The Really Really High Diving Tower

Aussie Chomps

by David Metzenthen

Can Pete "Pod" Poldlewski and Morris "Shiny Boy" Diamond conquer the ten-meter diving tower, or are they doomed to sit on their towels forever? It's a matter of life, death, love, and discount icy poles!

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

As a child, David Metzenthen was a nature boy; he loved fishing and farm work, exploring the bush, and being outdoors under the stars. He also lived very much inside his own head; feeling that the world was a place of unlimited adventure. He harboured dreams of becoming a cowboy, a fisherman, a farmer, a sailor, or a writer. Instead he left home at eighteen, with a copy of Jack Kerouac's On the Road for company, and hitch-hiked his way around New Zealand. Returning to Australia, David worked as a builder's labourer and advertising copy writer before finding success as a writer of books for children and young adults.

David Metzenthen now lives with his wife and two children in Melbourne and is one of Australia's top writers for young people. He has received many awards for excellence, including the 2000 CBCA Book of the Year Award: Older Readers for Stony Heart Country, a 2003 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Wildlight, and a 2003 Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Boys of Blood and Bone. In 2004, Boys of Blood and Bone also won a NSW Premier's Literary Award and was an Honour Book in the CBCA Book of the Year Awards: Older Readers. His novel Black Water was an Honour Book in the 2008 CBCA Book of the Year Awards: Older Readers, and Jarvis 24 won the CBCA Award for Book of the Year: Older Readers in 2010, as well as being shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award, WA Premier's Literary Award, Inky Awards and SA Festival Awards for Literature.

Reviews

[Judy Wollin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer has arrived and Pod and his mate Shiny-boy diamond are at the swimming pool. It’s their heritage and their life. It’s their pool.

Virginia is “a statuesque thing of sheer and utter beauty”. She does a perfect swallow dive off the board into the diving pool.

Pod and Shiny-boy know the only thing left to do this Summer is dive off the 10-metre board. Virginia’s in too. Will they do it?

I enjoyed the build-up of tension. A blast from the past. I spent my childhood summers at the local swimming pool. A fun read.
Recommended for 10+

[vio · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, light, summer story tweens would enjoy.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these Aussie Chomps books. They really tell it like it is - with language that is everyday lingo that someone around ten (if not older) could relate to. Basically it's about the 10m high diving board that Shiny and Pod have been dreaming about diving off from. They meet a girl that is also into diving and has also wanted to attempt the 10m high board. Everything comes to a head when Vinny the pool boss informs them that if they want to attempt it, now would be the time as the board would be closed of by the council as they deem it too dangerous. The author is a diver and draws a magnificent image of what the water looks like at the various different levels of the diving boards. Being a swimmer myself, I relate more to poor old Barry, that swims up and down all day, twice a day, in an attempt to progress further in the next swimming gala or trials. I loved the book - just my kind of book.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Younger readers
Every boy should read this! Girls will like it, too. A good, fun, easy read. If you liked it, you should also try Archie Fusillo's Aussie Bites, like 'Let it Rip', 'The Great Switcheroo', 'Game or Not' and 'Braggin' Reggie'. You might also like James Moloney's Aussie Bite - '68 Teeth'. All of these books, including 'The Really Really High Diving Tower' not only tell a good story, but make you feel something about the characters as well...And you might see a bit of yourself and your life in there too.