Feral Kid

by Libby Hathorn

The chance meeting of a homeless boy caught up in crime and and an old lady who he mugs brings about an unlikely friendship which offers both a new future.

164 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Libby Hathorn is an Australian writer who produces poetry, picture books, drama, novels, short stories, and nonfiction for children, young adults, and adults. Best known in the United States for her critically acclaimed novel Thunderwith, Hathorn has created works ranging from serious stories of troubled youth to lighthearted, fast-paced comedies. She writes of powerful female characters in her novels for junior readers, such as the protagonists in All about Anna and The Extraordinary Magics of Emma McDade; or of lonely, misunderstood teenagers in novels such as Feral Kid, Love Me Tender, and Valley under the Rock. As Maurice Saxby noted in St. James Guide to Children's Writers, "In her novels for teenagers especially, Hathorn exposes, with compassion, sensitivity, and poetry the universal and ongoing struggle of humanity to heal hurts, establish meaningful relationships, and to learn to accept one's self—and ultimately—those who have wronged us."

Reviews

[Casey H · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and sad depiction of what homeless children must feel.
The book felt unfinished at the end. I know the reader is meant to assume what happens at the end but I prefer when the author actually includes it in the book.

[Maiyonnias · Rating 5 out of 5]

so profoundly bittersweet.

[Bookguide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gelezen in het Nederlands: Zwerfkind.

Robbie is gevlucht uit zijn pleeggezin en zoekt een slaapplaats in het park. Geld probeert hij met diefstal te bemachtigen, maar na het beroven van een oude dame moet hij opeens aan zijn grootmoeder denken. [Vanaf ca. 11 jaar]
134pp.

Spannend boek over een zeer jong zwerfkind, helemaal alleen in een grote stad in Australië. De zware kanten van het leven als een straatkind worden goed verwoord in relatie tot het hoofdpersoon, Robbie; met name de angst, de honger en de problemen van uitgebuit worden door een ouder kind worden goed beschreven. Er zijn ook vooroordelen over de straatkinderen: "Zo'n straatjongen deinst toch nergens voor terug. Dat is tegenwoordig de harde realiteit hier in de stad. Dat zijn geen jongens die jij kent. ... Daklozen. Criminelen. Zwerfkinderen. Dat zijn het! Met geen enkel besef van..."
"Maar kinderen... nog steeds kinderen." Ze hebben iemand nodig die in hen gelooft. Op straat komt Robbie andere kinderen tegen die nog zwaardere problemen hebben (drank, drugs, misschien prostitutie), maar deze onderwerpen worden nauwelijks besproken. Het boek is dus geschikt voor kinderen van groep 7 en 8 (AVI 8), en het blijft spannend tot het eind.

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/7...

[SBC · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit of a tearjerker and painted quite a bleak picture though I quite enjoyed it and it did have a ray of hope like a ray of sunshine at the end. About a young lad who ran away from foster homes; he and his sister lived with his gran and abusive father. After gran dies he is separated from his sister and put in foster homes. He ends up running away to Sydney where falls in with a bad crowd on the streets, but also meets an old lady who used to live out in the outback by a river but after a heart murmur came to stay with a very bossy daughter in Sydney and is feeling miserable. They don't really say much to each other but she used to foster kids like him and she reminds him of his gran, esp as his gran spoke of rivers, so he decides to run away to her house just as she decides to go back there to live. The book ends with its beginning passage, a poem, about the train station in Sydney. It is a hopeful ending.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about homeless kids in Sydney. Looks like it will end well for this one kid.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

the last chapter is the same as the first chapter. every word the same. but the book was a good 206 paged book.