Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Categories
Children’s, Teenage & Educational

THE SIMPLE THINGS

Bill Condon

A heartfelt story told with warmth, perception and humour, in award-winning Bill Condon’s deceptively effortless prose.

Ten-year-old Stephen has never met his great aunt Lola, and he doesn't want to. She sends him money twice a year and he always writes back, but he doesn’t send her any love, because he can’t lie. ‘How can you love someone you’ve never met?’ he asks. He decides you can’t, not even for ten dollars twice a year. When he arrives with his parents at Lola’s house, Stephen discovers she's grumpy, scary and really, really old. What will they have to talk about? He wants to turn around and go home, but his mum says they have to stay until Lola's birthday – three weeks away. Left to his own devices, Stephen learns about the simple things in life – like fishing, and cricket, and climbing trees – and the importance of family. Soon Aunty Lola entrusts Stephen with a great secret, and he realises just how much she has come to mean to him. Bill Condon has written numerous novels for children and young adults, including Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God for which he won the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award in 2010.

Available products
Book Published 2014-03-01 by Allen & Unwin

Comments

Bill Condon’s latest novel for junior readers is a delightfully warm and moving story about family, friendship, getting old and growing up. Acknowledging feelings of uncertainty and ambivalence, Condon asks his readers to look beyond what scares them to have empathy for others. ... Beneath Condon’s simple writing style are deeper themes about death, grief and acceptance. But while these themes hover around the book’s edges, its main focus is on life, living and the simple things we take for granted - the message, beautifully rendered for the age group, is that it’s never too late (or too soon) to open the door to a friend.’