Lockie Leonard Scumbuster Tim Winton 1993

Dustjacket synopsis:
"Nothing's simple for Lockie Leonard. Dumped by his girlfriend, he's back to being the loneliest kid in town until he makes friends with the weirdest human being he's ever met. As if that isn't enough, Lockie decides to save the planet. In the middle of all this the inevitable happens - yes, he falls in love; he drops like a ton of bricks for a girl who's not even out of primary school yet, and to make it worse she surfs better than he ever will. Total life disaster. If it wasn't so ridiculous a kid'd get depressed.

"Can a thriteen year old surfrat have a headbanger for a best mate, stay in love with an eleven year old grommet and still save his town from industrial pollution?

"Sure. As if?"

First Paragraph

Lockie Leonard bolted to the top of the dune and stopped dead. He dropped his board and towel without a glance. He didn't wipe the sweat from his face or the flies from his heaving chest. All he could do was breathe and look. The rumours were for real. The sea was fairly pumping.

Out in the Sound, the granite islands exploded with white spray that hung in the air like fresh washing. The water was grey as the sky and alive with huge bending swells that lined up as regular as corduroy. They cracked against the headland, surged past the harbour and charged in to the bay. It was demented out there.

From the Piper paperback edition, 1993.

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Last modified: November 12, 2001.