Why a Booktrail?
1990s-2000s: A story of love, hate and the fear of failure with various locations as far afield as Japan, Australia and Loch Lomond! Mainly set in Australia.
Barracuda
What you need to know before your trail
Danny Kelly is a working class boy who attends a private school in Australia on a swimming scholarship.
He’s not a popular nor likable character and is bullied. Danny however has dreams and wants to be the best swimmer there is and eventually go on to win a medal – Gold if possible – at the Olympics. That will show the bullies he thinks to himself.
However when he tries for the Australian Swimming Championship he misses out on a place for the Olympic team and to say he is upset is an understatement.
Life goes downhill from that moment onwards.
Travel Guide
Loch Lomond, Brisbane and Japan – the variety of locations is quite apt given the fact that the novel is about someone confused about who he is and how he fits into society.
The chapters do not follow the sequence of events and some locations are clearly signposted although others aren’t. This is probably to test the reader since the reason for Danny to go so far of the rails is not revealed until later on, but you get to read his backstory and the build up to all of this beforehand.
Danny and his journey of shame and destruction is the crux of the book. Bullied at school, he strives even harder to succeed. Bullied due to his Greek heritage, working class background, the fact that he’s got a scholarship to this private school and the fact that he can really swim. The other boys admire this but still bully him because of it.
As the locations change and Danny becomes more angry, violent and course, show Danny’s growing up and growing angry. A journey towards destruction and shame via the towns of isolation and regret.
Not the most comfortable of journeys.
Booktrailer Review
Clare:
Danny is a character I found hard to like. As many teenagers can be, he is somewhat self-obsessed and when he fails to get a place in the Olympic squad, he becomes worse.
Danny seems confused and troubled and his life was revealed in this way too – events aren’t in order and the places and settings dot around in a way that a teenager boy’s thoughts probably do. The thread throughout the book – you know at the beginning that Danny has a secret – something is to be revealed that will explain things….or will it? It’s not revealed until much later on.
As you might expect, there is some graphic and offensive words in the book and it slaps you in the face at times. Again, it makes you react to the book’s subject. Right from the start too – so if you are offended, be warned.
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