Lockie is missing Egg, his best friend who has moved away to Freemantle, his brother Phillip is blowing things up in his quest for the ultimate scientific experiment, and Blob...well, she is still chewing on linoleum and filling her nappies. Lockie, who is now fourteen, hasn't been able to shake off his infatuation with Vicki Streeton although he fools himself that he has, and Sarge, his Dad, is still into poetry and other great literary classics. But something is not quite right with his Mum. The house is a mess, she sits staring into space and she is crying all the time. Sarge calls in the golf-obsessed grandparents to supposedly help, but they only make life in the house more complicated and Lockie finds himself sleeping in the laundry. Then, in an unexpected twist, Sarge brings home Cyril the merino ram who is attracted to Phillip's bike.
Finally, the third book in Winton's Lockie Leonard series has made it onto our bookshelves. Lockie takes on many new household responsibilities when his mother is diagnosed with depression and hospitalised. This book is quite different from the preceding two in that it is mainly set at home and focuses on household life and the way Lockie, Philllip and the Sarge cope in the absence of Joy, the family glue who would normally deal with the laundry, the dishes, the cleaning, the meals, the baby and everyone's problems.
