Josh

by Ivan Southall

For fourteen-year-old Josh, the village of Ryan Creek, settled by his great-grandfather, is a jungle--completely different from Melbourne, where he was born and raised. And the people he meets in Ryan Creek--his eccentric Aunt Clara, the two O'Connor boys and their beautiful sister Betsy, Laura and Harry Jones--are not only baffling but dangerous. Josh does everything wrong here. A dreamer and a poet, he is also strong-willed and uncompromising in his principles. His encounters with the young people of Ryan Creek during his three-day visit begin with mutual bewilderment and confusion and move inexorably to an explosion of violence.

Genres: Childrens, Australia, Young Adult

215 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Ivan Southall was an award-winning Australian writer of young-adult fiction and non-fiction. He was the first and still the only Australian to win the Carnegie Medal for children's literature. His books include Hills End, Ash Road, Josh, and Let the Balloon Go. Also notable is Fly West, a book of true stories based on his experiences flying in Short Sunderland flying boats during the Second World War.

Winner of the Dromkeen Medal (2003).

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josh (the 1971 Carnegie Medal winner) is a both stylistically and thematically intriguing and evocative young adult novel (taking place in Depression era Australia and with the author of Josh, with Ivan Southall also being the first Australian to be awarded the Carnegie Medal). Penned and presented in a delightful stream-of-consciousness narrative (a bit difficult to get into at the beginning perhaps, but in my opinion well worth persevering) Josh concerns 14-year-old Josh Plowman (a budding poet from Melbourne) who makes a 4-day visit to his great-aunt in the remote rural Australian village of Ryan Creek (which was first settled by Josh's great grandfather, Maximilian Plowman).

And in the chapters of Josh, one representing each day of the visit, Josh interacts continuously disastrously with the Ryan Creek adolescents and also with some of the adults, nearly gets drowned by an outraged and raging crowd, and finally cuts short his stay by walking the 100 miles back to Melbourne (but also and wonderfully, with Josh not reacting violently and physically fighting his bullies, but instead cutting his losses and stoically walking away with both his integrity and his dignity intact and unblemished). Sometimes a bit dated (and with certainly a bit of textual misogyny, but considering the publication date of 1971 actually and in my opinion Josh often feels rather ahead of its time and also of its place). And yes, I most certainly have quite enjoyed my reading time with Josh, finding how Ivan Southall depicts the main protagonist and that Josh sticks to his principles, to his poetry and to his active dislike of hunting and other so-called many pursuits refreshing and stimulating, a rare and also a very much surprising five star novel for me (evocative of the Australian landscape and with important messages regarding holding fast to one's principles, rejecting violence and embracing poetry and the celebration of lyricism).

[James Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, the only Australian book to ever win the Carnegie Medal, is, to me, the perfect middle-grade book for boys. Perhaps it resonated with me because of who I was when I read it - a slightly displaced missionary kid who wasn't quite sure where he fitted in. Just like Josh.

This book is, in my opinion, the first Australian verse novel. Sure, it looks like prose on the page, but so much of it is written in unusually constructed sentences and partial phrases, and I remember reading it and being struck with the sudden realisation that all the grammatical rules I'd been learning at school were in fact able to be broken. Asking to be broken, in fact.

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

His great-aunt insists on calling him 'Joshua'. But his name is 'Josh'.

Fourteen-year-old Josh begs his parents to let him go for a holiday with his mysterious and eccentric great-aunt Clara. His cousins have gone. His dad went when he was fourteen. Everyone but Josh has gone. It's a kind of family rite-of-passage. His parents eventually give in.

And so begins a holiday that starts out confused and ends up violent. The tension is racked up in scene after scene as Josh struggles to comprehend his aunt and her relationship with the kids of Ryan Creek, the town founded by his great-grandfather.

It's 1936 and the Depression has hit rural Victoria hard. Josh Plowman is exhausted by the time the Saturday evening train from Melbourne reaches Ryan Creek. He falls asleep without supper and wakes to find his privacy has been violated in multiple ways. His bag has been unpacked and his clothes hung up - but, worst of all, his journal of poems has disappeared. Poems he's shown no one. Poems he would be embarrassed to show anyone. His mother knows of them but even she hasn't invaded his privacy.

Sunday morning and he's off to church with Aunt Clara. Sunday School for the first time in his life. He discovers the children of the town adore Aunt Clara but, to him, she's got a dark side. Rage builds inside him over his journal. He escapes the house, only to be bewildered by the reaction of the kids he encounters. He's the first of her relatives ever to be allowed out on the Sabbath.

The tension builds as Josh tries to fit in and fails. Everything he does is misinterpreted by the locals. A girl tries to impress him by jumping off the 'famous' bridge built by a Plowman forbear - a dangerous stunt because the last person who tried it was killed. Josh is accused of egging her on - when in fact he did all he could to stop her. One of the smaller kids, Sonny, follows him around, spying on him - and lying about what he does whenever Josh fails to pay him a penny. Josh loses his money and the little blackmailer goes off, wailing that Josh has threatened him. The build-up towards a violent confrontation is rapid.

Josh can't figure out the local attitude to his aunt. On the one hand, everyone seems to be sneering at her. On the other, they seem to worship her.

He wants to leave town. The kids want him to leave. But - furious that he hasn't told his aunt - they want to drag him back.

Aunt Clara wants him to take part in a cricket match. But the rules are serious - white duds have to be worn. The only whites Josh is offered are too short, leaving his legs exposed, and too wide - so they have to be pinned in. The acute embarrassment is too much for Josh and he explodes in anger.

The powerful, compelling writing of this classic book - its pacing and fragmentary sentences - seem way ahead of their time. Riveting.

[Georgia Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a bore. This book is SEXIST the two main girls featured in the book are Betsy which is commonly referred to as "Stunning" is a remark that some of us can't help our looks. Aunt Clara an acclaimed "old hag." Laura is also "overly attached" Help join the movement to equality and post under my hashtag on Instagram #JOSH_is_Sexist

[SBC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although well-written and I quite liked the unusual style, I found this a really odd book and felt I didn't understand it. It was about this boy Josh who goes to the Australian countryside in the 1930s to visit his great-aunt and about his subsequent turbulent relationship with the kids of the town. I really didn't understand what was going on. Josh is an interesting character, a poet, a very sensitive kid. The other kids are a bit harsh on him to start with, but his attitude blows it up and makes it all worse, then lies are told about him, and it all gets majorly out of hand. I think he should have made peace with them at the end though and let them play cricket, etc, but he decides to leave and walk home, which I didn't really get. On an irrelevant side note, I suspect his great-aunt has her money tied up in the house and its heirlooms which if you don't sell, leaves you with little cash.

[Shriram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such and excellent book. It hard to place my finger on what was so amazing, but i would say it's Southall's ability to make the character real and accessible. There is no overly complicated plot, it is like real life. It's pages are filled with beautiful and soft nostalgia.

[Raoum Bani · Rating 4 out of 5]

The struggle of a non confrontational kid, what goes through his mind, and what happens when he blows up. I tried to read this book with an Australian accent but I suck at that. Also, I liked how they say "honest" at the end of their sentences, it's kind of like when arabs say "9deg" at the end..

[Regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful, interesting writing. Unexpected in many ways.

[David Hesson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very unusual book and I think very striking for it’s time.

[Sarah Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting stylistic choices that make the prose appetising where it could have been bleak. The plot itself is very thin compared to some of his other work, but it's still more than enough to keep the reader going, trying to figure out why all this is happening to Josh, and who is lying and why.

In the end, it's all very simple but the complexity of the way it's all discovered is marvellous.

Clearly I'm already a fan of his work since I've read others of his books and am familiar with his style, but this was one of his best. His ability to build such a sense of hopelessness is best savoured irregularly.

I'd almost call it Australian Gothic.

[Ahsan Bhatti]

i don't think anything . i just want to read it

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be added.