Blueback
  • Published: 31 August 2009
  • ISBN: 9780143202837
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $22.99

Blueback

Formats & editions
Paperback
5 Oct 2022
Paperback
31 Aug 2009
Paperback
22 Dec 2008
EBook
14 Sep 2012
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Blueback is an achingly beautiful story about family, belonging, and living a life in tune with the environment, from Tim Winton, one of Australia's best-loved authors.

Blueback is an achingly beautiful story about family, belonging, and living a life in tune with the environment, from Tim Winton, one of Australia's best-loved authors.

'Winton ... convince[s] us of the preciousness of our oceans not through lectures but through his characters' steady wonder.' New York Times

Abel Jackson's boyhood belongs to a vanishing world. On an idyllic stretch of coast whose waters teem with fish, he lives a simple, tough existence. It's just him and his mother in the house at Longboat Bay, but Abel has friends in the sea, particularly the magnificent old groper he meets when diving.

As the years pass, things change, but one thing seems to remain constant: the greed of humans. When the modern world comes to his patch of sea, Abel wonders what can stand in its way.

Blueback is a deceptively simple allegory about a boy who matures through fortitude and who finds wisdom through living in harmony with all forms of life.

'In true fable style, this is a simple story, but one so beautiful, poignant and moving it is impossible to ignore.' Daily Telegraph
  • Published: 31 August 2009
  • ISBN: 9780143202837
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $22.99
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About the author

Tim Winton

Tim Winton has published twenty-nine books for adults and children, and his work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. Since his first novel, An Open Swimmer, won the Australian Vogel Award in 1981, he has won the Miles Franklin Award four times (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and Breath) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music). He lives in Western Australia.

portrait photo of Tim Winton

Also by Tim Winton

Cloudstreet
Three Plays: Rising Water, Signs of Life, Shrine
The Shepherd's Hut
The Boy Behind the Curtain
Island Home
Shrine: A Play in One Act
Blueback: Australian Children's Classics
See all

Praise for Blueback

In true fable style, this is a simple story, but one so beautiful, poignant and moving it is impossible to ignore.

Daily Telegraph

A memorable and redemptive fable of our maddening times.

Booklist

Winton is a true storyteller who digs deep into nature's soul to procure his images.

Herald Sun

While an ecological message is obviously being pitched here, Blueback can't be dismissed as a simple tract. Tim Winton is determined to convince us of the preciousness of our oceans not through lectures but through his characters' steady wonder.

New York Times

At moments surreal, this captivating gem inspires and motivates.

Australian Financial Review

Though containing suspense, indignation and sadness, the overwhelming tone of the book is an affirming vitality.

Big Issue

Awards & recognition

APA Book Design Awards

Shortlisted  •  2010  •  Best Designed Children's Fiction

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Teachers' notes
Blueback