From the moment Captain Ross shoots Jem’s dog, Jem dreams of getting the Captain back somehow, so when a bushranger takes the Captain’s horse and clothes, Jem isn’t upset. Not one bit. Still, Jem is still stuck on the Captain’s homestead far from the only family he knows.
Alfie, the cook’s son, has a friendly way about him that can’t be blocked forever. Alfie’s mate Tommy, an aboriginal boy, lives with his family near the homestead. Together, Alfie and Tommy become Jem’s staunch supporters, even when his decisions aren’t so smart.
Join the three boys as they hole up in a secret hideout, rescue a puppy and meet a real live bushranger. Action-packed and based on real life in the 1840s, The Bushranger’s Boys wouldn’t let me go. I had to know how it would all turn out, especially if the bushranger would escape with his life and the dastardly Captain Ross could be beaten.
The Do You Dare? series is designed to parallel the already popular Our Australian Girl books and it is shaping up to be riveting. The first two tales are action-packed historical adventures - and not just for boys.
Title: 1841: The Bushranger’s Boys (Do You Dare? series)
Author: A Lloyd
Publisher: Puffin Books. $14.99 RRP
Publication Date: February 2014
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978014307563
For ages: 8-12
Type: Middle Fiction