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The Last Week in December
An eleven-year-old Australian girl feels terribly guilty about something she did three years ago when her English relatives were visiting--and now they are returning!
160 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 28, 2015
For me, the best part of this novel was the top and tail - the way the author fleshes out the relationship between child peers - what's weird and what's normal. The plot revolving around the theft of a tobacco pouch by our 8 year old protagonist Bella, shows the consequences as she is forced to face up to her actions three years later.
April 21, 2021
I really enjoyed this YA novel. It was well written with meaningful quirky characters and a nice little wrap up to end.
October 20, 2008
This is a children's novel written by an Australian author; I thought it would be appropriate to read some Aussie literature (even for the younger set) while I'm here.
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I'm not taking any courses pertaining to Australian literature, so I really don't know what characteristics define the category. I've been in the country quite a while now, so I can understand some of the basic sentiments and attitudes, and am hoping to better explore them through at least a little outside reading. I don't know if I would have liked "The Last Week in December" if I read it when I was younger. It was the story of Bella, an twelve-year-old Australian girl who stole her grandfather's tobacco pouch when she was eight. As he lives in England, she hadn't seen him since the theft when he, her grandmother, and her aunt (who is only two years older than Bella) visit Bella's family during, you guessed it, the last week in December. Relatively mellow family hijinks ensue, and the ending is fairly surprising, if only because children's lit rarely ends on such a sullen note.
I loved the quasi-Outback setting, and the fact that the action took place around Christmas; I've always wondered how exactly Aussies deal with the fact that it's blisteringly hot at Yuletide. Dubosarsky uses some of the best similes I've ever read, making the story very poetic at times. I think I liked Bella, as she was a sharp and independent thinker. I got a little sick of her paranoia regarding the tobacco pouch, but this is pretty reflective of normal pre-teen thought. Bella's aunt Lettice is pretty hilarious in her moody fifteen-year-old way, especially when she starts speaking nonsensical Latin phrases for days. There were a few subtler themes, such as the fact that your dad's family might be a little ridiculous and your mom might not like them very much at all, that I didn't think would resonate with kids, or that really fit into the story. I was also frustrated by whatever moral the book was attempting to convey, partially because I couldn't quite pin it down; it seemed to waver between the importance of 'fessing up and the futility of doing so: the damage has already been done.
Overall, the book had a great sense of place and some interesting characters, but it didn't seem to know exactly what to do with them.
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I'm not taking any courses pertaining to Australian literature, so I really don't know what characteristics define the category. I've been in the country quite a while now, so I can understand some of the basic sentiments and attitudes, and am hoping to better explore them through at least a little outside reading. I don't know if I would have liked "The Last Week in December" if I read it when I was younger. It was the story of Bella, an twelve-year-old Australian girl who stole her grandfather's tobacco pouch when she was eight. As he lives in England, she hadn't seen him since the theft when he, her grandmother, and her aunt (who is only two years older than Bella) visit Bella's family during, you guessed it, the last week in December. Relatively mellow family hijinks ensue, and the ending is fairly surprising, if only because children's lit rarely ends on such a sullen note.
I loved the quasi-Outback setting, and the fact that the action took place around Christmas; I've always wondered how exactly Aussies deal with the fact that it's blisteringly hot at Yuletide. Dubosarsky uses some of the best similes I've ever read, making the story very poetic at times. I think I liked Bella, as she was a sharp and independent thinker. I got a little sick of her paranoia regarding the tobacco pouch, but this is pretty reflective of normal pre-teen thought. Bella's aunt Lettice is pretty hilarious in her moody fifteen-year-old way, especially when she starts speaking nonsensical Latin phrases for days. There were a few subtler themes, such as the fact that your dad's family might be a little ridiculous and your mom might not like them very much at all, that I didn't think would resonate with kids, or that really fit into the story. I was also frustrated by whatever moral the book was attempting to convey, partially because I couldn't quite pin it down; it seemed to waver between the importance of 'fessing up and the futility of doing so: the damage has already been done.
Overall, the book had a great sense of place and some interesting characters, but it didn't seem to know exactly what to do with them.
September 12, 2010
Very good start, but the book slows down and drops off.
THE LAST WEEK IN DECEMBER had a huge amount of potential, yet failed to deliver
THE LAST WEEK IN DECEMBER had a huge amount of potential, yet failed to deliver
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews