Walkabout

Dennis Han

Author: James Vance Marshall

Date started: 12.1.2011

Date finished: 13.1.2011

This story has three main characters: a bush boy, Mary and Peter.

The bush boy is an Aboriginal boy, and he is sixteen. The bush boy walked alone. He had to live in the desert alone for six months. He had to find food and water. He had to kill animals, and find fruit on the trees. This is because in Australia, when an aboriginal man-child is sixteen, his tribe sends him out into the bush. A lot of the bush is desert. The bush boy has to live alone for months. The aboriginals call this time the 'walkabout.'

Mary is Peter's sister. They went to go to Adelaide, but their airplane crashed in the desert. There were no roads, no houses, no people. Only two children survived. They are lost in the desert. Mary and Peter are from an American city. They do not know about the desert, they could't survive in the desert. When Mary and Peter meet the bush boy, they try to exchange and they learn about the desert. They also start to think about their world. Mary, Peter and the bush boy are from different worlds. They were always misunderstanding each other, but in the end they were friendly.

I think this story is very touching and it makes me know how to survive in the desert. I really like the bush boy and felt sad when he died.