Ratface

by Garry Disher

A teenage boy and girl attempt to escape with a seven-year-old boy from a racist cult known as the White League, when they find out that they are not orphans as they have been told

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

185 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Garry Disher was born in 1949 and grew up on his parents' farm in South Australia.

He gained post graduate degrees from Adelaide and Melbourne Universities. In 1978 he was awarded a creative writing fellowship to Stanford University, where he wrote his first short story collection. He travelled widely overseas, before returning to Australia, where he taught creative writing, finally becoming a full time writer in 1988. He has written more than 40 titles, including general and crime fiction, children's books, textbooks, and books about the craft of writing.

Reviews

[K Kriesel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when it first came out in the US, I was 8 or 9. I reread it many times, partly because I enjoyed it and partly because it seemed oddly familiar. When I escaped the white supremacist cult in which I was raised, I left my copy behind and forgot about it for many years.

I recently bought another copy and reread it for the first time in over 20 years. Now I understand my strange childhood fascination with the book and why I had to hide my childhood copy from my mother, who disapproved of it. Had I been living in a rural area rather than in Chicago, I probably would have realized at the time that it was my own story.

This book is appropriate for kids that age, although I think an adult who can answer questions about it would help. As an adult it took me a couple hours to read, and the suspense was gripping. At times the dialogue seems odd and pointless, and there's some telling rather than showing.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Gevangen in de witte cirkel' is een spannend kinderboek over twee kinderen van een jaar of veertien. Het meisje en de jongen zitten in een sekte en ze willen eruit, ze willen kijken of hun ouders nog leven.
Het is een boek voor kinderen tot een jaar of twaalf, daarna zal het verhaal te makkelijk en kinderachtig zijn, gok ik. Het verhaal is wel spannend en boeiend, maar ook overdreven en voorspelbaar. Een klein kind ziet dat niet en zal hier en geweldig boek aan hebben.

[Peter Hiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when I was pretty young, probably about 13 or so. I remember finding it interesting, though obviously a childrens book. The story of adventure mixed in with the anti-cult vibe was not too much for me to understand. A good book all in all, and younger kids could probably understand it too.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is one of my all time favourite books, i absolutely love it to pieces! i was kept on the edge of my seat the whole time. Disher is a great writer, i adore this book