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.

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.