Lockie Leonard Human Torpedo Tim Winton 1990

Dustjacket synopsis:
"Lockie Leonard, hot surf-rat, is in love. Te human torpedo is barely settled into his new school and already he's got a girl on his mind. And not just any girl: it has to be Vicki Streeton, the smartest, prettiest, richest girl in class.

"What chance have you got when your Dad's a cop, your Mum's a frighteningly understanding parent, your brother wets the bed and the teachers take an instant dislike to you and then you fall in love at twelve-and-three-quarter years old? It can only mean trouble, worry, mega-embarrassment and some wild, wild times."

First Paragraph

The first day Lockie Leonard saw this town it was raining. The old family Falcon had been loaded down like a refugee boat as they rolled into this little place fresh from the city. The whole family tried to be cheerful about it, but the place looked awful. The town was small and crummy-looking and when they saw the house the police force had organized for them, everyone in the car went quiet. Lockie's little brother looked at him, pegging off his nose with his fingers. His baby sister squirmed on the front seat. His dad left the motor running. His mum just started bawling.

Funny thing is, Lockie got to like that place. It was a big old fibro joint with a rusty tin roof, and it went all higgledy-piggledy inside, like whoever built it kept having more kids and just bunged on a room every Christmas. It was on swampy ground next to the showgrounds. The whole street was just reeds and factories. It was the worst street in the whole town. Not even the poorest people and the Aborigines in town put up with tht street; people have their limit, I guess.

From the McPhee Gribble paperback edition, 1990.

This page and its contents are copyright © 2001 by Perry Middlemiss, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Last modified: November 20, 2001.