Blueback

"This is the oldest title in my pick of five and it is one that’s been with me since it was published in 1997. Reading it for the first time, it perfectly captured how I feel when I’m in the ocean, when I’m exploring and diving and seeing things for myself. It’s about a boy called Abel Jackson who lives with his mother in an idyllic, wild part of Western Australia. Abel is always in the sea, and one day he meets and makes friends with a huge fish which he names Blueback. I found myself deeply wishing when I was a kid that I had made friends with a giant fish. I definitely share Abel’s desire to understand the ocean, to communicate with the animals that live there and learn their language but also to find out what it is that’s making the sea sick. This book unflinchingly looks at the encroachment of the modern world into the ocean. It is a story that absolutely—and very sadly—stands the test of time. Since it was written, very few of the problems, like overfishing and pollution, have got any better and most of them have got worse. Abel is also quite ahead of his time, an activist before kids were talking about activism. He instinctively knows he has to do something about the threats to his beloved bay. For all the troubles it shows, Blueback is an evocative and elegant portrayal of ocean life. That’s another reason why I love this book, it transports you under the waves in such a vivid way."

"I read this story years ago and it is just lovely. Winton calls it a fable for all ages and I think that is absolutely true. I read it to my nephews when they were about seven but I think everyone should read it no matter how old they are. It is about a boy called Abel Jackson who grows up in this gorgeous part of what I presume is the Western Australian coast, because that is where the author hails from. The story tells how Abel goes diving every day. He makes friends with a huge blue fish he names Blueback. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter It is part adventure story, part ode to the oceans. You see the unfolding problems of the modern world pushing in on his beloved bay. Abel decides that he wants to study the sea to figure it out and solve the puzzle of why the ocean is getting sick. And on a lighter note he wants to learn the language of the sea. He wants to know what Blueback is thinking about. It is beautifully written and very evocative. Ultimately, it is a story about childhood dreams and realising it is never too late to go back and relive them. Yes, one part of the story is that fishermen come and pillage the bay where Abel and his mother live. It describes the efforts they make to stop that happening, but I don’t want to spoil the ending. Sadly, I often turn up when it has already got to the point of being fairly degraded. I have spent a long time working and researching in South East Asia where there are all sorts of problems like dynamite and cyanide fishing, and the impacts are obvious. I have been in the water when a fish bomb has gone off not too far away – which is terrifying. You can almost feel it before you hear it. It was deafening. I was petrified that if it had come any closer my buddy and I would have been deafened if not worse. It rocks through your insides and you feel this powerful pressure wave coming off the bomb. It is that pressure wave that kills the fish. It really brought home to me just how destructive that kind of fishing is. We came up immediately and the boat was miles away, but sound travels through the sea so fast. So I have seen some sad cases of ocean destruction, but I have also been very lucky to go to some of the most beautiful and relatively untouched places there are left."