The Story of Tom Brennan

by J.C. Burke

"For seventeen-year-old Tom, life is about rugby, his mates and his family, who are well respected in their small country town. But a night of celebration changes his life forever. Tom's older brother, Daniel, starts a fight at the 'sudden death' pre-final party - then, worse, Daniel is involved in a car accident on the way home. Their cousin, Fin, suffers irreversible spinal injuries, and the two other passengers are killed. Tom's world explodes as Daniel is sent to jail and the Brennans are forced to leave town. While Tom and his sister, Kylie, adjust to life at a new school, their mother takes to her bed and their father tries to balance the pain of his family with the debt of his paralysed nephew. The past is never far away. Tom is a survivor, but he needs a ticket out of the past just as much as Daniel. He will find it in many forms." -- Publisher's website.

Genres: Young Adult, School, Australia, Fiction, Novels, Contemporary, Read For School

284 pages, Paperback

First published September 2, 2005

About the author

http:/www.facebook.com/pages/JC-Burke/20821...
.J.C Burke was born in Sydney in 1965, the fourth of five sisters. With writers for parents, she grew up in a world of noise, drama and books, but she decided to become a nurse after her mother lost a long battle with cancer. Since Burke started writing in 1999, she has published a number of acclaimed books for teenagers and young adults, including Children's Book Council Notable Books WHITE LIES and THE RED CARDIGAN, Aurealis Awards finalist NINE LETTERS LONG, THE STORY OF TOM BRENNAN, FAKING SWEET, STARFISH SISTERS and OCEAN PEARL. THE STORY OF TOM BRENNAN won the 2006 CBC Book of the Year - Older Readers and the 2006 Australian Family Therapists Award for Children's Literature. It is currently on the NSW HSC syllabus list.PIG BOY is Jane's newest title and was released in May 2011.
Jane lives on Sydney.

http:/www.facebook.com/pages/JC-Burke/20821...

Reviews

[Norman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was taking a dump while reading this book, when it suddenly I smelt something real bad but then it hit me, it wasn't the feces falling out of my anus that was causing the smell. it was this book, so I flushed the book down the toilet and preserved my shit, because to be honest it was far more interesting than the book.

[Greg · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's shit.

[Beans · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book.
Most of the way through this book Tom is a self-centered teenager who sees the whole world as negative.
His whole family basically denies that anything is wrong for most of the book, and then his mum is sitting around and nobody has the guts to go and talk to her. The way he seems to see Fin only as an object that reminds him of the accident that ruined his brother's life pisses me off.
To be honest, the best part of the story was the car crash.
It was the only exciting part that wasn't full of Tom just moping around as he explains every detail of rugby.And after he's finished moping around he starts perving on Crissy like a damn dog that humps people's legs.
The writing style is forced and unimaginative. It's repetitive and always seems to try too hard to be "hip" and teen. Eg: "We'll be up before the sparrow's fart." and the 100's of "G'day"s just drive me up the wall. Just because it's aimed at Australian teens doesn't mean everyone has to speak like Crocodile Dundee.

[✨Jess✨ Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

like many other I had to read this for English, the storyline itself was intriguing however it was ruined through the scenes dragging on more than necessary, the characters didn't seem to have any development and besides one character, all the characters irritated me greatly. I was hoping the ending would change my perception of the book and end with something regarding Daniel or fin but the ending was a huge letdown and I thought it was stupid.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best part of the book is when Tom got head from Chrissy, other than this the book is a piece of shit

[Zoe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sad boy meets girl and gets happy. Thats it, reading it I wasn't even interested in the gradually building back story because its just so obvious whats happened. I feel so sorry for all the other poor HSC kids forced to read this.

[YAH BOI HSC · Rating 1 out of 5]

WOW THIS IS A GREAT BOOK IF YOU LIKE WASTING PRECIOUS TIME FROM YOUR LIFE THAT YOU COULD BE SPENDING WITH YOURSELF INSIDE A CLOSET.

THIS BOOK IS GREAT FOR THE TYPICAL AUSTRALIAN BOGAN VB-DRINKER AS THE STORY IS ABOUT EVERY HOUSING COMMISION AND RURAL BUSH CHILD AND YOU WILL VERY MUCH RELATE TO MANY OF THE SITUATIONS WITHIN THIS BOOK IT IS GR8...
WITHOUT THE GRACE OF THE HSC I WOULD HAVE NEVER READ THIS BOOK REALLY I WOULD HAVE NEVER EVEN TRIED FOR THIS BOGAN ASS PILE OF GARBAGE IVE NEVER FELT SO INSULTED BY HOW A BOOK LIKE THIS CAN BE EVEN RATED ANYTHING CLOSE TO "OK".

THIS IS THE SINGLE WORST WASTE OF TREES EVER MADE I HOP J.C BURKE SEES THAT HE/SHE HAS WRITTEN NOTHING BUT A BOGAN FAN-FICTION.

MY ILLITERATE FAMILY IN SEVERAL 3RD WORLD COUNTRIES COULD WRITE BETTER STORIES, I DON'T THINK ANY AMOUNT OF PRAISE CAN REVIVE THIS BOOK'S REPUTATIONS AMONG ANY HSC GRADUATE THAT HAD TO READ THIS PILE OF BOGAN ASS GARBAGE.


thank you
KYS

WARM REGARDS
FELLOW HSC STUDENTS.






HATS OFF TO MY MATE JORDAN THAT WROTE A TRYHARD REVIEW
MAKE SURE YOU WRITE A REVIEW WHEN YOU HAVE EITHER COMPLETED HSC OR COMPLETED READING THE BOOK

PASS THE WORD OF HOW TERRIBLE AND BLAND THIS GARBAGE



The Story of Tom Brennan (Paperback)
by J.C. Burke ------> WASTE OF PAPER AND/OR HARD DRIVE SPACE
PROBABLY THE CAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING CAUSE OF HOW MUCH CRAPPY BOOKS WE ARE PRINTING NOWADAYS.




AGAIN WARM REGARDS




BYE



















OOF

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was... a struggle. Oh boy..

I to, was required to read this pungent turd of a novel for school. When my teacher announced that this was the book in which we will be assessed on this semester, she claimed it be "actually a good book" and that she "enjoyed it", but as soon as I proceeded to read the blurb I knew that I was in for a tiresome journey.

Just a quickie. I don't want to ramble on too much about this, but the miserable David Koch promo on the front cover.. Where are your standards..? Your integrity..?? C'mon..

From the moment I began reading I struggled immensely to form any kind of sympathy for the characters. Maybe I lack the ability to relate to them having never been in such a situation or perhaps I am just heartless teenager, incapable of feelings for another being, but it can't just be me who thinks they are OVERREACTING, JUST A LITTLE BIT.

Completely forgetting about how the blurb said that he had gone jail, I literally thought that this 'Daniel' kid they were all talking about in the beginning had died. That's how melodramatic they were behaving. Once they had finally established that he had actually just gone to jail, I couldn't help but think that he had coming. The book says so itself: "Daniel Brennan was an accident waiting to happen".

Just in general some of the language used was just pathetic. Now I am no author myself but there were some real great lines in there such as,"her hair would be messy and Daniel would actually eat something." With no reference to Daniel being incapable of eating prior to this strange and 'out of the blue' phrase. And what about messy hair makes him want to eat?? I don't know, was just really strange to me.

Also, just a minor complaint. Why the fuck would you make the uncle's name BRENDAN?? BRENDAN BRENNAN. WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF ALLITERATED DR SEUSS BULLSHIT IS THIS??

lol it was only a little annoying.

But, now let's talk about the ending to this disaster...

Just before the ending things are looking a little bit better for the Brennan family. They're finally working through their shit. Tom gets the opportunity to go on a potentially life changing trip, has made some good friends and is really starting to enjoy football again. Yet the thing that "completes him" and helps him "find himself" again is banging some girl. Then the book ends.

WOW.

There was so much potential for a mediocre ending to a pretty shit book, but that's how it ended. Granted, if that's how Burke wanted things to pan out, then that's how it should end. I get it, creative integrity and what-not. Except it made it so shit that I lose the right to complain considering that finishing this book was the best thing I've ever done.

This review is not at all fair and is overwhelmingly exaggerated of course, so read it anyway if you please. This was just really fun to write, to vent all of my built up angst and rage I had towards this book. I feel immense pain and sorrow for all the unfortunate souls who had to read this for english class, but I hurt even more for all of the kids who realised that it's not on sparknotes or schmoop either haha.


It simply was not my cup of tea, mainly because I don't like pieces of shit in my tea.





In conclusion,

Daaamn Daniel.
Back at it again with the drink driving.


Sorry haha

[Randall Truong · Rating 1 out of 5]

The bok made me dyslexic

[Theeddieworld · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this book. I was made to read this for school like many others and I'm not quite sure it is a book for schools. It feels like people think that high school kids would relate well to the character but I think high school kids will end up hating it the most.
The story and themes all work but the way their presented is the problem. All the events happening are shown from the perspective of Tom Brennan.
It was quite difficult to sympathize with the character; in fact, most of the time I could not figure out whether or not the book wanted to make me empathize with Tom or make me hate him.
He was annoying. His whole family is annoying.
It's odd because all the events happening SHOULD be compelling and interesting for me but they're weren't because I just did not care about him or his family at all.
Most of the time you're stuck seeing the aftermath too. And after a while all the yelling at each other and feeling depressed gets worn out and loses it's effect. It soon just sounds like they're whining all the time.
And then of course there's the annoying, awkward ending and bits through the entire book where we're often reminded of his stereotypical personality and perverted nature.
There is a good story in this book somewhere, but it's masked with dis-likable, horrible characters and a just under decent execution that makes the book almost unbearable for some to read through.
It just feels about too... bogan for me...
I can understand why people like it, but I can also understand why people loath it.
If you can get through the characters it's an okay read. There certainly better things out there though.
I should remind people that I was forced to read this book. If you were recommended this book because it seems like your thing you might actually enjoy it.
I give it a 1.5 out of 5. I don't like it but I can see it's appeal.

[Britt Meter · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was interested in the story but after a while it got boring and the characters were undeveloped, and some parts were repeating all the time. Tom's brother Daniel was involved in a car accident that killed two students and left another student with spinal injury. And the story around Tom life without rugby, how his family had to move to his grandparents house. Overall it was 1 stars 🌟 for me.

[Cal Lobo · Rating 1 out of 5]

For the record, I’d have never voluntarily chosen to read this book if I wasn’t forced to teach it

[Nikita · Rating 2 out of 5]

not good. just simply not good. the relationship development between tom and chrissy was non-existent. the writing was blander than a half-cooked, unsauced piece of pasta. the dialogue was very off and strange-sounding. at least it was decently short, though.

[charli · Rating 3 out of 5]

not me crying because of a book i had to read for work
this wasn't supposed to happen :////

[Daniel Bridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly good for a school book. Wasn't incredible but I did like reading it.

[Jesse Gold · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure if J.C. Burke has ever met a teenage boy or if she is basing her characters on the worst kind of teenage boys but she has created a protaganist that embodies an outdated sterotype of misogyny and arrogance. Tom is self-absorbed and frankly, a bit of a prick. All he cares about is how others see him and how he can perv on 'chicks'. He idolizes his muderous, alcoholic brother - who has no redeeming qualities whatsoever - and thinks him innocent when he clearly killed two people and paralyzed another. He treats his paralysed cousin as a burden, almost blaming him for being paralysed.

Every character in this book is the worst.

"Daniel, his dark moods, his jealous rages, his long periods of brooding and his complete lack of accountability: he took so much from so many." - but whatever, top bloke right?

The author is so out of touch with how to portray young men and the standard that they should uphold in terms of talking about women. This book was clearly written to appeal to teenage boys and no one else. No one should read it. It has no educational, cultural or societal value other than perhaps being a good example of poor writing or indeed, fuel. This book made me ashamed to be Australian, male and human for that matter.

If I didn't have to teach it, I would have put it down after the first page. Utter drivel! The only way I can see this being taught is if we deconstruct the negative impact this story has on young Australian teenage stereotypes.

Tom Brennan is a few steps backwards for progress in Australian culture.

*Side note, what age is Uncle Brendan? He's dating a highschooler but everyone is totally fine? He's as creepy as any of them.

That should really be half a star.

[jai · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

didn’t really enjoy it that much, i felt as if i didn’t care for the characters that much, the main character in particular, lacking a lot of depth, just being upset for a large majority of the book. some people may be able to connect with it but i couldn’t

[Zoe Clad · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a school book, i seriously enjoyed this

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

Take it from a psychology student - this novel's representation of depression is appalling. Tom Brennan and his family are forced to move out of their neighbourhood when Tom's brother kills his friends in a car accident. The brother is subsequently arrested and imprisoned. This leads Tom into what J.C. Burke believes is a depression.

Tom tries playing the video games he used to enjoy, only to find that they can no longer hold his interest. In fact he doesn't really display much interest in anything anymore. This is one of the few things in the book that is correct about depression. Those affected often find that they can no longer find joy or engagement in their previous interests.

Other than that, Tom mostly stares at blank white walls and insults his family. People suffering from depression don't turn into awful people. It can lead people to act in ways they later regret, and it's true that they can lose perspective or even their interest in engaging with other people. Depression can cause you to incidentally treat your loved ones poorly and it can be very difficult for families and couples.

What it doesn't do is turn you into a foul-mouthed, self-centred simpleton.

Burke doesn't appear to understand teenagers or even boys at all. At the risk of sounding overly harsh, Tom is not intelligent. Characters don't have to be, but it feels almost condescending towards younger people. He has both the physiology and the mind of a boy five years his junior. He appears to only just now be going through puberty at the age of 17, discovering an interest in women whilst only one year away from being a legal adult. This would be fine if it served a narrative purpose, or was even intentional - but I fear that it's neither.

Teenagers usually aren't Pulitzer prize winners - but they're more sophisticated than this book believes them to be. Every young person in the novel speaks in incredibly basic and simplistic dialogue, using terminology that makes it painfully obvious that someone much older is speaking through their mouth.

The writing is so poor that it's beyond belief. Continuity errors (a physically disabled character is established as being completely unable to move any part of his body beneath his chin, only to appear a few chapters later operating a motor vehicle with his hands). Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors as far as the eyes can see. Tom has no chemistry with his love interest whatsoever. She is a blank, cardboard cutout of a person. No personality. No goals. Absolutely nothing to make her a tangible living creature. She's a breathing plot device.

One of my biggest problems with this is that it seems to accidentally steer so close to something poignant.

His girlfriend is the embodiment of porn. The novel makes no attempt to hide that all Tom cares about is her physical appearance - he'll zone out multiple times whilst she's talking just to focus on her features. He doesn't have a real relationship with her, and he knows nothing about her at all. He's too afraid to open himself up to someone real, preferring instead to engage with something that's physically rewarding in the short term but emotionally hollow. He's trying to escape his depression with pornography. I'd love to praise this if there was any indication that it was intentional, but once again there isn't. It appears that you're supposed to take this postcard picture of a woman seriously as a character.

The ending of the novel is one of the worst offenders of all. Tom has sex with his girlfriend and his depression is instantly cured forever. I'm not being facetious, the book's final line claims "Tom Brennan came back forever" implying that he will never suffer through depression again. This is quite genuinely some of the worst advice I've ever heard. You should never use another person (a romantic partner or otherwise) as a crutch to stabilise your mental health issues. You should never put off trying to get help or even self-reflection in the hopes that someone will come along to whisk you out of your mental illness. What happens when Tom and his girlfriend break up, like most teenage couples do? Will Tom rescind into depression again, or has the memory of sex completely changed how Tom feels about his brother's incarceration?

Improving your mental condition doesn't come from a bottle, or from a quick fling like Burke might have you believe. It starts from you making a decision to make life better for yourself.

[Banafsheh Serov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Brennan and his family are forced to leave their home in the small town of Mumbilli, and move in with their grandmother in the nearby town of Coghill. Their move follows a tragedy involving Tom’s brother Daniel after a night of celebration. Feeling trapped and claustrophobic Tom is haunted daily by the memory of the tragedy. Throughout the story each member of the Brennan family struggles to come to terms with their new situation. At the same time Burke slowly reveals the dark side of Daniel’s character that had lead to the tragedy.

The Story of Tom Brennan is both a coming of age book and an illustration of how quickly the trajectory of our lives can change over a single incident. Tom and his family must come to terms with the new course their lives have taken and learn to tap into their inner strength to help them survive it.

This book is also a meditation on our innate need to belong, to love and find acceptance. It is an ode to the human spirit and its ability to rise under the most trying circumstances.

[Kayshini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reckon this is a very intense and meaningful book. The reason being is that the author writes with a stylistic and natural approach, thus capturing the reader's hearts, and tactfully drawing us into reading the book further. Not only does this book focus on Australia's contemporary 'youth culture', but it also brings about a stark, central message to its readers; That change is an inevitable part of one's existence and it enables an individual to develop maturity throughout the course of their lives, which in this case, is the protagonist's, Tom's transition into a new world. He develops a broader and deeper understanding of himself and others around him. As a final evaluation, i personally enjoyed reading this book, and it was a catalyst for the 'change' in me as well. To simply put it, it spurred my interest in developing my reading habits. This is because the novel is enriched with wonderful, vivid imagery with a great central message. A must read! :)

[Nathan Steel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A female author writes about the life of a teenage adolescent male and nearly kills me. I had to do my HSC on this, so thanks a lot J.C. Burke! Tom Brennan is a whiny little pervert and J.C. Burke puts an uncomfortable amount of effort into describing his erection whenever the obligatory love interest shows up. Tom's brother was in a drunk driving accident and his life is ruined now! Everyone wants him to try Rugby but he just isn't feeling it anymore! *psst* I don't give a sh*t about Rugby and this is the fourth book I've read in school about Rugby so thanks for adding on. You're very original. Also, thanks for adding in all that Aussie slang, the literary equivalent of having someone drag their fingernails down a chalkboard. In the end, J.C. Burke, you make me hate the fact that I exist, cheers MATE!

[Stephie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite a good book. Nice to read a story like this from the perspective of an introverted and quiet male teen. Felt a bit predictable, but not in a bad way really. The point of this book was not the outcome or the ending. I liked how Daniel was portrayed. He was shown to be selfish, foolish and arrogant, but also pathetic, troubled and misguided -- qualities that made him forgivable. An interesting account of grief and a good read for adults, not just teens.

[Lint · Rating 4 out of 5]

This. Book. Was. Unbelievable.

My sister was too lazy to read it so she gave it to me to read, although I'm glad she did.

Not one of my favourite reads but it was good.

I think Tom Brennan gained whole lot of life experience. From the accident to moving houses.

He hated his brother, Daniel, but love overruled his hate.

This book was about taking your own paths and making the most of it.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

What even is this? Good luck to fellow Yr 12s studying this prescribed text for the HSC.

Side note: Not a fan of the way the author utilised aussie slang throughout. Rather than making us aussie readers feel at home, it made me feel a bit awkward and internally cringe at it's bad placement throughout the story.

[Naomi Darcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book when I was younger, Great message - makes you consider how your own actions/decisons affect others. Characters are australian and very relatable.

[Chloe B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most dramatic town ever

[Aaron Giovanni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was, like many other Australians on this site, forced to read this book as an attempt to connect the Year 10 English classes with their national identity, as well as explore and analyse their familial relationships. I read it in about three days.

I did not enjoy it.

*Spoilers throughout* - The Story of Tom Brennan is a strange book. It starts off with the Brennans' new life, stuck at their fanatically religious grandmother's house, having an Australia Day lunch. Immediately, we get hints of the broken family that has formed after Tom's brother, Daniel's, heavily-referred to "accident". From the get-go, we are inundated with comments of this accident, always said with hushed tones and morbid expressions, and with such dramaticism that I immediately presumed Daniel had died. We get snippets of the accident throughout the book, but it isn't until Chapter 5 that we finally find out that Daniel is in fact, not dead, but in prison.

I was surprised as well. I immediately thought, 'Well, what could he have done? Been a serial killer? Murdered someone?'. The options were endless. However, in the next chapter, we discover that Daniel had been involved in a drunk driving accident which resulted in the deaths of two of his friends and his cousin, Finn, becoming a paraplegic.

Obviously, this is an awful thing to have happened, but when you examine the reactions of the family to the tragedy, it seems a bit ... well, odd. Especially when we are privy to Tom's internal monologue, which throughout the book, see-saws between hating Daniel for ruining his life, and feeling terrible for Daniel and pitying him. Yes, of course, there should be an amount of pity for Daniel felt by the readers throughout the book - after all, he accidentally killed his two friends and forced his rugby-prodigy cousin into a wheelchair. But throughout the book, we see more snippets of Daniel and what he was like, and, well ... there's not really a nice way to say this. He's a dick.

We see Daniel abusing his girlfriend, siblings, cousins and manipulating everyone around him, as well as using his anger issues to intimidate people to never speak up about his behaviour. The reason that he got so drunk the night of the accident was because he knew his girlfriend, Claire, liked his cousin, Finn, and so he spent the entire night yelling and fighting with him, even though it wasn't Finn's fault. And then, in the weeks after the accident, he spends all his time in his room, never talking to anyone but his ex-girlfriend and his mother, and focuses all attention on him by attempting to garner pity from everyone in his family. His "woe-is-me" routine gets really old really fast. He never once develops, matures, or acknowledges that his anger issues and self-entitlement were the reasons that the accident happened, he just talks about how much he wants to kill himself for what he did.

Now, as someone that suffers from mental health issues myself, I can empathise completely with Daniel, and as an extension, Tom, because I know what depression is like. However, I'm not sure why Burke decided to have mental health as a theme, because she does nothing with it. Neither Tom nor Daniel develop in a clear or realistic way, and Tom's moment of clarity and peace in the book is at the end where he and Chrissy have sex for the first time, which creates an invalidating and simplistic idea of the 'cure' for mental health issues.

And then there's Chrissy, who segues so well into my real problem with this book.

The female characters. They were written ridiculously poorly, especially when you compare them to the (admittedly, little) development and complexities the male characters receive.

There are only really five female characters in The Story of Tom Brennan - Tom's younger sister, Kylie, Tom's grandmother, Tom's mother, Tom's Aunt Kath and Tom's eventual girlfriend, Chrissy. The first thing that I'd like to point out is that The Story of Tom Brennan does not pass the Bechdel test (though to clarify, the Bechdel test is not 100% accurate when looking at female representation - it is, however, a good indicator). None of the female characters above are ever seen talking to another woman about something other than a man - which includes something other than Daniel, Brendan's sexuality (which I'll get to later) or Tom's rugby career. They are used only as props for Tom's inner monologue and to provide objects of angst or desire for him.

[NESA's Child · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is truly a work of art in the world of contemporary fiction. Attempting to appeal to both the young adults and the future generation of English scholars who are forced to read this book as part of their year 12 English schooling in NSW. Yes this prescribed text indeed shows the evidence that the future of young adult's literature is going down the drain and slowly corrupting a modern day society among the inhabitants undertaking a study of this text.

This book lacks consistency in it's direction and fails to drive the story within it's context it is trying to pursue. It seems that author J.C. Burke was confused in what she was trying to convey. Attempting to put herself in the mind of a teenager however failing miserably with her consistent usage of f words and irrelevant swearing purely as a way to appeal to the younger demographic. This book can indeed be classified as racist among the Australian population. Suggesting that all Australians are inbred, low-class bogans who are the cause of car crashes in a modern day society. The amalgamation between the book's plot and the teenage demographic is depicted without any doubt. As the cliche plot of a young boy moving towns after an accident is blandly represented in this text as there are many more superior texts which could be read and analysed which share similar themes.

J.C. Burke's brain has suggested she is slowly losing her mind and becoming a patient of schizophrenia. Her random flashbacks and tale of events confuse the reader as the story is told all over the place with a very thin link between the different scenes and events which occur. With the Brennan's story arc, it seemed that Daniel Brennan deserved to die in the first place due to his inconceivable actions and making Australia look like a piss-field, toxic wastelands who feeds off of alcohol for fuel which leads to larger death counts since the beginning of the Holocaust.

I think I speak on the behalf of every HSC student when I say, NESA really needs to check their syllabus and choose books which are both relevant to Australian society and hold an interesting premise to make Module C fun and interactive. The only outcome I got out of reading this was losing a few brain cells, developing an extra chromosome and making me want to drop out of school so I never have to lay eyes on another horrendous book such as this one. This book makes me want to go and crash my 1997 Subaru Impreza behind a tree so I never have to witness the toxicity that the English language has become. If anything, this book should be prescribed to the special school syllabus, as they are taught how NOT to write a novel.

In conclusion, myself and fellow HSC student Ya Boi HSC has made it quite clear that this book is an absolute atrocity which should not even classified as a book. Before I researched the author online, I thought J.C. Burke was a 7 year old, down syndrome child who's attempt was to write a book which magically won the 2005 Premier's reading challenge in which she was congratulated for her efforts. I've said enough, so I am ending this review while I start my car with high revs.

3
2
1.......
CRASHHHHH


RIP (2000-2018)

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Like many of us here who had to read the book, I’m assuming we all had to do it because it is part of our high school curriculum. I didn’t even get to chapter 4 and he’s already sexualising all the girls he can see, revealed that his brother got away abusing his girlfriends because of his “rage and anger,” and no body did anything about it. I’m beyond angry that the teachers are making us read such a pathetic book that has no meaning now due to it being very sexist. I can only imagine that later on in the book it will probably be homophobic and most likely racist. The age of this book is so old that these things were “normal” when it was published but I find it rude, disrespectful and absolutely disgusting that they make us read it now when there is such sensitive topics.
I myself love English as a subject but I will not sit around and tolerate being yelled at because I don’t want to read a book about “Tom Brennan” sexualising girls and describing their “smooth legs” in every detail imaginable. It is disgusting and perverted.
I will not tolerate this book anymore, it needs to stay in the year it was published not in a more evolved, welcoming modern society. It is like the curriculum is trying to take us back to when it was only the straight white men who have rights.
⚠️it isn’t all straight white men but the ones who are sexist, perverted and disgusting. ⚠️
I hate this book and hope that the schools will no longer put it in their curriculum because this is not an appropriate read for anyone, especially the people who might take notes from it and think that this is a good way to treat human beings because it is most certainly not. We are in good, accepting times and should not be reading something as wrong as this book.
This book is a never read and I hope this gets banned from shelves especially the ones of those who are growing into adults. This is most certainly NOT a children’s book and is shaping young minds into thinking that this behaviour of treating women and girls is okay, IT IS NOT AND NEEDS TO BE REMOVED IMMEDIATELY!