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State Ward
Charlie Wilson the "state house boy" is sent to Riverton Boys' Home as a state ward until such time he is seen fit to return to society. The door in the cellblock isn't the only thing that Charlie finds is for real - there's also the name "George" scrawled on the walls and by it the word "ghost"
- GenresFiction
129 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
1 person is currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Alan Duff
44 books57 followersAlan Duff (born October 26, 1950, Rotorua, New Zealand) is a New Zealand novelist and newspaper columnist, most well known as the author of Once Were Warriors. He began to write full-time in 1985.
He tried writing a thriller as his first novel, but it was rejected. He burned the manuscript and started writing Once Were Warriors, which had an immediate and great impact. The novel is written in juxtaposed interior monologues, making its style stand out from other works. It was winner of the PEN Best First Book Award, was runner-up in the Goodman Fielder Wattie Award, and was made into the award-winning film of the same name in 1994.
Another of his novels, One Night Out Stealing, appeared in 1991 and shortlisted in the 1992 Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards.
He was also awarded the Frank Sargeson Fellowship in 1991, and began writing a weekly -- later bi-weekly — column for the Evening Post (Wellington newspaper), syndicated to eight other newspapers. In this, and in his 1993 analysis, Māori: The Crisis and the Challenge, he has developed his ideas on the failures of Māoridom, castigating both the traditional leadership and the radical movement for dwelling on the injustices of the past and expecting others to resolve them, instead of encouraging Māori to get on and help themselves. The blame for Māori underperformance he puts squarely back on Māori, for not making the most of the opportunities given them. This somewhat simplistic message has proved highly controversial.
State Ward started as a series of episodes on radio in 1993 and was published as a novella in 1994.
The Books in Homes scheme, co-founded in 1995 by Duff and Christine Fernyhough, with commercial sponsorship and government support, aims to alleviate poverty and illiteracy by providing low-cost books to underprivileged children, thus encouraging them to read. In its first year alone it put about 180,000 new books in the hands of about 38,000 children. By 2008, the scheme delivered 5 million books to schools around New Zealand.
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1996), the sequel to Once Were Warriors, was the winner of the fiction section of the 1997 Montana Book Awards and was also made in to a film in 1999. Two Sides of the Moon was published in 1998. Duff wrote his own memoir, Out of the Mist and the Steam, in 1999. His first novel to be set outside of New Zealand is Szabad (2001). Inspired by the stories of people Duff met during his several trips to Hungary, the story takes place in Budapest during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Jake's Long Shadow (2002) is the third volume in Duff's Once Were Warriors trilogy. In 2003 Once Were Warriors was brought to the stage across New Zealand as a musical drama.
He tried writing a thriller as his first novel, but it was rejected. He burned the manuscript and started writing Once Were Warriors, which had an immediate and great impact. The novel is written in juxtaposed interior monologues, making its style stand out from other works. It was winner of the PEN Best First Book Award, was runner-up in the Goodman Fielder Wattie Award, and was made into the award-winning film of the same name in 1994.
Another of his novels, One Night Out Stealing, appeared in 1991 and shortlisted in the 1992 Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards.
He was also awarded the Frank Sargeson Fellowship in 1991, and began writing a weekly -- later bi-weekly — column for the Evening Post (Wellington newspaper), syndicated to eight other newspapers. In this, and in his 1993 analysis, Māori: The Crisis and the Challenge, he has developed his ideas on the failures of Māoridom, castigating both the traditional leadership and the radical movement for dwelling on the injustices of the past and expecting others to resolve them, instead of encouraging Māori to get on and help themselves. The blame for Māori underperformance he puts squarely back on Māori, for not making the most of the opportunities given them. This somewhat simplistic message has proved highly controversial.
State Ward started as a series of episodes on radio in 1993 and was published as a novella in 1994.
The Books in Homes scheme, co-founded in 1995 by Duff and Christine Fernyhough, with commercial sponsorship and government support, aims to alleviate poverty and illiteracy by providing low-cost books to underprivileged children, thus encouraging them to read. In its first year alone it put about 180,000 new books in the hands of about 38,000 children. By 2008, the scheme delivered 5 million books to schools around New Zealand.
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1996), the sequel to Once Were Warriors, was the winner of the fiction section of the 1997 Montana Book Awards and was also made in to a film in 1999. Two Sides of the Moon was published in 1998. Duff wrote his own memoir, Out of the Mist and the Steam, in 1999. His first novel to be set outside of New Zealand is Szabad (2001). Inspired by the stories of people Duff met during his several trips to Hungary, the story takes place in Budapest during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Jake's Long Shadow (2002) is the third volume in Duff's Once Were Warriors trilogy. In 2003 Once Were Warriors was brought to the stage across New Zealand as a musical drama.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 29, 2021
Obtained a signed secondhand copy of this book in Napier during the year I spent in New Zealand.
This is a short, poignant YA novel from the 90s about a half-Māori kid who becomes a ward of the state. Inspired by Alan Duff's time in a similar situation. There are similar themes to Duff's most popular novel Once Were Warriors: alcoholism, crime, neglected children, shitty parents, molestation, etc, but diluted for a younger audience. Wish it had gone on for longer.
This is a short, poignant YA novel from the 90s about a half-Māori kid who becomes a ward of the state. Inspired by Alan Duff's time in a similar situation. There are similar themes to Duff's most popular novel Once Were Warriors: alcoholism, crime, neglected children, shitty parents, molestation, etc, but diluted for a younger audience. Wish it had gone on for longer.
December 17, 2018
"Life, eh, like George was trying to say: it's about deeds. Good deeds, Charlie guessed. Good deeds making for a longer life. Just like, Charlie got a sudden realization, like being in the cellblock: seemed to take for ever, yet when it was passed it hardly seemed anything at all. Only what you took of it. And what, a boy figured, it took of you - if you let it."
February 5, 2023
If anything, this book was too short. So much going on here. So many layers that could have been teased out to their conclusion. I liked the character development. Such a short sojourn into the (fictional) lives of youths in residence as state wards articulated by an author who draws on lived experiences.
New Zealand has apalling family harm statistics. Since the publication of this book, New Zealand has gone up in rankings as one of the worst countries in the OECD for family harm. A badge of ignominy.
I was handed this book at the Manurewa Police Station by one of the civilian workers. It's an old copy which is from St Peter's College Library in Auckland. Having finally gotten around to reading it, I wish I'd have read it years ago now. It reminded me of tough kids I'd grown up with, some of those kids are no longer here. And tough kids I'd dealt with. Some of those kids are no longer here. Cut down in the prime of their youth.
This is the second book I've read by the author, Alan Duff. The first was the sequel to Once Were Warriors.
I'll read and soak up the suffering articulated adroitly in The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment...twice, but I've avoided Once Were Warriors, wilfully and deliberately. Too confronting...even now.
New Zealand has apalling family harm statistics. Since the publication of this book, New Zealand has gone up in rankings as one of the worst countries in the OECD for family harm. A badge of ignominy.
I was handed this book at the Manurewa Police Station by one of the civilian workers. It's an old copy which is from St Peter's College Library in Auckland. Having finally gotten around to reading it, I wish I'd have read it years ago now. It reminded me of tough kids I'd grown up with, some of those kids are no longer here. And tough kids I'd dealt with. Some of those kids are no longer here. Cut down in the prime of their youth.
This is the second book I've read by the author, Alan Duff. The first was the sequel to Once Were Warriors.
I'll read and soak up the suffering articulated adroitly in The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment...twice, but I've avoided Once Were Warriors, wilfully and deliberately. Too confronting...even now.
August 14, 2023
Duff falls short in developing characters in State Ward. More patience building their personalities would have helped. This rushed a friendship and bond which was the main drive of the story. Left it all eroded and feeling painfully flat.
October 9, 2019
A good & short book. Easy to read in a couple of hours.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews