A New Kind of Dreaming

When teenager, Jamie Riley, arrives at Port Barren on the coast of Western Australia he does not know what to expect. After Jamie had been caught stealing cars he was told that this was his last chance. His brother is in gaol. Next time he too would end up in gaol. Instead he has been sent to what might be the most isolated place on earth. On three sides Cape Barren is surrounded by desert - sand with a few scrubby bushes. The ocean borders the fourth side. On arrival in the town Jamie was greeted by his social worker, Lorraine, who introduced him to Archie who owned the house where Jamie would be staying.

Jamie gradually became familiar with his new surroundings but had difficulty fitting in at school. It was not long before he met the town police sergeant who made it clear that he would be watching Jamie very closely. If anything happened in the town it was obvious that Jamie would be blamed.

One day Jamie found an old boat on the beach and went to investigate. The story of how the boat ended up on the beach is an important part of the story. The boat is also where Jamie meets a fellow student, Cameron, and over time they become friends. Jamie knew that something bad happened in the town and was determined to investigate. He did not expect, however, that his life would be in danger.

 A New Kind of Dreaming by Anthony Eaton is a YA crime novel with some of the themes being friendship, trust, refugees, finding your place in the world, learning to belong in a new and strange environment and survival in the desert. It is one of the books that my grandson needed to read for school in year eight. As we read the book together, the story captured his imagination and he looked forward to discovering what happened next.

A New Kind Of Dreaming - Notes - University of Queensland Press 

Normal People

Normal People by Irish author Sally Rooney is a study of adolescent relationships. Connell and Marianne are students in their final year of school in a small town in Ireland. Connell is one of the popular students at the school while Marianne is mainly ignored by her fellow classmates. Marianne comes from a well to do family that hires Connell's mother to clean their house twice a week. Her mother would never approve of Marianne having a friendship with the son of their cleaner. Despite this, Marianne and Connell do become friends but it must be kept a secret. Both Connell and Marianne do very well in their final exams and gain places to study at Trinity College in Dublin.

Normal People traces the on again / off again relationship between Marianne and Connell from January 2011 to February 2015. They both have encounters with other people but they continue to have a strong connection resulting in them reforming their partnership from time to time. Whatever happens there appears to be a bond between them that cannot be permanently broken. When problems arise they are quick to support each other though obstacles continue to occur to stop their relationship becoming a lasting one. At one stage Marianne observes to herself that it would be good to be normal people.

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, published in 2003, is the story of a young boy, Amir, the son of a wealthy Pashtun family in Kabul, Afghanistan, and his close friend, Hassan, the son of his father's servant. Coming from different backgrounds, the two boys to some extent experience different lives but still enjoy the opportunity to spend time together. The highlight of each year is the annual kite running competition. But Afghanistan is about to enter turbulent times and the lives of the boys are to drastically change.

The Kite Runner is a story about friendship, betrayal, attempting to seek forgiveness, father-son relationships, seeking truth, trust as well as an account of the lives of those living in Afghanistan during a series of revolutions. Amir and his father went to live in America but, after his father's death, Amir received communication from a family friend asking him to visit him in Pakistan where he was now living. This visit led Amir to return to Afghanistan to try and right a mistake from his past.

Having read this book immediately after reading Ian McEwan's book, Atonement,  I noticed similar themes where a mistake made by young people results in the perpetrators experiencing feelings of guilt throughout their life and the need to atone for their past behaviour. 

This is not necessarily an easy book to read but I found that I was compelled to keep reading to the end of the book.

Timeline: Afghanistan's turbulent history - ABC  

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

I almost didn't read this book but I am glad that I did. Two children, Sam and Sadie, met in a hospital where Sam was a patient and Sadie was visiting her sister who was also a patient. The two children bonded over playing computer games and so their friendship began. They did not see each other for many years until they met again at a railway station when they were both college students.When they discovered that the love of computer games had continued and they were both interested in designing games they decided to design a game together. Sam's friend Marx joined the team as a producer and the company, Unfair, was formed.

Computer games do form the background of the book but the novel is primarily about the relationships between the characters and how they cope with the challenges that life brings. As their company grows and the the importance of deadlines increases the main characters have to make decisions about work and relationships. Life is not always kind and can their friendship survive?

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by  Gabrielle Zevin is a novel about relationships and friendship, rivalry, creativity, tragedy and survival in a sometimes unkind world. The characters must decide what they really want in life, whether it be in the world created by computer games or in the actual world in which they live.

The title, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, comes from the Shakespeare play, Macbeth. Marx once suggested it as a possible name for their company. Marx described a game as the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea is that if you keep playing, you could still win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever. (page 405) The author suggests that this philosophy should also apply to how we view our life and its challenges.

This title was one of the books considered for possible discussion by the Monash Alumni Book Club in March 2026.