Golden Boys by Sonia Hartnett

It’s a small town in Australia in the 80s, kids ride around on BMXs and swim in above ground pools and hang out at the storm water drain. When a new family move into town, a family with cool toys and a dad who likes to spend time with the kids, things start to change. But the secrets that lie behind closed doors don’t always remain secrets.

This is a hard book, but a beautiful book. The world is stunningly created, the long, summer days, the boredom and dissatisfaction of youth, the boys who have their own hierarchies and find their own ways to survive. There is an undercurrent of dread and fear in the children’s lives, the fear of what is coming; the fear of adults and what adults can do when they’re at their worst.