Non-Fiction Books:

The Cry of the Currawong

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Description

This is a collection of linked short stories about Australian country life - or the 'bush' as Australians call it. The stories revolve around the experiences of a seven-year-old city boy who is taken to the home of his widowed mother's beloved Aunt Hannah who lives with her invalid husband, Stan in a small cottage just outside of the small country town of Yass on the Southern Tablelands of new South Wales. Here he experiences the simple but happy life of a bygone era: in the house called Auchenblae which had been built by Stan and his friends at the end of the nineteenth century. The young boy must adapt his city lifestyle to a gentler time when there was neither electricity, running water nor plumbed sewerage. Moreover, he meets his mother's extended family, uncles, aunts and cousins from the town and the wider district. Being country children, his cousins are a source of great adventure and friendship. His uncles and aunts also are characters in their own right and soon the young boy is accepted into the local bush culture. He meets people like Cousin Clarence, Boof to everyone, who likes telling tales, especially scary ones about child-eating bunyips. Another cousin, Harry 'Reckless' McLaren is a daredevil older boy who has a genius for inventing, especially billy carts, although sometimes he forgets important items such as brakes. The young boy also meets his cousins from 'Blackwater Station', a large sheep property out of town and owned by his mother's cousin 'Big Bill' McLaren, a larger-than-life grazier. His children often come to town and get the young boy involved in many new aspects of the life of children in outlying stations or ranches. Cousin Gemina could ride and shoot as well as any man and wild boars are hunted on horseback with hand guns. Her brother, Bob or 'Black Bob' or simply 'Blackie' to his friends is a pessimist's pessimist who often has grounds for being so, especially when hunting yabbies, freshwater crayfish, with big claws. Their uncle Errol is a local identity and shady character who spends most of his time in the Commercial Hotel in town 'keeping a book' as the local 'Bookie' taking illegal bets on all of the horseraces or anything. After many adventures and meeting many interesting characters, the young boy experiences a full and loving country family Christmas at Auchenblae with all of the relatives and Christmas trimmings - a great restorative for his personal happiness.

Author Biography:

Peter Scott was born in Sydney to country people who were forced to move to the city during the Great Depression. His mother's family came from Yass where their ancestors had settled in the town in the early days of its foundation and were mainly blacksmiths or on the land. Many of the situations and characters are loosely based on the author's many visits to Yass as a boy. He was raised and mainly educated in Sydney and was sent out to Canberra, the Nation's capital as his first appointment asa teacher at age nineteen. Later he returned to Sydney, married, then moved to again to the country in the north and northwest of the state of New South Wales to teach before moving his family further north to the tropical state of Queensland. During this time, he raised his family, served as an Officer in the Army Reserve, an Officer-Instructor in the Naval Cadets, sailed on tall ships on several cruises in the Tasman and Coral Seas and studied at University by part-time or distance education. Through these studies, he received firstly a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology followed by research Masters' Degrees in Geology and Educational Administration and finally a Doctorate in Education. He retired in 2008, having been honoured as a 'Teacher of the Year' by the Queensland Government for his work in both teaching and in the many State and Industry committees including Head of Syllabus of Earth Science. Having travelled to all seven continents including much of his native Australia and having had many adventures in wild places such as the Antarctic Peninsula, the high Andes and Rockies of the Americans, the Amazon jungle, the European Alps and the deserts of North Africa, Dr. Scott took to writing and photography. His first eleven books were on Earth Science - Geology, Oceanography, Meteorology and Astronomy - written as textbooks for Secondary teachers and also more readable books for general use. He followed these up by a further six books on the environment. He illustrated all of these books using photographs and linked videos which he had taken during his own adventures. Later non-fiction books included easy-to-read books on teaching and self-survival in the field. He then turned to writing novels, the first being 'Letters from San Rafael', an historical adventure set in South America near the end of the nineteenth century. This book includes many of the local stories, culture, language and myths from his extensive travels around that continent where he also has relatives by marriage. This book was followed by a sequel of more exciting adventures and a prequel expanding one of the mysterious characters encountered in the previous work. He then used his experiences in Antarctica, his training 'before the mast' and his science training to write two science fiction novels: one set in Antarctica in the 1840's and the other on board a fighting frigate during the Napoleonic Wars. As a change in genre, he then turned to humour to write a novel about the 'coming of age' about a young teacher, Tom Shipley, in his first appointment in a crazy school full of interesting characters. This was followed by its sequel when the young Tom Shipley, volunteers for the Army Reserve during the Vietnam War and finds himself at war with the Army's senior officers. The next novel is a series of 'bush' or country tales told from the point of view of a young city boy taken to the country for Christmas with his mother's family. These stories illustrate Australian country life in the 1950's and are both humorous and descriptive of life in a country town.
Release date NZ
October 10th, 2021
Audience
  • General (US: Trade)
Pages
152
Dimensions
148x210x8
ISBN-13
9781925662443
Product ID
35351708

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