Burruga, Australia is a small town and everyone knows everyone else’s business…or do they? Several of the townspeople’s stories are told in a series of prose poems alternating among the characters. The main characters are the Holding family: father Albert and sons Eddie and Larry. Albert Holding came back from WWII a changed man, not because he had seen action, but because he hadn’t. He refused to work in the mines and forbade his sons from doing so as well. Eddie was not much interested in school and he thought someone should work in the mines to earn a decent wage, which his father’s job as a farmhand did not provide. A girl in town is murdered and as the poems progress through several citizens of the town and possible suspects including the mayor, who did not fight in the war, the police chief, the town teacher, and others, their deepest secrets are revealed. Some tension builds through the book but several plot threads seem out of place and are never tied up. Reluctant readers who are fans of Ellen Hopkins and prose poetry books will like this quick read. ( )

The 'poems' read like text. The characters' voices did not come through at all. There was too much going on, so everything got a shallow treatment. Oh, and I don't like mysteries or thrillers. And even though the main character was a teen, I'd be careful about giving this to anyone younger than 17.

I was intrigued by the setting/ situation - in an Australian mining town a few generations back, apparently it was sometimes the wives and mothers who encouraged the men to go underground, and the men who were reluctant. Or maybe it was just this nearly invisible Mrs. Holding, who seemed unable to be a good wife or mother, judging by her family. ( )

Burruga in een slapend mijnstadje in Australië waar zelden iets gebeurt. Sommige mensen voelen zich er thuis, zoals scholier Eddie Holding, die het liefst in de mijn zou gaan werken; anderen, waaronder zijn broer Larry zouden liever vandaag dan morgen vertrekken. Onder de oppervlakte broeit er echter van alles: frustraties, lust, schaamte, woede, gelatenheid... gevoelens die elke week gedempt worden in de plaatselijke pub. Dan gebeurt er opeens iets verschrikkelijks: de scholiere Colleen O'Connor wordt vermoord en opeens is iedereen verdacht. Eddie met behulp van zijn steun en liefde Sally Holmes probeert escalatie te voorkomen, maar kan niet voorkomen dat hij met zijn familie betrokken raakt. ( )

Reluctant teen readers will love this murder mystery told in free verse. The story is set in a small Australian mining town, Burruga, where many of the residents are coal miners. The story is told by several residents in the town and through their perspectives, the reader learns about the town, the people and their values. Suspicion falls on several of the men for the murder of a young teenage girl. As the personalities of these men unfold, the reader will be left wondering who the real murderer is. Not recommended for middle school because of descriptions of sexual encounters. ( )

loved this book. This book is in poetry format with a great murder mystery.