Introduction
Eleven-year-old Jones Kirby has just moved to Sydney from her farm in country New South Wales. She’s missing her alpacas and wide-open paddocks and can’t get used to her family’s tiny city apartment. She’s also worried that her vision is blurry – she lost her eye to cancer as a toddler. Could it be another tumour?
Enrolling at her new school, Jones meets shy, awkward August Genting. He loves fun facts, the library and knitting as much as Jones loves rock climbing and being outdoors. Who would have thought they’d become fast friends? At home, August’s parents are fighting. And for Jones, the news from the doctor is not good. To cheer themselves up, the pair hatch a brilliant plan: the August and Jones Must-See Bucket List. Together, this brave duo will set out to meet a rare monkey, run across the Harbour Bridge and even climb Australia’s highest mountain. After all, with your best friend beside you, anything is possible! From the CBCA Award-winning author of The Little Wave, winner of the 2020 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award for Younger Readers, comes the story of two extraordinary kids who discover the life-changing power of friendship and teamwork. |
Before reading
Some points for discussion around themes
Childhood Cancer and Disability
Key Quote: ‘You’ll always be an adventurer, Jones. That’s how you were made; fast and strong and fearless. Even if you do lose your sight, nothing will change that.’ (p 112)
Discussion Point: Jones lost an eye to cancer as a baby and is therefore vision impaired and needs regular check-ups. But when the cancer returns she has to make a difficult decision. What gives young cancer patients the resilience they need to survive their illness?
Discussion Point: Research retinoblastoma, the rare cancer Jones has which caused the tumour in her eye to grow.
Discussion Point: Jones researches other people with disabilities (p 111). Encourage students to do the same. For example, select a Paralympian who has become an elite athlete.
Discussion Point: Discuss the changes Jones faces in losing her sight. What adjustments would have to be made at home, school and elsewhere?
Discussion Point: Jones lost an eye to cancer as a baby and is therefore vision impaired and needs regular check-ups. But when the cancer returns she has to make a difficult decision. What gives young cancer patients the resilience they need to survive their illness?
Discussion Point: Research retinoblastoma, the rare cancer Jones has which caused the tumour in her eye to grow.
Discussion Point: Jones researches other people with disabilities (p 111). Encourage students to do the same. For example, select a Paralympian who has become an elite athlete.
Discussion Point: Discuss the changes Jones faces in losing her sight. What adjustments would have to be made at home, school and elsewhere?
Leaving a home
Key Quote: ‘I don’t want to give this place time and love. I want to go home.’ (p 23)
Discussion Point: Jones and her parents hate leaving their farm but have been left with no option, since the drought has destroyed their livelihood. ‘I wanted to hold on to our belongings, so something would be familiar in the city.’ (p 5) Apart from her friends, what are the things which Jones regrets leaving the most?
Discussion Point: Invite students to discuss their experiences of leaving a home. (Some may have moved rarely and others frequently; some may have been forced to leave due to natural disaster, or may have chosen to leave for work or family reasons.) Compare differing experiences of leaving a home.
Discussion Point: Compare this novel to Lorraine Marwood’s Leave Taking (UQP, 2018) which involves a similar situation of leaving a home.
Discussion Point: Jones and her parents hate leaving their farm but have been left with no option, since the drought has destroyed their livelihood. ‘I wanted to hold on to our belongings, so something would be familiar in the city.’ (p 5) Apart from her friends, what are the things which Jones regrets leaving the most?
Discussion Point: Invite students to discuss their experiences of leaving a home. (Some may have moved rarely and others frequently; some may have been forced to leave due to natural disaster, or may have chosen to leave for work or family reasons.) Compare differing experiences of leaving a home.
Discussion Point: Compare this novel to Lorraine Marwood’s Leave Taking (UQP, 2018) which involves a similar situation of leaving a home.
Depression
Key Quote: ‘Mum hasn’t been going to the courts lately. She’s always at home on the couch.’ (p 15)
Discussion Point: August’s mum has lost a business she loved and her marriage is failing so she retreats into depression. How does she recover from that? What helps her to do so?
Discussion Point: How does August’s dad deal with his wife’s depression? Is his apparent insensitivity understandable? Discussion Point: ‘Mum, we learnt about mental health at school, and it’s not your fault,’ I say. ‘It can happen to anyone. It means your brain chemicals are out of balance.’ (p 118) Does this sort of knowledge help August to deal with his mother’s illness?
Discussion Point: August’s mum has lost a business she loved and her marriage is failing so she retreats into depression. How does she recover from that? What helps her to do so?
Discussion Point: How does August’s dad deal with his wife’s depression? Is his apparent insensitivity understandable? Discussion Point: ‘Mum, we learnt about mental health at school, and it’s not your fault,’ I say. ‘It can happen to anyone. It means your brain chemicals are out of balance.’ (p 118) Does this sort of knowledge help August to deal with his mother’s illness?
Friendship
Key Quote: ‘I wouldn’t have thought Raff and I would have so many things in common, but we do.’ (p 193)
Discussion Point: August and Jones are unlikely friends, as are August and Rafferty. Do friends have to be alike? Why do we sometimes gravitate towards people with entirely different personalities to our own?
Discussion Point: What interests do Jones and August share, despite their differences?
Discussion Point: August and Jones are unlikely friends, as are August and Rafferty. Do friends have to be alike? Why do we sometimes gravitate towards people with entirely different personalities to our own?
Discussion Point: What interests do Jones and August share, despite their differences?
Sport
Key Quote: I’m the weakest link. The only thing I’m good at is running fast. But what good is running if you can’t catch or kick? Dad takes me off and calls Oliver.’ (p 12)
Discussion Point: Parents often force their kids to participate in sports which they have enjoyed themselves. How difficult is it to resist such pressure, as August eventually does in this novel?
Discussion Point: ‘One more season, Gus. You’ll come good. You’ve just got to find your passion for the game. Boys need sport. It moulds them into men. You’ll thank me one day.’ (pp 15–16) August’s dad equates playing sport with being manly. Is this a correct assumption?
Discussion Point: Parents often force their kids to participate in sports which they have enjoyed themselves. How difficult is it to resist such pressure, as August eventually does in this novel?
Discussion Point: ‘One more season, Gus. You’ll come good. You’ve just got to find your passion for the game. Boys need sport. It moulds them into men. You’ll thank me one day.’ (pp 15–16) August’s dad equates playing sport with being manly. Is this a correct assumption?
Divorce
Key Quote: ‘Things haven’t been great between us for a long time, but should we have stayed together, for the kids?’ (p 138)
Discussion Point: August’s parents live very unhappily together until they decide to separate. They appear to be much happier apart. Is this a positive outcome of divorce?
Discussion Point: August’s parents live very unhappily together until they decide to separate. They appear to be much happier apart. Is this a positive outcome of divorce?
Values
Key Quote: ‘Come on, we’ve got a mountain to climb.’ (p 276)
Discussion Point: Values which are celebrated in this novel include resilience, teamwork and empathy. Identify sections in the novel which demonstrate these values.
Discussion Point: Which character in the novel develops empathy most obviously, in your opinion?
Discussion Point: Values which are celebrated in this novel include resilience, teamwork and empathy. Identify sections in the novel which demonstrate these values.
Discussion Point: Which character in the novel develops empathy most obviously, in your opinion?
Quotes to start discussion . . .
1. ‘What I want doesn’t always count. I guess that’s the problem with being a kid.’ (p 5)
2. ‘Parents are not supposed to yell from the sidelines, there’s a sign that says so, but my dad is the coach, so it’s his job.’ (p 10)
3. ‘Climate change!’ shouts Layla. ‘Yes, that’s right. The town is under water stress, which means they don’t have enough to go around.’ (p 35)
4. ‘ ‘Why is everyone so busy, busy, busy here?’ she mutters.’ (p 74)
5. ‘We don’t fight, like other brothers. We never wrestle over the remote, or battle over the controller. We don’t steal each other’s stuff or dispute the score in backyard cricket. So, sure, we don’t fight but also we hardly ever talk. I see him every day, but he feels like a stranger most of the time.’ (pp 86–7)
6. ‘So what? Just because I’m related to him doesn’t mean I have to like him.’ (p 117)
7. ‘Mum says he’s gone from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond. I think that means Arch isn’t the best player on the field for the first time in his life.’ (p 194)
8.‘“The way to know life is to love many things”,’ I say, reading it aloud. Jones squeezes my hand. ‘Like our list! Van Gogh was right.’ ’ (p 224)
9. ‘I’m proud of you because you quit footy. It took guts to walk away when your heart wasn’t in it. You’d think I would’ve understood that sooner, but I’m a slow learner.’ (p 270)
10. ‘In the end, it isn’t standing on top of Australia that I want to remember forever. It’s August’s hand in mine and the feeling of pride and happiness blooming in my chest like an anemone buttercup.’ (p 279)
2. ‘Parents are not supposed to yell from the sidelines, there’s a sign that says so, but my dad is the coach, so it’s his job.’ (p 10)
3. ‘Climate change!’ shouts Layla. ‘Yes, that’s right. The town is under water stress, which means they don’t have enough to go around.’ (p 35)
4. ‘ ‘Why is everyone so busy, busy, busy here?’ she mutters.’ (p 74)
5. ‘We don’t fight, like other brothers. We never wrestle over the remote, or battle over the controller. We don’t steal each other’s stuff or dispute the score in backyard cricket. So, sure, we don’t fight but also we hardly ever talk. I see him every day, but he feels like a stranger most of the time.’ (pp 86–7)
6. ‘So what? Just because I’m related to him doesn’t mean I have to like him.’ (p 117)
7. ‘Mum says he’s gone from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond. I think that means Arch isn’t the best player on the field for the first time in his life.’ (p 194)
8.‘“The way to know life is to love many things”,’ I say, reading it aloud. Jones squeezes my hand. ‘Like our list! Van Gogh was right.’ ’ (p 224)
9. ‘I’m proud of you because you quit footy. It took guts to walk away when your heart wasn’t in it. You’d think I would’ve understood that sooner, but I’m a slow learner.’ (p 270)
10. ‘In the end, it isn’t standing on top of Australia that I want to remember forever. It’s August’s hand in mine and the feeling of pride and happiness blooming in my chest like an anemone buttercup.’ (p 279)