Leaving Barrumbi

Barrumbi #3

by Leonie Norrington

Leaving Barrumbi is an inspirational tale of two boys’ friendship as they continue their journeys into adulthood.

The nine-hour trip to his new school is just the beginning of the worst time in Dale Murphy’s life. He has to deal with assemblies and detentions, strange food, new enemies, and more white kids than he's ever seen in his life. He feels caught between two cultures and he struggles to make the school staff understand that he belongs with the Aboriginal kids.

Then his best mate, Tomias Andjurika, a high achiever, good at everything, starts to be interested in girls! Dale’s left behind. He doesn’t know who he is any more.

An insightful, humourous and moving tale of adolescence, friendship and finding out how to belong.

269 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Judy Wollin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dale and Tomias are so excited about leaving home and going to boarding school together. Dale was born and grew up on Barrumbi country. Tomias is Barrumbi.
They are best friends and do everything together. That is until school makes things complicated. Ms Winterson hates up-North. The heat, the insects, the people, especially the kids. Wild, badly behaved, and out of control. She sets out to cure them.
Dale breaks a glass door. Ms Winterson calls the police. Dale is given detention for breaking school property.
Tomias is elected SRC rep for the class.
Dale is confused. Does Tomas want to be his friend anymore? Tomias can’t believe the trouble Dale keeps getting into. How do the boys sort of school, their friendship and living away from home?
I thoroughly enjoyed this page turner. Vivid and engaging characters.
Recommended for middle grade readers particularly children wanting to know more what its really like at boarding school and growing up on country in rural Australia.
The Children’s Book Council of Australia Short-Listed Book
Published by Scholastic 20067. This version reprinted in 2012.
Read and Reviewed by Judy Wollin

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very satisfying conclusion to the Burrumbi Kids trilogy - Dale and Tomias are off to boarding school, and after growing up in a community, Dale must contend with the challenges of adjusting to Western attitudes, and figuring out where he belongs.

There was so much that reminded me of life in the Top End, and it was a fair representation of many of the social tensions that exist, particularly regarding attitudes to long grassers and First Nations peoples.

[Thoraiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are so good! Why only 2 ratings? Bizarre!

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful book in the Barrumbi series. As well as being an enjoyable story, Leaving Barrumbi provides the opportunity to better understand indigenous culture. It is worth saying that this book has some higher level concepts than the first 2 stories and is therefore more suitable for older children.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughters and I enjoyed reading this. Good to hear how Dale and Tomias get on at boarding school, when they have to be more in a ‘white fella’ environment. Leonie’s a great writer who sensitively handles both aspects of culture.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

First I learnt about the hippocampus in primary school as Dale messes up at his new school. A recommended read.

[Aireca Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very good book I like it.

[David Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's an interesting read

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book set in Northern Australia where one indigenous kid and one white kid (who are best friends) go to a school full of white people. There are lots of great themes although some parts can be hard to interpret the meaning of the story and the plot was lacking a bit