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. ( )

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. ( )