The Keeper

by Rosanne Hawke

Twelve-year-old Joel Billings wants a father more than anything. He hasn't had it easy - the school bully picks on him and his parents abandoned him long ago. He lives with his over-protective gran, who won't even let him enter a fishing competition. Joel reckons having a dad would solve all his problems, so he advertises for one in the newspaper. When a tattooed, long-haired biker named Dev Eagle answers the ad, Joel's world is turned upside down. But Dev is not the only new stranger in town - someone from Joel's past is back to haunt him. This gripping book is the first in a trilogy for middle-reader boys, which continues with "Sailmaker" and "Killer Ute."

159 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

When little I ran around with a jotter and a pencil, pretending to write a story but not knowing how to spell any words except Dick, Dora and cat. My mother asked me to tell stories. A lot of my stories stayed in my head, as being the youngest and living in the country didn't bring many opportunities for an audience. I was born in Penola, in South Australia. We had a sheep farm until I was six, then we moved to a property in Central Queensland. I went to school at a one-teacher school in Banana, a little country town named after a bullock.

My first short story was published in the Moura State School magazine in 1967 when I was in grade 8. At 14 years, I moved back to South Australia and attended Gawler High School where I won an Arts Scholarship to complete Years 11 & 12. I started a romantic novel when I was 17 but I burnt it later.

It wasn't until I was working in the Middle East and Pakistan, teaching ESL, bringing up kids, when I started to write seriously. My kids loved the story game we played and one night after telling a story, my daughter asked me to write it down.

I have a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide and teach Creative Writing at Tabor Adelaide, South Australia, a Christian accredited tertiary institution. I have researched Cornish identity in Australian children's literature and enjoy writing about culture, faith, relationships, displacement and belonging, music and cats.

Reviews

[Taliesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really good with lots of twists and turns.

[Sheryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

12 y/o Joel wants a Dad, so puts an add in a paper. Sad to think he had to do that, scary to think who might have applied. Luckily he gets a 'keeper', but there is so much more depth to this book.

[R.J. Rodda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this but I’m not sure who I’d recommend it to.

Let’s see. It’s about a boy called Joel who is frequently in trouble at school. Although he likes his Gran whom he lives with, he longs for a dad so he puts an ad in the Connections page for a father.

Biker Dev shows up and seems to be genuinely keen to connect, but is he safe? And who is Zoe and why does she keep trying to interfere in his life?

Overall this is a gently Christian story with some unexpected but well-crafted twists and all ends in a heart-warming way.

But I must know:

Is the Colin Moulden the author mentions at the back the Colin Moulden I know, originally from Mount Gambier??