Robert Newton (1)Reseñas

Moral of the story: crime pays

Moral of the story: crime pays

I keep thinking I have read this before....or a similar story. Girl with drug addicted mother living in housing commission flats befriends an elderly Russian man called The Creeper when she glances up and sees him about to throw himself off the roof. Together with her friends, who is a boy, they help him tidy his flat and build a garden on the roof. Then they set off in his very old but still working car to drive to Surfers Paradise - finding all sorts of things about each other on the way.

A lovely story of two brothers escaping a violent father in search of their mother thought to be 200 kms away in Port Maquarie. Along the journey they meet with a range of people who help or hinder them but Dan the narrator grows in to be able to manage the most difficult situations. The story is set against the backdrop of early 1900s rural NSW mustering for war far away in Europe.

Two small boys runaway from home because of their violent father, set a long time ago, a journey story - they meet interesting characters along the way

Reviewed by Holly for TeensReadToo.com

After Charlie Feehan's beloved father passes away, it seems the whole Feehan family hits rock bottom -- until Squizzy Taylor offers Charlie an amazing job with a matching miraculous paycheck.

The illegal liquor runs turn Charlie into someone he truly isn't, though. And when his good mate, Nostrils, gets a beating, Charlie has to decide whether to choose a dangerous path in life or a wiser one.

With top-notch training, Charlie is either ready for his big mile-long race -- or not.

RUNNER is a very well-detailed and exciting book. Robert Newton is a talented writer. A great read!

This is a story for people who like molester tales or historical fiction. The book is Charlie’s personal story, but is historically accurate. You get a real feel for his story and the Melbourne, Australia of 1919. AHS/LB

A fast paced and gritty historical novel set in Sydney in 1900. It is also a story about friendship and loyalty in harsh conditions.
Frankie Maguire relates the story of his gang. They are 5 boys from shabby inner city Sydney form a friendship. They experience bullying and violence and name their gang after a pirate from the Treasure Island story. At this time Sydney is panicked by an outbreak of Bubonic Plague and there is a bounty of 6p on rats. The boys set about making money by finding and catching rats. They come up with an interesting money-making scheme along the way.
The era has been well-researched and the characters are believable and likeable. .

Set in 1900 in The Rocks area of Sydney this book explores with humour and a deft touch the lives of a group of young boys – The Black Dog Gang. Frankie is poor but loved, an intelligent child with a love of words, unlike his neighbour Mickey, a complex, troubled character, who is both neglected and abused by a violent father. Together the boys join forces with other local lads to make a place for themselves in what can be a harsh but exciting world of poverty, dirt and hard work. When the plague breaks out in the town the government offers money for captured rats in an effort to get rid of these disease carriers. But the boys, ever resourceful, decide perhaps breeding rats will be a quicker way of making money. This plan has dire consequences for Frankie’s family. Mickey meanwhile survives a series of brutal treatments at the hand of his father but there comes a point where he cannot take anymore. This is a story about family, friendship and loyalty. With accurate reference to time and place Newton has created an historical piece that rings true as an insight into life and its meaning in any time.

It is winter, 1919, and Charlie Feehan’s father has died and left Charlie, his mother and baby brother with very little to live on in working-class Richmond.
It is there first winter without him and they are struggling. Charlie starts running around the neighborhood streets at night partly to get warm and partly as an outlet to deal with his daily problems. The nighttime runs are brought to the attention of the local gangster, Squizzy Taylor.
To make money, to help make a better life for his mother and little brother, Charlie “auditions” for the job of Squizzie’s runner, along with 3 other boys. Charlie wins the race, with a little help along the way, and secretly leaves school to start working for Squizzy, ignoring the warnings from his mother and friends. At first he finds the job thrilling but he soon begins to see the less savoury side of the Squizzie’s life. He is drawn into a world of illegal alcohol and debt collecting.
Charlie comes to realize that the dangers on the streets are very real and that a gang war seems sure to break out. After his friend, Nostrils, is brutally beaten up on a job, and Squizzy is less than sympathetic, Charlie quits his job.
To make money in a legal way, Charlie enters the Ballarat Mile, a footrace with a cash prize. Charlie’s neighbor, Mr Redmond, trains him and, using some of the experience gained in Squizzie’s employ, he makes the final.
His future, and hat of his family, depends on the result of that final race.

Set in the poor areas of the Rocks in Sydney in 1900, this is a story about friendship and hardship. Unlike other Newton novels that were for younger readers, this has the main character being (almost) seduced by his middle-aged next door neighbour who's husband has abandoned her and she has no choice but to prostitute herself in order to survive. It is the story of Frankie and his friendship with Michael, a boy who is beaten by his drunken father and eventually it gets so much that Mickey ( as he is known) takes the ultimate revenge. This story shows us how difficult life was for the poor in Sydney at this time. A hard and often violent and confronting book.

Three boys try to save their local hangout (and one of the boys’ father’s restaurants) from going bankrupt after a new place moves into their country town. They suspect something “fishy” is going on, and so spy on the new joint with the help of an old ex-policeman & the new girl in their singing group

Will is struggling with his dyslexia until he starts attending the Boongara Learning Center where every individual is treated as special. That is, until the government decide to slash the Centre’s funding and it is threatened with closure. So he ropes in two unlikely allies to help him make a bold statement about how much this Centre is needed.

Set in the 20’s,Charlie is poor and so he takes a job as a runner for the Melb. Gangster Squizzy Taylor. At first, Charlie loves the thrill of being paid to run through the streets and carry messages and alcohol for his boss, but after witnessing the crime lord’s ferocious temper, C decides to “take the money amd run”.p.142-147 to “run Charlie run.”C & Nostrils his mate get “rolled” after delivering grog.

This was an easy read but a gave food for thought and made teaching this novel a joy. The author has captured the essence of Richmond in 1919 so as a result I purchased a copy of this book for my father for Christmas.