Gilbert's Ghost Train by David Metzenthen

This book moves swiftly from the present into the past as Martin Dean explains that his younger brother Dally (Dally) is dead, and then moves on to narrate the series of events preceding his death. The two boys live near the country town of Triggerton and they spend a lot of time hanging out at the old railway station and enjoy the joys of country life, like lighting campfires, riding motorbikes and exploring the old gold mines in the hills. Then Dally's illness gets worse and Martin spends more time outside exploring alone and is having a great deal of trouble coming to terms with the inevitability that his brother is going to die. One day, whilst walking his dog Carl along the tracks of the old station, he meets Gilbert (Gil) a friendship instantly forms. But there are a lot of strange things about Gil, the way he speaks about the past, his clothes, especially the old army slouch hat withe hole in the side. This is an extremely sad book but it helps you get in the mind of a brother and appreciate the complexities of the impending death of a loved one.

Dead Men Don't Walk by Max Dann

Dusting is on the hunt for buried treasure, and true to his passive aggressive nature, he has coerced his best friend Roger Thesaurus into helping him acquire it. And, now Millicent has found out about the whole venture, she wants her 30%. As it turns out there is none to be found at the Bailey's house and so Dusting believes they will find gold whilst on their school excursion, considering that he is psychic and all. Psychotic is probably a more apt description. They find a bag of money and then things take a turn for the worst. As always with Dusting and his friends, they make for an enjoyable and humorous read. I read anything by Dann that I can get my hands on.

Dusting in Love by Max Dann

I love this book and have read it out loud as a class novel on about three occasions with it receiving a warm reception by the students each time. So I was pleased to see in on the shelf at Lifeline for a mere 50 cents; an ex-library book. It has a cast of thousands, Thesaurus, Dusting, Grotty, Max Millicent, Phoebe, Gilbert and Mr Lord, but each is well-developed through the dialogue, description and their part in the plot. Author, Max Dann, has written two other books about these characters: Adventures with My Worst Best Friend, and Going Bananas. In this book, Roger Thesaurus watches in disbelief as his friend Dusting, sworn girl-hater, loud mouth and bully, falls head over heels for Phoebe Drake. As always with Dann's books, there is a mystery to be solved as well, and Dusting and Thesaurus suddenly and quite accidentally find themselves in the middle of a murder scene. This is a laugh-out-loud book which will put you in a good mood and have you reaching for Dann's other books.