Published August 2011 Harper Collins
From the publisher:
Two brothers -- one black, one white -- and a colony at the end of the world
It′s 1789, and as the new colony in Sydney Cove is established, Surgeon John White defies convention and adopts Nanberry, an Aboriginal boy, to raise as his son. Nanberry is clever and uses his unique gifts as an interpreter to bridge the two worlds he lives in. With his white brother, Andrew, he witnesses the struggles of the colonists to keep their precarious grip on a hostile wilderness. And yet he is haunted by the memories of the Cadigal warriors who will one day come to claim him as one of their own.
This true story follows the brothers as they make their way in the world -- one as a sailor, serving in the Royal Navy, the other a hero of the Battle of Waterloo.
No less incredible is the enduring love between the gentleman surgeon and the convict girl who was saved from the death penalty and became a great lady in her own right.
This book has been shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year for Younger Readers. It was published last year, but under my own rules I can read any books form the shortlist that I haven't already read.
I specifically chose this book because I have my doubts that it is a book for children. After checking the criteria for the Younger Readers category, I still have my doubts. It states that books in this category will be appropriate in style and content for middle to upper primary readers.
