Exiled in a drug-oppressed suburb in 1980s Brisbane, Australia, a 12-year-old boy dreams of a career in journalism while fending off the local criminal element to protect his imprisoned mother.
Dalton’s splashy, stellar debut makes the typical coming-of-age novel look bland by comparison. The novel tracks bright, confused young narrator Eli as he moves through the ages of 12 to 19 in the 1980s in a seedy suburb of Brisbane. Eli’s best friends are his older brother, August, a selectively mute genius with premonitions of the future, and former felon Slim, his babysitter and a notorious, frequent escapee from a heavily guarded prison. Eli loves his parents, but they’re a mess. The novel follows Eli as he nearly gets caught up in dealing drugs himself, discovers a secret room with a mysterious red telephone in his house, breaks into prison to wish his incarcerated mom a merry Christmas, and avenges the wrongs done to his family—all while pursuing his dream of becoming a journalist.
One meeting: Monday, July 25, from 8:00-8:45 p.m. Registration required.
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton is available in print, hoopla e-book and e-audiobook, Libby e-audiobook and CD audiobook.
Features: numerous public meeting rooms, public computers, wireless laptops and iPads for in-house use and vending area.
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