Gravitational pull

Gravity tells the story of Adam Prince, a small town boy in his final year of high school whose life takes a turn when he’s caught drink driving. Told through Adam’s eyes, the reader is given an intimate insight into the life of a young man on the cusp of adulthood. Struggling with the problems of his fractured family Adam decides it’s easier to run than face up to his responsibilities.

This is Scot Gardner’s sixth novel in as many years. His recent works include The Legend of Kevin the Plumber and Burning Eddy which was shortlisted for the 2004 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards. Gardner’s writing style is casual and natural, almost as though he’s telling the story to his readers around a campfire.

Gardner maintains a steady pace throughout Gravity never letting the drama subside for too long. The main part of the novel take place within the space of a week which I found a little unrealistic; life changing events don’t normally occur at such a rate. Also, some elements of the story weren’t given the depth they deserved. For instance, Adam’s relationship with his mother required further exploration as did Adam’s discovery of his passion for woodwork. Perhaps this depth and exploration was an unfortunate victim of the editing process.

In the city and away from his hometown Adam develops a new perspective on his life. He realises that he can’t escape his problems and responsibilities can’t be escaped by running away and at the same time he comes to appreciate what small town life has to offer.

In telling Adam’s story, Gardner has created a well-rounded and believable cast of supporting characters from Adam’s best friend and homophobe, the likeable Bullant, to Adam’s intellectually disabled brother, Simon, and Simon’s ex-girlfriend, Tory. Tory is particularly intriguing and it would be great to see her story told in another novel.

What I appreciate most about Gravity is that it realistically depicts the subtle complexities of life and relationships. Gardner’s characters are people we all know, people who do their best under difficult circumstances and who aren’t immune to making mistakes.

I find it so encouraging to see a story being published for Australian teenage boys about teenage life in Australia. Here are characters and situations this audience can relate to; non-readers in this age group no longer have an excuse to not be reading fiction. Hopefully high school librarians will do their bit and support this kind of literature in our schools.

Gravity is a well-crafted coming of age tale that will resonate with many young readers. Gardner is a natural storyteller with a gift for creating realistic, believable characters.

Karin van Heerwaarden

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Gravity

Author: Scot Gardner
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Price: $16.95

Read our interview with
Scot Gardner here