few close calls, Will has to nut up and confront his past. But on the way, he learns a few things about what it means to be a friend - and what it means to be family. A rattling urban bromance.

Scot does it again. From page one I was hooked on Will's story. Will works as a shopping centre trolley boy in the Western suburbs of Sydney. While there he meets Jules who (after a punch up over a purse) decides to make it his life's mission to work out what has happened to Will to make him go from boarding school prefect rich boy, to living homeless under a bowling alley and showering in the local gym before work.
When Will loses his "home" after some cops show up, Jules takes Will into the spare room in his bungalow. What is the mystery behind Will's demise?
A great, true to life story for older readers - has sex, pot and swearing - as well as violence, with lots of humour and pathos. (The antics of the trolley boys when their supervisor is away are classic - they make as long a train of trolleys as they can and one jumps up to "surf" it. I loved the trolley boys themselves - 2 disabled boys, a Sudanese refugee and a Muslim boy and Joannie - the rough as guts tractor driver. Threw in Sandy, Jule's hugging estranged father and Nishi his very bright and beautiful girlfriend and you have a wonderful mix of characters who show Will that he is not alone in the world.
SPOILER ALERT: Will's father is a very famous commentator and Will has filmed him having sex with Claire (Will's girlfriend) on his i-phone. Will in his anger has punched a boy at school and basically run away - with no family to turn to.

Aaron is faced with more responsibilities than most young men. He is caring for his grandmother who is suffering with the increasingly debilitating effects of dementia. They live together in a caravan park (the Australian equivalent of an American RV park). Caring for someone in this condition while holding down a job is difficult, but for Aaron the situation has a number of complicating factors. Aaron is plagued with nightmares which cause him to sleepwalk, often waking up in strange places, sometimes bruised and usually disheveled, always with no memory of what has happened. His days aren’t any easier, Aaron has taken on a position at a funeral home. The downside of this job is the constant reminder of death when he has a very sick grandmother to worry about. The upside is that the undertaker has taken a special interest in Aaron and is not only giving him a trade, but also teaching him some of the important fundamentals of the workplace, including the importance of a polished appearance and how to interact appropriately with the public.
As is often the case, things get worse before they get better. Because Aaron can’t remember what happens during when he is sleepwalking he is unable to account for his time he finds himself at odds with the local police and a potential scapegoat for a drug addled neighbor/bully. Eventually, Aaron is able to determine the cause of his nightmares. This enables him to deal with the issues that have been sealed in his subconscious and live a more productive and safe life.

This was a decent look at a teenage boy dealing with the effects of trama, both immediate and long term. My biggest complaint were the anacronisms. It needed a better editor who would have either decided to leave the British-ism in all together or completely take them out. This halfway approach was sloppy. "I'll get a bunch of dollars to spend outside the caravan park after I go to the hospital to see Mam." So distracting!

Aaron Rowe lives a life filled with misery. When he was young, his father killed his mother, then himself. He now lives with his grandmother, who suffers from dementia, in a caravan park. He must care for her and work to support this small family unit. He also sleepwalks. His new job is the one positive thing that has happened to him – he works in a funeral home. It just happens to be something he is very good at doing. Furthermore, the people he works for take him in as one of their own. This is a wonderful story filled with hope even when it appears there is none.

THE DEAD I KNOW by Scot Gardner tells the gripping, coming-of-age story of a young man haunted by death and dreams he can’t explain.

In this compelling psychological drama, Aaron gets a job working at a funeral home during the day. However at night, he’s haunted by recurring nightmares unrelated to his job. In between, he must deal with a family member’s dementia and life in poverty.

Originally published in Australia, teens are likely to find the unfamiliar funeral home setting intriguing and the array of characters fascinating. Gardner does a masterful job balancing the need for dignity and respect for the dead with just the right amount of dark humor.

This quick-read is likely to be popular with young adults who enjoy realistic fiction with a mix of morbid themes and dark humor.

For a teacher’s guide and information about the author, go to http://scotgardner.com.

I was expecting this book to be somewhat like Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. Not in the way that I thought this book would be a love story or a zombie book but in the way that I thought it would be dark like Warm Bodies in exploring death but also in a twisted like hearted way. I got none of this from the fourteen chapters that I read. That is all I could make myself read. I was hoping it would get better as the story went along and Aaron got more familiar with his job. Yet I found it boring and disjointed. The way that it jumped form Aaron having his dreams to real life. Also it felt like big chunks of the story was missing when it would go form the dream like state to the present. Such a bummer.

Set in Melbourne, the narrator lives in public housing with her father and sister and works at a pizza bar......she falls in love with a customer, staunchest the flow of blood when he cuts his finger and develops a follow ing for having healing powers.....but that turns sour........good characters, romantic tension, family break up, usual ya themes.....best read by yr 9-12 girls

Wayne's life is full of hassles. He's sixteen and stuck at home, his mum is on his back about every little thing, his favourite uncle has died and now his best mates are moving to NSW. But at least his has his canine pal Ernie. When a chance encounter with a farmer ends in disaster for his beloved dog, Wayne has to find the courage and strength to carry on. Second in a series after One Dead Seagull.

Wayne is going through a tough time. His parents have split up acrimoniously, the girl he's in love with loves someone else, and his best mate is a health hazard. Wayne just about dies when his arm is hand is amputated in an accident. Griz, an old enemy, takes the blame for the accident and gives Wayne a puppy - Ernie. First in a series. Follows on to White Ute Dreaming.

You wake in the middle of the night, your arms and feet pinned by strong hands. As you thrash your way to consciousness, a calm voice says, "Steady. We're here to help." Your mind registers a paramedic, a policeman, an ambulance. You are lying on the lookout at Keeper's Point, the lookout Amanda Creen supposedly threw herself off. And you have absolutely no idea how you got there.Aaron Rowe walks in his sleep. He has dreams he can't explain and memories he can't recover. Death doesn't scare him—his new job with a funeral director may even be his salvation. But if he doesn't discover the truth about his hidden past soon, he may fall asleep one night and never wake up. A potent, intense psychodrama that will keep you gripped to the very last page.

THE DEAD I KNOW by Scot Gardner was not what I was expecting, and that’s completely okay! A book more character driven than focused on action, THE DEAD I KNOW was hard to put down, despite being a bit of a quieter book.

Aaron has started work at a funeral home, apprenticing to the funeral director John Barton. The beginning of the story details the beginning of his job, the dead that Aaron goes with John Barton to pick up, and glimpses of John’s family. Aaron is incredibly difficult to grasp, and yet not, at the same time. He rarely speaks to others, and seems very timid. He’s remarkably comfortable with the dead, but has trouble being around the mourners. As the story continues we get glimpses into Aaron’s problems with sleepwalking and the nightmares that are causing it. John Barton and his family, including daughter Skye (who, despite being a kid, I found incredibly annoying. A little bit endearing, she really appeared to help Aaron and some information comes to light that explains a bit about the way she is, but still annoying), draw Aaron out of his shell and discover the cause of his night time escapades.

Scot Gardner’s writing style and character voice is descriptive, a tad abrupt and just very…different, than what I’m used to. It was jarring in the beginning but by the end of the story you can see how well it fits the narrative and just works with the premise of the novel. The mystery behind Aaron’s sleepwalking is handled really well. It takes the course of the book to discover the reasons, with glimpses and hints throughout the story that eventually combine into Aaron’s backstory.

THE DEAD I KNOW by Scot Gardner is a quiet, intense look into the psyche of the main character, and despite the lack of huge action or complex secrets, the story draws you in and gets you thinking. One quote I really loved is found on page 92 of the paperback and showcases a bit of Aaron’s character:

“The police protected the living, ambulance officers protected the injured and we protected the dead. All as it should be.”

The Dead I Know is a gripping, emotional rollercoaster of a book. The story centres around Aaron Rowe, who has left school to train as a funeral director with John Barton, owner and operator of JKB Funerals. Aaron lives with Mam, his grandmother, in a caravan. Mam is not mentally sound and it makes Aaron's life very difficult, especially because he loves her so much.
Aaron sleepwalks, having nightmares that seem like memories, and often wakes up in strange places. The novel focusses on a period of about a month in Aaron's life, where the nightmares are becoming real and he is struggling to cope.
I found the characters in this novel real and believable, which scared me a little. This is a wonderful piece of writing that cements Scot Gardner as a giant of Australian young adult literature. I look forward to his next offering.
This is an intense reading experience, but well worth the effort because it is ultimately a story of hope.

why did i pick this book up........
i picked this book up because of the title it had beacuase i thought it would be a real catchy title the picture on the front also drew my attention to this book.

why did i finish this book
i finished this book because of the attention and action it had during the book.i also wanted to finish because i want to see the ending it had after all the build up through all the story

who would i recommend this book to......
i would be thinking along the lines of age appropriate also mature with some scenes. also i would say to the readers its an action book and a romance book not a sci fi book.

Fast paced, not a word wasted. The best read I've had in quite a while. The unusual context, the world of funeral directors, is fascinating and handled with sophistication.

Interesting novel about Larry Rainbow and his family from birth to the age of 15 . It is unusual in that the mother and father characters are as important and developed as the character of Larry himself.

The following teacher's notes are avalable at this link: www.allenandunwin.com/_uploads/BookPdf/.../9781741754810.pdf

Silly book in the vein of Morris Gleitzman and Andy Griffith. John Johnson is the amazing detachable boy ( in other words bits of him can come off and be reattached at a later date!) This serves him very well when John's best friend Crystal is kidnapped and taken to the USA. John and his best mate Ravi come up with a plan to MAIL John to Texas because they can detach him and pack all the bits in a suitcase! After a few hiccups, John finally gets to where they have Crystal imprisoned in an underground bunker. John tries to break her out of her cell using his amazing body and in the process discovers a few other unbelievable facts!

Great book about "Kingy" (Peter King) and 3 others being grouped together in an orientation exercise on a school camp and becoming lost in a Wilson's Promontory type area for 2 nights. Kingy is in Yr10 and is a sensible, quiet bloke with a good head on his shoulders - the quintessential everyman. He is forced to share the first exercise of an Outdoor ed camp with the new girl Emily who is pretending to be someone she isn't (or is she?), Sully - the school bully and Bethany - the school "queen bee" who once went out withSully. After taking a shortcut, the 4 find themselves hopelessly lost as darkness closes in and the GPS battery dies.
In the dark, alone and afraid; the 4 school kids must confront each other and their own fears. A great study of characters interacting with each other and strengths and weaknesses displayed by all four of the protagonaists.
This is the BEST of all the Scot Gardner books that I have read (and I have read ALL of them) as Scot as finally discovered the balance between telling a "gritty" story and not crossing the "line" that teachers and librarians are hampered by! By this I mean there are no "f" words in the book - instead he's written "Peter swore" thus getting his point across and still staying within the censorship boundaries that schools have to adhere to. Great book Scot - 10/10!