The loblolly boy has the gift of flight: he's invisible to most people, apart from a very few who are known as the Sensitives. The loblolly boy also has the power to Exchange: that is to swap identities with anyone willing to do so. The children who usually decide to Exchange with the loblolly boy are often escaping some miserable aspect of their lives: but they soon realize that the powers of flight and invisibility come at a cost. To become one of these magical, Peter Pan-like creatures brings complications and dangers that most never anticipate.
Once someone becomes a loblolly boy, they sacrifice their sensory, human nature: they can no longer eat or enjoy food, or share human contact with the majority of people. The loblolly boy is also a creature much coveted by sinister figures called Collectors.
When the loblolly boy swaps identities with the narrator of this story, we are taken on an exciting, truly imaginative odyssey. We follow the loblolly boy through a chain of transformations and encounters with intriguing, fantastic characters, and travel at a dizzying pace.In the heart of this chamber of mirrors is a swirling logic problem, which acts as both a teaser and a magical, mysterious adventure.
Does the loblolly boy unravel his past and rediscover his family? Who are the red-headed twin girls who can see him so clearly? And who is the dark, sinister, spidery man hovering with a butterfly net in our peripheral vision?
About the Author
James Norcliffe is the author of several fantasy novels for young people, the most recent of which, The Assassin of Gleam, won the Sir Julius Vogel award for the best NZ fantasy novel of 2006. He is also a poet and editor. For a number of years he has helped edit - first with Alan Bunn and latterly with Tessa Duder - the highly-regarded ReDraft collections of writings by young people. James has lived in Christchurch for most of his life although he has spent extended periods living in Brunei Darussalam and China. Currently, he teaches in Lincoln University's Foundation Studies department.
