Publisher's synopsis

Carl Matt hasn’t got much. There’s just his younger brother Harley and the old red barge to Wiseman’s Cove. And nothing’s going to take those away from him. He’s an awkward, lumpy fifteen-year-old. Not the hero type. Yet Carl has become one of the most memorable characters in Australian literature.

Awards

  • Winner, 1997 CBCA Book of the Year Awards – Book of the Year: Older Readers
  • Winner, 1997 Children’s Peace Literature Award
  • Winner, 1997 Australian Family Therapists’ Award for Children’s Literature – Older Readers
  • Highly Commended, 1997 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards – Prize for Young Adult Fiction