In her first young adult novel, Gourlay offers an appealing blend of diverse characters, emotional conflicts, well-paced action, and an upbeat finale. This will capture the hearts and minds of sports lovers - and just about everyone else as well. Working through the many meanings of 'tall story,' first-time author Gourlay slam-dunks this tale of a towering boy from the Philippines and the pint-size, basketball-crazy half sister with whom he has recently been reunited. Gourlay spins slender threads of wishes and prayers, magic and miracles, desires and redemption and weaves together an impressively sweet and rich tale This would be a *terrific* read-aloud choice, as well as a manual for 'how to succeed with risk-taking in writing fiction.' Brava! This is a book to recommend – accessible, exciting and challenging.no way anybody could put all that stuff into one relatively short novel and make it work, right? This book is like a magic trick: Hoo boy, does it work! Siblings Andi and Bernardo tell the story of their reunited family-Bernardo arriving in London from the Philippines-with just the right mix of humor and pathos. Here she boldly takes her readers into a very different world, a past that is both specific yet universal. Gourlay is an accomplished novelist who looks to explore different challenges in every book, all springing from her own background. The isolation – even the tribes have little real knowledge of each other – the lush landscape, and presiding over all the Tree of Bones, the avatar guiding thoughts and ideas. Pervading the novel is the sense of place. But Samkad is a boy we can recognise, telling his story with an immediacy that opens a door to understanding. Superficially they are unfamiliar, strange perhaps. We see their beliefs, their preoccupations, their practices through Samkad’s eyes.

Gourlay introduces us to Samkad and his people still living according to the patterns that have been followed for ages. This is a story that does not appear in our history books – but the parallels are clear.

Samkad suddenly finds himself facing terrifying new ideas …as he says “I had not known it possible for there to be people with hair a colour other than black…”īooks – stories – can take the reader anywhere and here Candy Gourlay transports us to the other side of the world, the Philippines.

But his journey to the Tree of Bones is not smooth his life is turned upside down when an American arrives in the village.

Samkad is elated and nervous his father has just told him he is become a man. What happens when two cultures meet head on? It is 1899, Bontok in the Cordilleras in the Philippines.

Candy gourlay bone talk