Frack off: Trouble in the High Country and the Kimberley

by Michael Mardel

Civil disobedience When is it OK? What can you do as one person? Meet Willow who lives in the high country of Victoria, Australia. It’s hot in summer and very cold in winter. Her mother is a single Mum who has escaped to the hills though she doesn’t want her daughter to miss out on her schooling. Once she borrowed a metal detector and found some gold on her back doorstep. She hopes there’s more but it would need heavy equipment to dig it out. One early morning they’re awakened by the sound of heavy machinery. They are not after the gold but the gas underneath. There has been no warning or consultation of her house being taken from her as there is no clear title for it. She waves at the driver and he eventually stops once he’s past her house. She demands to see the mining lease of this fracking company as she has the lease, for 99 years. The driver knows nothing about it but says he will see his boss and will return. Now we have the civil disobedience of the local people and others from far afield who set up a barricade of people to stop any further exploratory work. In the meantime, someone drives the first vehicle near the mine shafts and manages to sink it down one. This is when they find more gold and, having their state government raise a moratorium on fracking, Willow and her mum travel to the Kimberley to help their friends to oppose another fracking, this time on Aboriginal land.

93 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2015

About the author

(in no particular order)
teacher-librarian
driving instructor
counsellor
personal carer
cleaner
nurse
filing clerk
date processing operator

Reviews

[Diane (IF U'RE PRIVATE, PLEASE SKIP ME!!!) Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Received from Author in exchange for a fair and honest review'

Ok read! short,sweet,very inclusive and a straight to the point kind of storyline. Enjoyed the togetherness moments and all the protesting going on from the groups but there should have being less saying of 'F-Off's so many times in this story,good writing though..would i recommend of course

[Glenn Conley · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first read the title of this book, I assumed it meant "Fuck Off!" And in a way, it does. Because this story is about protesting fracking, which is a kind of drilling that seems to fuck up everyone's water supply.

So this book really is saying "Fuck off! Get off my land with your goddamn drills!" It's kind of ironic that the characters in this book end up saving one of the fracking workers. A guy who got stuck in a hole, and broke his leg. The lesbians, and their daughter saved him, and then went back to their protests.

There's a lot of strange sexuality in this book. There's the lesbians, who spent several years in a convent. And there's James, who's really a chick, but identifies as a man. And there's poor teenage Willow who is trapped in the middle of all this sexuality. But she's straight, of course.

And then there's the periods. The menstrual cycle. Because like 90% of this book is about women. And they talk about their periods constantly. It was jarring, to say the least.

The problem I had with this book was the fact that the LGBT themes didn't need to be there. It didn't add anything to the story. In fact, it distracted from the story. But at least it was a well-written story.

[Brian Borgford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a young adult book, so as an older male adult, I cannot necessarily relate the way a young person might be able to. The title indicates that the story may provide some incite into the controversial practice of fracking (hydraulic fracturing) for oil and natural gas. However other than highlighting a few groups in Australia that formally protest the practice, there is no real insight into the practice discussing its benefits or its harm to the environment. Fracking is almost incidental to the story.
There is more said about the normalcy of lesbian and transgender issues than fracking. The book does an admirable job of portraying lesbians and transgender people as just everyday folk living, working and loving.
The story line itself is rather light with no real beginning, or ending. It is more like an “art film” that picks a random period someone’s life and does a good job of relaying events during that time.
A few grammatical and technical issues cause some minor bumps, and I’m not sure how entertained a young adult might be by this story. Much of the vernacular and setting would be appreciated by those living in or familiar with Australia so others with less understanding of the country may get confused by those specifics.

[Andrew Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an astonishing short story in that it touches on such a range of subjects. Any one of them can generate passionate opinions, but taken together – phew! The writer manages to combine LGBT issues with the contentious subject of fracking. Throw in some of the characters striking gold in the back yard, some tales from the Nunnery, a bit of home schooling, and the mysterious disappearing bulldozer - and you getting some way towards the many parts that make up the whole.

What’s so interesting is that the writer presents this eclectic mix with a kind of homely gentleness, the flavour of this story is indeed cosy and humorous as the book description says. All of the characters seem to maintain a cheerful determination as they work out their gender identity and sexuality, whilst making sure that there’s breakfast and dinner for everyone in the anti-fracking group, and Rusty the dog still gets his walk. Indeed, there’s a kind of practical directness about this story which seems to reflect the Australian psyche.

A busy, slightly chaotic, homely and rather lovely tale of every day green campaigners and LGBT folk from the Kimberley, working it out, Aussie style.

[Maurice Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting short story that, for me, created awareness of the environmental impact "fracking" has/had in Australia and presumably other parts of the world. We learn through this book that fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed into the rock/shale to release the natural gas inside and then bring it up through a well.

The author uses the story's characters to paint a picture of the harms that this process can cause, and how many people oppose and protest against this.

The story's main character, Willow, a young, home schooled teenage girl, is given several life lessons, including becoming aware that several of her family members are active in the LGBTQ community.

This is a nice short read and I would recommend it.

[Constance McKee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting, apparently semi-autobiographical, novella. I particularly enjoyed it because it describes a great deal about life in Australia—fascinating to an American who has never had the pleasure of visiting the continent. The primary focus is on protests against fracking, but the story also touches on LGBT issues, Aboriginal issues, a missing bulldozer, gold digging, Girl Guides, homeschooling, nuns, and NaNoWriMo/self-publishing—all told through the perspective of a 14-year-old girl. It’s quite a ride! The story could benefit from professional editing, but it’s still touching and appears to be told from the heart. I was provided a copy of this story in order to do an honest review.

[Vera Loy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, modern Australian story - full of unusual characters! And now I'm definitely against fracking.