Benson Boy

by Ivan Southall

With his mother about to give birth and his father unconscious from a fall, it's up to eleven-year-old Perry to take charge.

137 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Ivan Southall was an award-winning Australian writer of young-adult fiction and non-fiction. He was the first and still the only Australian to win the Carnegie Medal for children's literature. His books include Hills End, Ash Road, Josh, and Let the Balloon Go. Also notable is Fly West, a book of true stories based on his experiences flying in Short Sunderland flying boats during the Second World War.

Winner of the Dromkeen Medal (2003).

Reviews

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read two by Southall previously, and both involved children in rather unlikely predicaments. An odd coincidence, perhaps. I did not expect that this one would also have a similar theme, but it did. The last third or so gets more into interpersonal relationships. I liked how the author was able to keep us entirely focused on the boy's frame of mind. He's the only child in the story, and everyone else is a grown-up of one kind or another.

There are still a couple more Southalls on my shelf, so I'll probably read them at some point. Maybe at least one of them won't be yet another of the same ilk.

Illustrations by Ingrid Fetz were excellent. It's a real shame that black-and-white is nearly forbidden now.