Sinking

by David Hill

A grim secret. A life in danger. When a crazy old man leaps out of the bushes at Conrad on his way to swimming training, he gets the fright of his life. And when he discovers the man's granddaughter is that weird horse-riding girl from school, he decides to steer clear of them. But fate has other ideas ...and he is drawn into a grim secret. What's the old man's connection to a death from long ago? And whose life is in danger now ...

Genres: Young Adult

176 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2013

About the author

David Hill (born 1942) is a New Zealand author, especially well known for his young adult fiction. His young fiction books See Ya, Simon (1992) and Right Where It Hurts (2001) have been shortlisted for numerous awards. He is also a prolific journalist, writing many articles for The New Zealand Herald.

He cites Maurice Gee as his favourite author, and Joy Cowley and Margaret Mahy as his favourite children's authors.

Hill attended Victoria University in Wellington, graduating MA Hons in 1964. Hill currently lives in New Plymouth.

Reviews

[Adele Broadbent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conrad is on his way to swimming training early one morning before school, when an old man stumbles out of the trees in the park and starts yelling at him. Surprised and scared, Conrad runs to the pools but doesn’t tell anyone – not even his best mate Jaz.
A new girl has started in his class at school. Bex is fiery, skinny and keeps to herself. One day on the way home, walking around the town race track (horse racing), he sees this girl riding and then again outside a house – talking to the old guy who shouted at him in the park.

It doesn't come easy, but a friendship develops and Conrad learns about Bex's grandfather - a sufferer of early Alzheimer Disease. But he's also suffering from something else - a secret and a guilt from many years before.

Stories at this reading level about alzheimers are rare. I really liked this story and it's characters - especially Bex's grandfather.

[Miss Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Satisfactory ending. It certainly builds to the climax.

[Esther Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book it is amazing and certainly and page turner! The humour is amazing and goes with the flow of the sad parts. Absolutely a great read!

[Miriam Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conrad is just in his teens and beginning to notice how girls are filling out their jeans and that they aren't just annoying but maybe something more. He is a good swimmer and has hopes of making the Nationals. He is a disciplined boy, trains every day and has good relationships with his family and friends.

Conrad is on his way to the Aquatics Centre nice and early in the morning when out of the dark and the trees comes running a wild eyed old man who screams at him that he is sorry before Conrad runs off. When he discovers that the man is the grandfather of the strange new girl at school he decides to stay away from the two but it doesn't happen that easily.

A well written book and so very easy to get into the mind of young Conrad and imagine him and his mates (and those who aren't) acting as he describes them. The dynamics within his family and of course between those he interacts regularly with is very well written, easy to follow and to believe.

I wouldn't call this a light read considering the topics covered in this book, there is death and mental health issues in this book, but it is written so well that is doesn't take long to read and the speediness of the read doesn't detract from anything brought up in the book. David Hill has a skill to be able to make a story about the most ordinary of circumstances and write it well. His understanding of early teen relationships shows through well in this book and that of Alzheimer’s disease makes this story special.

In a way I think it's a shame this is a once off book for these characters as I did rather like Conrad and Bex, but it does really well being what it is and it is going to do the rounds in my family for sure.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am usually a fan of David Hill. I have always enjoyed his books, recommended them to my students and colleagues, but this one was not a good read! Personally I found the dialogue forced and hated the continual internal thought interruptions of the main character. I read this to decide whether to give it to my year 7 students as a novel study. I have 23 boys in my class this year and as the main character a swimmer, I thought it would be perfect. But I am not sure it will provide enough content. The climax of the text could have come earlier and been used to highlight personalities, values etc of a number of characters, it would have made the book more interesting as well.

[Lorraine Orman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vintage David Hill - that's meant to be a compliment. David is an expert at weaving together credible and sympathetic characters, topical themes, and fast-moving plots. His are the kind of books you want to read in one big gulp. Particularly recommended for boys of about 10 to 13 - and if you like this one, he's written heaps more.

[Marie Greaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too long winded, I lost interest a third of the way through. Good plot, but a but drawn out.