It is 2008, the year Kevin Rudd says sorry to the Stolen
Generations and all affected by their plight, and a year of significant change
for Fuzzy Mac who lives with her Nan and Pop in the small country town of
Laurel Dale – Laurie as the locals call it. Fuzzy – christened Ocean Skye by
her hippie mother, but nicknamed on account of her fuzzy hair – has always
lived with her grandparents. Her father, Sonny Boy, is often away with work and
her mother died of an overdose when Fuzzy was a baby. However life with Nan and
Pop is anything but a raw deal – it’s rich in family ritual and infused with
the importance of culture. Nan, a Koorie, has dreams and premonitions; it’s
nothing for her to strike up conversations with the spirits of those who have
passed. However living with Nan also has its moments, especially when she
expresses an opinion on something. About saying grace for instance: ‘Been
bustin’ me belly all day makin’ this all taste good and proper … the tucker
will be buggered. The Lord knows we are all grateful, so we don’t need to be
tellin’ him over and over every mealtime’. By osmosis Fuzzy is inculcated with
the vernacular of her grandparents and sometimes her friends wonder what she’s
on about when she talks about bloomers, listening to the wireless or taking a
Bex.
Fuzzy’s story includes a wide and colourful cast of
characters as we meet the members of her wider family and community: her best mates
Tui Mui and Teddy Ryan; Bruiser Buchanan who likes the drink and beats up his
wife; Lefty and his nasty dog Dunlop, who Nan describes as ‘mad as a bloody
meat axe’; creepy Mr Ridgeway, the town Mayor; Father John, who reminds Fuzzy
and Pop of Fred Flintstone; the bad Mullins boys and their beautiful sister
Mary; and of course next-door-neighbours Yar, who is ‘a real funny bugger’ – a
man with a doctorate who occasionally wears tutus over his clothes and is
followed around by a spirit called Bruce – and Yar’s wife Jilly, to name a few.
These characters add a veracity and authenticity to Fuzzy’s telling of her
story.
Grace Beside Me
is Sue McPherson’s debut young adult novel. In 2011 she won the
black&write! kuril dhagan Indigenous Writing Fellowship, a partnership
between the State Library of Queensland and Magabala books, which recruits,
trains and mentors Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and editors to
develop Indigenous-authored manuscripts. The result is warm-hearted, gutsy and
humorous.. The voices of Fuzzy Mac and Nan, the main characters, are superb.
Written with her own sons in mind and teenagers who are likely to dip into a
book and not necessarily read it in its entirety, each chapter is an entity in
itself, often loaded with a teaching point or message. Although, initially, I
was expecting the book to take the usual course of a novel and follow a
stronger overarching plotline – which perhaps I would have preferred – shaped as
it is in the style of a teen memoir, with Fuzzy as the narrator, Grace Beside Me with its strong
characterisation, will hold broad appeal. It highlights the importance of
family, friends, and belonging and the beauty of embracing everyday life in its
varying shades. What comes through in McPherson’s writing is the role of story
in Fuzzy’s life. ‘Stories link us to our mob, doesn’t matter if you are Koorie,
Irish, Kiwi, Welsh or Indian … these stories bring our people close, both young
and old. Stories keep our culture strong and our faith alive’.
Grace Beside Me
is down-to-earth, funny, poignant and original. Sue McPherson, with her unique
approach to storytelling – albeit with the cheeky inclusion of a bit of
moralising – has produced a book that will warm the hearts of her young adult
readers.
Magabala Books 2012
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