The Boy from the Mish

SHORTLISTED: 2022 CBCA Book of the Year, Older ReadersSHORTLISTED: 2022 Victorian Premier''s Literary Awards, Indigenous Writing PrizeSHORTLISTED: 2022 NSW Premier''s Literary Award, Indigenous Writers'' Prize
SHORTLISTED: 2022 Adelaide Festival Awards, Young Adult Fiction Award
SHORTLISTED: 2021 QLD Literary Awards, Griffith University Young Adult Book Award

''I don''t paint so much anymore,'' I say, looking to my feet.

''Oh. Well, I got a boy who needs to do some art. You can help him out,'' Aunty Pam says, like I have no say in the matter, like she didn''t hear what I just said about not painting so much anymore. ''Jackson, this is Tomas. He''s living with me for a little while.''

It''s a hot summer, and life''s going all right for Jackson and his family on the Mish. It''s almost Christmas, school''s out, and he''s hanging with his mates, teasing the visiting tourists, avoiding the racist boys in