Book Description:
No phone, no wi-fi, no friends and no options.
Expelled from three schools, Joey is sent to the country to live with his aunt. She asks him to help an old man recovering from an accident, and now he has a choice. It sounds like a crazy idea, but he chooses to help. What else is there to do, a million miles from anywhere?
But when Joey meets Harry, he finds in him a friend—even if he’s eighty-five. Maybe life when people trust you might be a good thing.
As Joey’s desire for acceptance grows, break-ins threaten the community and Joey’s past starts to catch up with him. How can Joey turn his life around when his mistakes follow him everywhere he goes? And will he be there for Harry when he needs him?
Narelle’s Thoughts:
I enjoyed reading Last Chance Joey and read it quickly, within twenty-four hours, because I couldn’t put it down. Joey is seventeen, his father is absent from his life, and he has a difficult relationship with his mother who has struggled to raise Joey on her own. They live in Adelaide, South Australia, and Joey has made poor choices with his schooling and peer groups that haven’t set him up for a good future.
Joey’s mother’s aunt takes on temporary guardianship of Joey. He moves to her small town where he can start over, deal with his emotional baggage, and overcome various obstacles in the story. Joey discovers joy in working on a farm and helping others.
The story is a wholesome read with old world rural charm. The importance of family and small communities supporting young people is explored in the story. It’s a general market book and, from a language perspective, it isn’t a squeaky clean read.
I recommend Last Chance Joey to Young Adult readers who like coming of age contemporary Australian small town stories with a teenage male protagonist, AFL football, mysteries to solve, and found family themes.
Many thanks to Rhiza Press for the advanced reader copy.