Lockie Leonard, Scumbuster

by Tim Winton

Book Overview

Winner Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature 1993Bestselling author, Tim Winton, delivers the iconic trio of books (for children) that are still the foremost definitive text... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689822472
• ISBN13: 9780689822476
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
• Length: 140 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.8" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

Love Lockie, but DO NOT BUY the American edition

I was lucky enough to read the Australian edition of "Lockie Leonard, Human Torpedo" (the first book)...I started to read the second book, "Lockie Leonard, Scumbuster" and I knew something was wrong. After a few pages I looked to the front and found that the American edition "has been modified for American readers." All the Australian slang which gives the writing so much color and flavor (or colour and flavour) is gone and so it seems bland. If you haven't read "Lockie Leonard, Human Torpedo"--you really should read it first. Winton's writing in that book is as good as in any of his writing for adults, but seek out a UK or Australian edition, because this is one American who thinks the American edition stinks.

Green scum is the trouble!

This book is the second in the series and starts off just exactly where the first book, Lockie Leonard, Human Torpedo, left off. It is the summer holidays, Lockie, a super-surfer, is thirteen, friendless and without a girl. Then one day on the beach he meets Egg (short for Eggleston). Egg is a bogan. Bogans dress in black, love heavy metal music, don't swim and traditionally are enemies of surfers. Lockie persuades Egg to go kayaking with him in the calm water of Angelus Harbour. To their horror the boys find that the harbour is covered in green scum and stinks to high heaven. The trouble seems to be coming from a large industrial pipe outlet. Right at this point Lockie and Egg get angry. As you can tell from the above paragraph this story has a strong environmentalism theme. It is also about judging people and looking beyond outward appearances, labels and fashions. Family life and divorce also feature as secondary themes. Unlike the first novel, religion and morality only get a very minor mention. This book is written by an Australian author and was first published back in 1993. Once again Winton has made the mistake of including lots of Australian cultural references, many of which have dated and are now obscure to even to Australian teenagers. This is a real pity as the story is excellent and certainly still relevant to twenty-first-century living. Winton writes in a witty, enthusiastic style that makes these books quite addictive. The author has included enough new angles to make this story original, but it does suffer slightly from the 'play-it-again syndrome' that many sequels are afflicted with. I therefore recommend that the reader not pick up this book immediately after reading the first one. If you wait the memory of the first book will not be quite so emblazoned on the mind and you will not bore. This is basically a good book for young teens and the young at heart.

Lockie Leonard, SCUMBUSTER breaks the mold

Lockie Leanord, SCUMBUSTER is a delightfully funny story that kept me reading for hours. Set in a small town in Australia, the story provides a fresh comic nature never written before. The story is full of everyday life situations that today's youth must deal with, but finds a way to keep the good humor rolling along. The idea that stood out the most to me about this story was the underlying issue of friendship. This story proves that people should not judge others by appearance but should actually get to know them before being judgemental. All the way through you will be laughing and enjoying this truly mixed-up, yet very normal life of Lockie and Egg.