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Of a Boy
The year is 1977, and Adrian is nine. He lives with his gran and his uncle Rory; his best friend is Clinton Tull. He loves to draw and he wants a dog; he's afraid of quicksand and self-combustion. Adrian watches his suburban world, but there is much he cannot understand. He does not, for instance, know why three neighbourhood children might set out to buy ice-cream and never come back home . . .
188 pages, Paperback
First published October 19, 2000
33 people are currently reading
947 people want to read
About the author
Sonya Hartnett
42 books311 followersSonya Hartnett (also works under the pseudonym Cameron S. Redfern) is, or was, something of an Australian child prodigy author. She wrote her first novel at the age of thirteen, and had it published at fifteen. Her books have also been published in Europe and North America. Her novels have been published traditionally as young adult fiction, but her writing often crosses the divide and is also enjoyed by adults.
"I chose to narrate the story through a child because people like children, they WANT to like them," says Sonya Hartnett of THURSDAY'S CHILD, her brilliantly original coming-of-age story set during the Great Depression. "Harper [the young narrator] is the reason you get sucked into the characters. Even I, who like to distance myself from my characters, felt protective of her."
The acclaimed author of several award-winning young adult novels--the first written when she was just 13--Australian native Sonya Hartnett says she wrote THURSDAY'S CHILD in a mere three months. "It just pulled itself together," she says. "I'd wanted to set a story in the Depression for some time, in an isolated community that was strongly supportive. Once the dual ideas of the boy who tunneled and the young girl as narrator gelled, it almost wrote itself--I had the cast, I had the setting, I just said 'go.' " Accustomed to writing about edgy young adult characters, Sonya Hartnett says that identifying with a seven-year-old protagonist was a challenge at first. "I found her difficult to approach," she admits. "I'm not really used to children. But once I started, I found you could have fun with her: she could tell lies, she could deny the truth." Whereas most children know "only what adults want them to know," the author discovered she could bypass that limitation by "turning Harper into an eavesdropper and giving her older siblings to reveal realities."
In her second book with Candlewick Press, WHAT THE BIRDS SEE, Sonya Hartnett once again creates a portrait of childhood. This time the subject is Adrian, a nine-year-old boy living in the suburbs with his gran and Uncle. For Adrian, childhood is shaped by fear: his dread of quicksand, shopping centers, and self-combustion. Then one day, three neighborhood children vanish--an incident based on a real case in Australia in the 1960s--and Adrian comes to see just how tenuous his safety net is. In speaking about Adrian, the author provocatively reveals parallels between herself and her character. She says, "Adrian is me in many respects, and many of the things that happen to him happened to me."
Sonya Hartnett's consistently inspired writing has built her a legion of devotees. Of THURSDAY'S CHILD, Newbery Honor-winning author Carolyn Coman says, "Hartnett's beautifully rendered vision drew me in from the very start and carried me along, above and under ground, to the very end. This book amazed me." The achingly beautiful WHAT THE BIRDS SEE has just as quickly garnered critical acclaim. Notes PUBLISHERS WEEKLY in a starred review, "Hartnett again captures the ineffable fragility of childhood in this keenly observed tale. . . . Sophisticated readers will appreciate the work's acuity and poetic integrity." Sonya Hartnett's third young adult novel, STRIPES OF THE SIDESTEP WOLF was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.
Sonya Hartnett lives near Melbourne, Australia. Her most recent novels are SURRENDER, a mesmerizing psychological thriller, and THE SILVER DONKEY, a gently told fable for middle-grade readers.
"I chose to narrate the story through a child because people like children, they WANT to like them," says Sonya Hartnett of THURSDAY'S CHILD, her brilliantly original coming-of-age story set during the Great Depression. "Harper [the young narrator] is the reason you get sucked into the characters. Even I, who like to distance myself from my characters, felt protective of her."
The acclaimed author of several award-winning young adult novels--the first written when she was just 13--Australian native Sonya Hartnett says she wrote THURSDAY'S CHILD in a mere three months. "It just pulled itself together," she says. "I'd wanted to set a story in the Depression for some time, in an isolated community that was strongly supportive. Once the dual ideas of the boy who tunneled and the young girl as narrator gelled, it almost wrote itself--I had the cast, I had the setting, I just said 'go.' " Accustomed to writing about edgy young adult characters, Sonya Hartnett says that identifying with a seven-year-old protagonist was a challenge at first. "I found her difficult to approach," she admits. "I'm not really used to children. But once I started, I found you could have fun with her: she could tell lies, she could deny the truth." Whereas most children know "only what adults want them to know," the author discovered she could bypass that limitation by "turning Harper into an eavesdropper and giving her older siblings to reveal realities."
In her second book with Candlewick Press, WHAT THE BIRDS SEE, Sonya Hartnett once again creates a portrait of childhood. This time the subject is Adrian, a nine-year-old boy living in the suburbs with his gran and Uncle. For Adrian, childhood is shaped by fear: his dread of quicksand, shopping centers, and self-combustion. Then one day, three neighborhood children vanish--an incident based on a real case in Australia in the 1960s--and Adrian comes to see just how tenuous his safety net is. In speaking about Adrian, the author provocatively reveals parallels between herself and her character. She says, "Adrian is me in many respects, and many of the things that happen to him happened to me."
Sonya Hartnett's consistently inspired writing has built her a legion of devotees. Of THURSDAY'S CHILD, Newbery Honor-winning author Carolyn Coman says, "Hartnett's beautifully rendered vision drew me in from the very start and carried me along, above and under ground, to the very end. This book amazed me." The achingly beautiful WHAT THE BIRDS SEE has just as quickly garnered critical acclaim. Notes PUBLISHERS WEEKLY in a starred review, "Hartnett again captures the ineffable fragility of childhood in this keenly observed tale. . . . Sophisticated readers will appreciate the work's acuity and poetic integrity." Sonya Hartnett's third young adult novel, STRIPES OF THE SIDESTEP WOLF was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.
Sonya Hartnett lives near Melbourne, Australia. Her most recent novels are SURRENDER, a mesmerizing psychological thriller, and THE SILVER DONKEY, a gently told fable for middle-grade readers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 202 reviews
November 6, 2017
Fantastically gifted author. Just seems to be too bleak for me, as was Golden Boys. The hardest of lives are explained vividly and with realness. Depressing childhoods, and the inner most thoughts of youth that have no chance in life.
Sonya Hartnett has a writing skill that I think honestly I have rarely seen. The year is 1977 and Adrian lives with his grandmother. This always raises suspicion- no, he shouldn't be living with his grandma, he should be with his parents. The reasons for this, like the assumption that is always there, are bad. A child that feels unwanted and hopeless. Grandma is trying to give him the chance, but she's feeling unworthy of her role, too.
Heartbreaking and just plain sad.
This author is one I will read again, her story lines intrigue me, and I am left wondering why she tells stories of such bleakness. She tells them so well, though.
This was an audio read, narrated by talented Humphrey Bower.
Australian life in the 70's was tough for this lot, the final imagery horrifying.
Sonya Hartnett has a writing skill that I think honestly I have rarely seen. The year is 1977 and Adrian lives with his grandmother. This always raises suspicion- no, he shouldn't be living with his grandma, he should be with his parents. The reasons for this, like the assumption that is always there, are bad. A child that feels unwanted and hopeless. Grandma is trying to give him the chance, but she's feeling unworthy of her role, too.
Heartbreaking and just plain sad.
This author is one I will read again, her story lines intrigue me, and I am left wondering why she tells stories of such bleakness. She tells them so well, though.
This was an audio read, narrated by talented Humphrey Bower.
Australian life in the 70's was tough for this lot, the final imagery horrifying.
November 18, 2015
Exceptional! One of those books you need to experience for yourself to feel it’s magic working itself into your skin. Listening to it on audiobook, I was spellbound by Hartnett’s rich lyrical phrases, and Bower’s deep compassionate voice. These two were a match made in heaven.
I don’t believe I’ve ever come across someone like Sonya Hartnett that is so attuned to a young child’s mind, their fears and emotions and to be able express it so accurately on paper. Of A Boy highlights what constant rejection can do to a child, and how easily they can misinterpret what they see or hear to a point where they fret.
This is a story of a gentle boy, 9 years old Adrian, who lives in suburban Australia. Taken away from his unfit mother, abandon by his father, he has come to live with his grandmother who shows no compassion. She is under the belief to be firm the boy will toughen up. He is a boy who is trying to understand the world as he sees it. An outcast at school, lonely at home, he is consumed with worries and anxieties of being lost or forgotten.
The time and setting was remarkable accomplished and effective, bring back early memories of growing up in the late 70’s. It’s set in 1977, reminiscent of a time when toys as simple as a slinky are precious and would provide us with hours of amusement and fun. A bowl of plain vanilla ice cream after dinner – nothing to fancy but it was heavenly. When children had the freedom to play outdoors; in the park or on the nature strip unsupervised. But it’s also a reminder that it might be the beginning to an end to freedom. Playing in the background - on the news and on the radio - we hear of the disappearance of three children in a neighbouring suburb. Walking to the local milk bar to buy ice cream, witness claim they saw a skinny man walking behind but didn’t think much of it. It shook the community. You can see that parents are now becoming hesitant of letting their children wander off too far.
This is truly a memorable, haunting and profoundly moving book.
I don’t believe I’ve ever come across someone like Sonya Hartnett that is so attuned to a young child’s mind, their fears and emotions and to be able express it so accurately on paper. Of A Boy highlights what constant rejection can do to a child, and how easily they can misinterpret what they see or hear to a point where they fret.
This is a story of a gentle boy, 9 years old Adrian, who lives in suburban Australia. Taken away from his unfit mother, abandon by his father, he has come to live with his grandmother who shows no compassion. She is under the belief to be firm the boy will toughen up. He is a boy who is trying to understand the world as he sees it. An outcast at school, lonely at home, he is consumed with worries and anxieties of being lost or forgotten.
The time and setting was remarkable accomplished and effective, bring back early memories of growing up in the late 70’s. It’s set in 1977, reminiscent of a time when toys as simple as a slinky are precious and would provide us with hours of amusement and fun. A bowl of plain vanilla ice cream after dinner – nothing to fancy but it was heavenly. When children had the freedom to play outdoors; in the park or on the nature strip unsupervised. But it’s also a reminder that it might be the beginning to an end to freedom. Playing in the background - on the news and on the radio - we hear of the disappearance of three children in a neighbouring suburb. Walking to the local milk bar to buy ice cream, witness claim they saw a skinny man walking behind but didn’t think much of it. It shook the community. You can see that parents are now becoming hesitant of letting their children wander off too far.
This is truly a memorable, haunting and profoundly moving book.
March 1, 2022
I don't know what it was up against, but this little landmine of a book deserves every award and accolade it received. It goes along softly and steadily so that you hardly even notice the tension ratcheting up, then ends with such a bang. I couldn't think straight for hours.
Set in suburban Australia (let's be real - this is Adelaide) in the 1970s, a community is on edge following the disappearance of 3 small children, two Metford sisters and their even younger brother, during an unsupervised walk to their local milkbar. Eight year old Adrian, who lives with his grandmother and uncle about 20 minutes away, is mature enough to understand that - whatever happened - it could equally have happened to a child such as him. But, as is the way with young kids, his interest in the news is quickly arrested and drawn away by the discovery of a sea-monster by a Japanese fishing crew. The weeks pass.
Adrian becomes acquainted with the children who have recently moved in across the road. It's not lost on him that they are two girls with a younger brother. Just a coincidence, but it serves to keep the Metfords in Adrian's mind. When the eldest, Nicole, tells Adrian she knows where the Metfords are, he's not convinced but gives her the benefit of the doubt.
There are some really interesting characters in this book - Horsegirl, uncle Rory and even Adrian's best friend Clinton, whose glasses are thick enough to hold back the tide, never sees a football coming before it booms off his brow (love that line!). But it was a short book which only gave me the time to become totally invested in one character and that was Adrian. This smart, sensitive little boy squeezed my heart so hard... When he said to uncle Rory "Everybody leaves me. I'm not allowed to be anywhere" it was almost more than I could bear.
First class Australian fiction, highly recommended.
Set in suburban Australia (let's be real - this is Adelaide) in the 1970s, a community is on edge following the disappearance of 3 small children, two Metford sisters and their even younger brother, during an unsupervised walk to their local milkbar. Eight year old Adrian, who lives with his grandmother and uncle about 20 minutes away, is mature enough to understand that - whatever happened - it could equally have happened to a child such as him. But, as is the way with young kids, his interest in the news is quickly arrested and drawn away by the discovery of a sea-monster by a Japanese fishing crew. The weeks pass.
Adrian becomes acquainted with the children who have recently moved in across the road. It's not lost on him that they are two girls with a younger brother. Just a coincidence, but it serves to keep the Metfords in Adrian's mind. When the eldest, Nicole, tells Adrian she knows where the Metfords are, he's not convinced but gives her the benefit of the doubt.
There are some really interesting characters in this book - Horsegirl, uncle Rory and even Adrian's best friend Clinton, whose glasses are thick enough to hold back the tide, never sees a football coming before it booms off his brow (love that line!). But it was a short book which only gave me the time to become totally invested in one character and that was Adrian. This smart, sensitive little boy squeezed my heart so hard... When he said to uncle Rory "Everybody leaves me. I'm not allowed to be anywhere" it was almost more than I could bear.
First class Australian fiction, highly recommended.
April 23, 2016
This story relates an unsettling view of life through the eyes of nine year old Adrian, who has been sent to live with his grandmother because his mother can't, and his father won't look after him.
Adrian is a good boy who is no trouble at all to anyone, he is quiet and makes no fuss about anything, he just looks after himself.
Although he doesn't understand why his father is giving him away, he knows the reason, because he overheard the conversation with his grandmother and heard his father say it...and it makes him feel useless.
So far his little life journey has been less than promising.
It is the year 1977 and the news seems to be filled with only bad things, Adrian wonders why they don't say more about interesting things, the sort of things he thinks that people would like to hear about, like the sea monster that was found by fishermen.
Three good children who live in his neighborhood have disappeared whilst going to the shop for ice cream and it has shocked everyone, it is unreasonable and frightening and doesn't make any sense. Their broken mother and father keep appearing on the news too.
I could relate to so much of this story that it was spooky. Adrian's fear of quicksand and self combustion for one, were (incredibly) two of my own greatest fears as a very young child, the former due to parts of a black and white movie I saw on TV which I don't know the name of yet have never forgotten, and the latter due to an excessive amount of static electricity which always cursed me as a child convincing me that it was the reason why people spontaneously self combusted!
As a child I seriously thought my days were numbered living with such variables!
I can also relate to that era and found it a very convincing portrayal of life at that time in a suburban Australian home or landscape.
Sonya Hartnett has an amazing way of capturing the essence of those particularly ravenous demons that haunt and torture a child's days and nights.
Her descriptions are so lifelike as to almost feel like a memory, they are poignant and intense, the writing is beautiful.
This was a very moving story, I felt so sad for Adrian's lot in life, and his all too tiny footprint.
Brilliant writing by Sonya Hartnett and wonderfully sensitive narration by Humphrey Bower.
5★s
February 27, 2015
Of A Boy impressed me just as much, if not more, the second time around.
Sonya Hartnett is a brilliant storyteller. Despite the story being set in 1977 it still reminded me of my childhood in the 80's. I'm sure it would easily transcend to other generations as well. Childhood memories and feelings come flooding back when reading this novel.
Of A Boy reads easily, don't mistake that to mean it is simple though. This novel's punch has a powerful impact.
Sonya Hartnett has a way with descriptions that make you feel like you are right there and are experiencing it all without any exertion (compared to some other authors who basically make reading descriptions feel like a hard slog up a steep hill)
I think this book is a must read.
Sonya Hartnett is a brilliant storyteller. Despite the story being set in 1977 it still reminded me of my childhood in the 80's. I'm sure it would easily transcend to other generations as well. Childhood memories and feelings come flooding back when reading this novel.
Of A Boy reads easily, don't mistake that to mean it is simple though. This novel's punch has a powerful impact.
Sonya Hartnett has a way with descriptions that make you feel like you are right there and are experiencing it all without any exertion (compared to some other authors who basically make reading descriptions feel like a hard slog up a steep hill)
I think this book is a must read.
September 10, 2019
Listened to on audiobook via BorrowBox!
Set in 1970s Australia, a young nine-year-old living with his Grandmother becomes obsessed with a shocking crime involving three missing children from a park, vanishing just after they bought ice-cream. Soon after, he struggles with school and becomes friends with a group of children from a mysterious household down the street. The listen was haunting and atmospheric, however, the ending felt a little rushed and confusing. Not all of the questions I had about the story were conclusively answered. Some good ideas, but the execution fell a little flat for me!
Set in 1970s Australia, a young nine-year-old living with his Grandmother becomes obsessed with a shocking crime involving three missing children from a park, vanishing just after they bought ice-cream. Soon after, he struggles with school and becomes friends with a group of children from a mysterious household down the street. The listen was haunting and atmospheric, however, the ending felt a little rushed and confusing. Not all of the questions I had about the story were conclusively answered. Some good ideas, but the execution fell a little flat for me!
February 28, 2016
one of the saddest books I've read in a long, long time
July 7, 2018
A melancholy story of children fighting to grow up in a world full of obstacles.
Well written and thought provoking.
Well written and thought provoking.
March 9, 2011
Another book that makes you want to know what is going on and kept me reading, but solves nothing in the end and left me quite confused. Reminds me of a book I would have to read for an English class and then write essays that debated what we thought.
February 25, 2016
I have never read such a gloomy book. It was 100% sadness. I have also never read such a well written book. Although I hated the story, I didn't stop reading it because it was so beautifully crafted.
1 star for the story
5 stars for the writing.
1 star for the story
5 stars for the writing.
April 10, 2024
this book is incredible. i am gripped from beginning to end, experiencing the quiet despair of a child as anxious as adrian. it hit so close to home, the irrational fears, the loneliness, the powerlessness. hartnett has perfectly encapsulated what it feels like to be 9 years old and drowning in your own thoughts. a slinky is priceless, friends approval is necessary for survival, being in trouble feels like the end of the world. her words sing and i am able to catch every image and feeling she details. here’s one that struck me today:
“Adrian does not budge, determined to seem unafraid; then he ducks back into the blackness, which takes him whole. Rory hears him shuffling down the hall, his fingers ticking blindly along the wood panel-ing, the soles of his naked feet tacking, with each step, to the polish of the floor.”
“Adrian has not taken his eyes from the bird. Its head has sunk, the beak sliding between his fingers. It has flown away, leaving feathers and bones in his hands. He thinks it is amazing that it should die so gently, without a sound. A bird is noise, until the end. The girl is still smudging tears from her face, and he doesn't want to tell her. He lowers the creature carefully among the weeds, and its head sags to one side. He tries to straighten it with a finger, but the girl has already seen. "Oh," she says,
"it's died."
"Maybe it's sleeping ..."
"No, it's dead. Poor little thing."
Together they consider the corpse.”
like LISTEN to that!!!! i’ve never read writing like that!
every character is so haunted by their own past, their tragedies and losses, that none of them are able to connect. it’s so so sad.
it’s flowery in a way that gives the entire book a specific dark feeling, a hostile, prickly world seen through the eyes of a kid. i think sonya hartnett is my favorite author with just this book. i am so endeared to Adrian, he feels like me.
that last poem really fucked me up. it felt dismissive yet peaceful. the ending has haunted me since i read it 10 years ago.
my friends pls read this challenge so we can talk abt it!!!
“Adrian does not budge, determined to seem unafraid; then he ducks back into the blackness, which takes him whole. Rory hears him shuffling down the hall, his fingers ticking blindly along the wood panel-ing, the soles of his naked feet tacking, with each step, to the polish of the floor.”
“Adrian has not taken his eyes from the bird. Its head has sunk, the beak sliding between his fingers. It has flown away, leaving feathers and bones in his hands. He thinks it is amazing that it should die so gently, without a sound. A bird is noise, until the end. The girl is still smudging tears from her face, and he doesn't want to tell her. He lowers the creature carefully among the weeds, and its head sags to one side. He tries to straighten it with a finger, but the girl has already seen. "Oh," she says,
"it's died."
"Maybe it's sleeping ..."
"No, it's dead. Poor little thing."
Together they consider the corpse.”
like LISTEN to that!!!! i’ve never read writing like that!
every character is so haunted by their own past, their tragedies and losses, that none of them are able to connect. it’s so so sad.
it’s flowery in a way that gives the entire book a specific dark feeling, a hostile, prickly world seen through the eyes of a kid. i think sonya hartnett is my favorite author with just this book. i am so endeared to Adrian, he feels like me.
that last poem really fucked me up. it felt dismissive yet peaceful. the ending has haunted me since i read it 10 years ago.
my friends pls read this challenge so we can talk abt it!!!
July 11, 2016
Also published under the title 'Of A Boy'.
This slight volume packs a huge emotional punch, capturing in exquisite detail what it is like to be a sensitive, lonely boy of nine.
Adrian lives with his grandmother and reclusive uncle after he was removed from the care of his mother and abandoned by his father. All Adrian really wants is to draw, and to have a dog to love and befriend. School is made bearable through his one friend, Clinton Tull. The description of his home, and of Mrs Tull, is like something from Dickens and is a moment of warmth and humour in what is really a bleak tale. Hartnett's exquisite writing depicts life in the playground and classroom in heartbreaking detail.
Home is made bearable by the family who move in across the road. Twelve year old Nicole gives Adrian another friend and an escape from the house where he is barely tolerated by his widowed grandmother - or 'grandmonster'. Nicole's approval becomes all the more important to him when he loses Clinton to one of the more popular boys.
Threading through the story is the mystery of the three Metford children. These children from a nearby suburb disappeared without trace between their home and the local dairy where they were going to buy ice cream. Nicole's fascination with this mystery will have dire consequences for Adrian in the shock ending.
The portraits of his grandmother, Beattie, and Uncle Rory are quickly drawn but offer such devastating glimpses into lives stunted by choices and circumstances it is impossible to blame them fully for their emotional abandonment of Adrian.
This is a heartbreaking story, beautifully told. The only note that rung off-tone for me was the final chapter.
This slight volume packs a huge emotional punch, capturing in exquisite detail what it is like to be a sensitive, lonely boy of nine.
Adrian lives with his grandmother and reclusive uncle after he was removed from the care of his mother and abandoned by his father. All Adrian really wants is to draw, and to have a dog to love and befriend. School is made bearable through his one friend, Clinton Tull. The description of his home, and of Mrs Tull, is like something from Dickens and is a moment of warmth and humour in what is really a bleak tale. Hartnett's exquisite writing depicts life in the playground and classroom in heartbreaking detail.
Home is made bearable by the family who move in across the road. Twelve year old Nicole gives Adrian another friend and an escape from the house where he is barely tolerated by his widowed grandmother - or 'grandmonster'. Nicole's approval becomes all the more important to him when he loses Clinton to one of the more popular boys.
Threading through the story is the mystery of the three Metford children. These children from a nearby suburb disappeared without trace between their home and the local dairy where they were going to buy ice cream. Nicole's fascination with this mystery will have dire consequences for Adrian in the shock ending.
The portraits of his grandmother, Beattie, and Uncle Rory are quickly drawn but offer such devastating glimpses into lives stunted by choices and circumstances it is impossible to blame them fully for their emotional abandonment of Adrian.
This is a heartbreaking story, beautifully told. The only note that rung off-tone for me was the final chapter.
September 21, 2009
I got this book out of the young adult section, but I'm not putting it on my 'young adult shelf' because (echoing many other reviews) I think that it is really much too complicated and dark for most young people. I don't say this because I think teens can't handle dark and complex (in fact, I think many seek it out), but because by ending the book with the deaths of the two misfit, outcast children, Hartnett can be understood to be saying that this is the only way their suffering could end.
I don't think this is the only truth, but I do think that young people are less able to see all sides of an issue, given that they have fewer years to develop a healthy sense of perspective. They may not see, for instance, that Hartnett was using the children's tragedy to highlight the way that adults can fail children, and still not see their own influence. I think this was also illustrated in the character of Horsegirl (Sandra) and her eventual downfall.
There is very little happiness in this book, and if you're already feeling blue, I wouldn't suggest picking it up. There is an constant theme of unending suffering running throughout, with little sunshine to break it up (and the little sunshine there is never stays pure - such as the incident with the sea monster painting). But it is beautifully written, and the emotions of the characters are clearly and truly conveyed, to the point where the reader can care for them as real people. And isn't this why we read fiction?
I don't think this is the only truth, but I do think that young people are less able to see all sides of an issue, given that they have fewer years to develop a healthy sense of perspective. They may not see, for instance, that Hartnett was using the children's tragedy to highlight the way that adults can fail children, and still not see their own influence. I think this was also illustrated in the character of Horsegirl (Sandra) and her eventual downfall.
There is very little happiness in this book, and if you're already feeling blue, I wouldn't suggest picking it up. There is an constant theme of unending suffering running throughout, with little sunshine to break it up (and the little sunshine there is never stays pure - such as the incident with the sea monster painting). But it is beautifully written, and the emotions of the characters are clearly and truly conveyed, to the point where the reader can care for them as real people. And isn't this why we read fiction?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 18, 2010
Another book for the DO NOT READ shelf. I've read a couple of books lately from what I am calling the "oversensitive child" genre. It must come from adults having too much therapy or something. And from not having any real children. Can you say "Cipher in the Snow," only beautifully written? Beautiful writing is no excuse for morose, completely hopeless, depressing content. Sorry! but I've seen real children suffer excruciatingly and survive--this is not real, it's just depressing. Put down the book and go volunteer somewhere.
January 4, 2019
Book 9
Of a Boy
Sonya Hartnett
2002
4/5
This a very bleak book. It's about a lonely child, his grandmother doubting her strength to raise him properly, and also a mystery about three missing children. I think the author does an excellent job curbing the dreadful sense of abandonment and loneliness, on the surface, which is closer perhaps to how children actually feel it and place it living as they have to in an adult's world. The ending, the revelation to the mystery, is realistic, effective and very very sad.
Of a Boy
Sonya Hartnett
2002
4/5
This a very bleak book. It's about a lonely child, his grandmother doubting her strength to raise him properly, and also a mystery about three missing children. I think the author does an excellent job curbing the dreadful sense of abandonment and loneliness, on the surface, which is closer perhaps to how children actually feel it and place it living as they have to in an adult's world. The ending, the revelation to the mystery, is realistic, effective and very very sad.
May 3, 2012
What a range of emotions going through this simple book, and it ended with me thinking WTF (and I never swear!). The ending blew me away, I was not expecting it, but as harsh as it was, it was a plausible ending. I enjoyed reminiscing parts of my childhood along with Adrian ... I remember my first slinky, Young Doctors on television and the school yard. I would perhaps have liked a little bit more after the end, maybe!
March 10, 2025
The rating is predominately connected to the main character. The story is so well narrated, but in some parts I had the feeling, that at least for me, I was missing some additional context. But through the story I had the feeling I was there, being a mischief with the rest of the group.
January 9, 2020
Absolutely heartbreaking. Sonya Hartnett’s writing is not only beautiful, but also full of truth which makes it irresistible. Of A Boy is set in 1977, and nine-year-old Adrian struggles to make sense of the disappearance of three children and of his own existence.
Adrian is anxious, he struggles with his own troubled past and his need to belong. Children can be cruel and so can the adults who are entrusted with their care. Cruelty, power and mental health are strong themes in this book which is as beautifully written as it is heartbreaking. At times, it reminded me of Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Highly recommended for lovers of Australian literature.
Adrian is anxious, he struggles with his own troubled past and his need to belong. Children can be cruel and so can the adults who are entrusted with their care. Cruelty, power and mental health are strong themes in this book which is as beautifully written as it is heartbreaking. At times, it reminded me of Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Highly recommended for lovers of Australian literature.
April 14, 2022
I want to sweep Adrian up and keep him safe.
This book swallowed me right up. Keeping me interested the entire way through.
So clever to have the story of the missing children alongside the main story of Adrian, his life and his character. I only realised half way through the that boy in the title is Adrian. That this story is his and not about the Metford kids.
My heart aches for Adrian. What a beautiful kid. How cruel people can be to people and life can be to people.
There is something so descriptive about Hartnett’s writing that makes everything in the story seem so real. Harrowingly so. I think Adrian will stay with me for a while.
This book swallowed me right up. Keeping me interested the entire way through.
So clever to have the story of the missing children alongside the main story of Adrian, his life and his character. I only realised half way through the that boy in the title is Adrian. That this story is his and not about the Metford kids.
My heart aches for Adrian. What a beautiful kid. How cruel people can be to people and life can be to people.
There is something so descriptive about Hartnett’s writing that makes everything in the story seem so real. Harrowingly so. I think Adrian will stay with me for a while.
October 22, 2022
Devastating.
May 6, 2025
RATING: 3.5/5
such beautiful prose and such a melancholy and immersive depiction of this sad boys life- but i thought this was gonna have an ending? i thought it was a murder mystery? im so lost... i hate empty endings... the lead up was so fantastic too
such beautiful prose and such a melancholy and immersive depiction of this sad boys life- but i thought this was gonna have an ending? i thought it was a murder mystery? im so lost... i hate empty endings... the lead up was so fantastic too
October 1, 2020
A heart-wrenching read. A simple book about wishing to belong and to be loved and the consequences that occur when these needs are not meet.
February 24, 2017
Um. OK. So, I read this book thinking that my 10 year old would be able to read it, just trying it out first....And it was OK. Until the last 2 chapters. Wasn't expecting sudden death from drowning in the end. How horrible....Otherwise, the story was written very well. But not for my 10 year old.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2017
Hartnett Sonya This is a book about the myriad of ways people are lost, disconnected and ultimately - disappear.
The news story of the three children who disappeared haunts the central story and main character, Adrian, who has experienced incredible loss and disconnection in his short life.
His family are all lost souls themselves - his mother is lost to drugs or alcohol, his father lost to the pursuit of pleasure, his ghost-like uncle disconnected from the world due to guilt, his selfish aunt trying to lose herself in a new life and his grandmother, who - in caring for her dying husband - suffers from compassion fatigue which translates into a loss of her ability to feel tenderness and love.
His fear of quicksand and self-immolation are both childish and symbolic - his mother's experience incorporated elements of both burning herself up and out and sinking below the surface of her addiction. His uncle is a burnt out shell of a person sinking below the surface of his guilt.
At school, there are the disconnected children who aren't popular and some who are orphaned or abandoned. The abandoned ones live in a home nearby where it is rumored most of them have lost not only their families, but their minds. One stand out of these children is a girl who has clearly lost her mind and her identity. When she becomes a problem to the community, this lost girl is made to "disappear".
It is little wonder then that when Adrian overhears a conversation between his aunt, uncle and grandmother about what a burden he is to them that he decides to disappear on his own terms.
Tragically, in submersing his better sense to a friend obsessed with finding the lost children of the news story - Adrian is given an opportunity to permanently lose himself - and does so.
While well written, I have a bit of a problem with a tragedy that no one is able to learn from. The guilt that is in store for the grandmother (and perhaps the uncle) is going to be crushing. There is no redemption in this story and when Adrian and his friend are finally found - it will only be the discovery of deep loss.
The news story of the three children who disappeared haunts the central story and main character, Adrian, who has experienced incredible loss and disconnection in his short life.
His family are all lost souls themselves - his mother is lost to drugs or alcohol, his father lost to the pursuit of pleasure, his ghost-like uncle disconnected from the world due to guilt, his selfish aunt trying to lose herself in a new life and his grandmother, who - in caring for her dying husband - suffers from compassion fatigue which translates into a loss of her ability to feel tenderness and love.
His fear of quicksand and self-immolation are both childish and symbolic - his mother's experience incorporated elements of both burning herself up and out and sinking below the surface of her addiction. His uncle is a burnt out shell of a person sinking below the surface of his guilt.
At school, there are the disconnected children who aren't popular and some who are orphaned or abandoned. The abandoned ones live in a home nearby where it is rumored most of them have lost not only their families, but their minds. One stand out of these children is a girl who has clearly lost her mind and her identity. When she becomes a problem to the community, this lost girl is made to "disappear".
It is little wonder then that when Adrian overhears a conversation between his aunt, uncle and grandmother about what a burden he is to them that he decides to disappear on his own terms.
Tragically, in submersing his better sense to a friend obsessed with finding the lost children of the news story - Adrian is given an opportunity to permanently lose himself - and does so.
While well written, I have a bit of a problem with a tragedy that no one is able to learn from. The guilt that is in store for the grandmother (and perhaps the uncle) is going to be crushing. There is no redemption in this story and when Adrian and his friend are finally found - it will only be the discovery of deep loss.
February 5, 2012
Of a Boy is a moving tale of a boy trying to make sense of his world. One word describes this book for me – sadness. I read this book quite some time ago and when I began to write this I had a chance to go back and back and re-read this fabulous book. A few pages in and I quickly remembered the pure pleasure of reading this five star novel.
The book is set in 1977 and tells the story of Adrian McPhee, abandoned by his parents and left with his grandmother and uncle. Adrian is a shy boy scared of almost everything. Three children have recently disappeared in the neighborhood, the Metford children, this clearly echos the disappearance of the famous Beaumont Children.
Shortly after the disappearance of the Metford children, a twelve-year-old girl called Nicole moves in across the street from Adrian. She has no friends and doesn’t attend school, but she mystifies Adrian and he soon becomes obsessed with her as he is betrayed by his only friend Clinton.
The tragic ending stays with you long after you put the book down.
The book is infused with a kind of sadness, Hartnett says it is driven by her feeling that the world is a place in which “everything that you would really want to keep are the things that you lose”.
This novel is moving and gentle and remains one of my most loved stories, I am hoping very soon to pass this story onto my own daughter for her to cherish and love.
The book is set in 1977 and tells the story of Adrian McPhee, abandoned by his parents and left with his grandmother and uncle. Adrian is a shy boy scared of almost everything. Three children have recently disappeared in the neighborhood, the Metford children, this clearly echos the disappearance of the famous Beaumont Children.
Shortly after the disappearance of the Metford children, a twelve-year-old girl called Nicole moves in across the street from Adrian. She has no friends and doesn’t attend school, but she mystifies Adrian and he soon becomes obsessed with her as he is betrayed by his only friend Clinton.
The tragic ending stays with you long after you put the book down.
The book is infused with a kind of sadness, Hartnett says it is driven by her feeling that the world is a place in which “everything that you would really want to keep are the things that you lose”.
This novel is moving and gentle and remains one of my most loved stories, I am hoping very soon to pass this story onto my own daughter for her to cherish and love.
August 4, 2014
Firstly if you are looking for a happy pick me up book I would recommend staying clear of this one. Secondly is there a reason my copy is called 'Of A Boy'? Anyway I really related to Adrian, probably a lot better than I do to lots of people in my own age group and timeline. The feeling of being a non-entity is scary for a child.
I found this book to be an easy read - gut wrenching yes - but still worth it. It's very similar in story to the sad tale of the Beaumont Children taken from an Adelaide beach in the 1960s. That event is still attributed to the loss of innocents without Australia.
I wanted nothing more in this book to reach into the pages and protect all of these children from the tragic events in their lives. A worthwhile read.
I found this book to be an easy read - gut wrenching yes - but still worth it. It's very similar in story to the sad tale of the Beaumont Children taken from an Adelaide beach in the 1960s. That event is still attributed to the loss of innocents without Australia.
I wanted nothing more in this book to reach into the pages and protect all of these children from the tragic events in their lives. A worthwhile read.
April 23, 2010
Amazing depth and description for a novel billed as a teen read.
Short but very fulfilling. Far more about Adrian's everyday experiences than about the missing children. They are a backdrop, perhaps emphasising that it can feel like there are worse things that can happen than disappearing. Or that one can disappear while still being present in body.
Hartnett skillfully and painfully portrays the harsh realities of school life, shifting friendships, the outsider perspective. She shows how children fit into the holes their families carve for them.
And I would never have seen that ending coming. Shocking and beautiful.
Short but very fulfilling. Far more about Adrian's everyday experiences than about the missing children. They are a backdrop, perhaps emphasising that it can feel like there are worse things that can happen than disappearing. Or that one can disappear while still being present in body.
Hartnett skillfully and painfully portrays the harsh realities of school life, shifting friendships, the outsider perspective. She shows how children fit into the holes their families carve for them.
And I would never have seen that ending coming. Shocking and beautiful.
June 26, 2011
I think Hartnett explores the beauty in hopelessness. I don't have another way to explain how she writes the most amazing descriptions, ones that make me feel and smell and even taste images of my past, good memories...and still leaves me completely devastated. I read and reread the paragraph of Adrian touching the cherub - could almost feel it myself (page 31), and his experience in the park, with the green grass (pg 46) reminded me of the Green Grass where we played as children. It was near an office building, and the grass was so green and uniform - we couldn't stay away. We never hurt it - just wanted to be on it.
November 2, 2015
Sonia Hartnett is a brilliant Australian writer. Known as a children's author, she has transitioned seamlessly into very adult fiction. Of A Boy seems simple to begin with. In the 1960s, three children leave home for a quick trip to the local shop but disappear. In the same city, 9 year old Adrian has been abandoned by his parents and lives with his resentful grandmother and uncle. Adrian is a sensitive boy, constantly bullied at school and overly affected by events around him. Hartnett lets the reader into the boy's mind; we feel his pain, his pessimism, his disappointment. The conclusion seems inevitable. A beautifully written, tragic story.
January 11, 2019
I can recognise that this book is well-crafted without wanting to recommend it to anybody. The two stars are for the quality of the writing. But I don’t think anyone needs, in this age of general hopelessness, a book that is completely devoid of hope. This is a book to make you miserable. I am reminded of the old description of depressing music - ‘music to kill yourself by’. That’s how I felt about this book.
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