Gravity (16 page)

MORE BESTSELLING FICTION FROM PAN MACMILLAN

Scot Gardner
The Legend of Kevin the Plumber

‘Can you smell gas?'

Something's brewing in Mullet Head . . .

Everyone feels better now that Gary Sleep and his dreadlocks have left school and scored a job. Everyone except Gary: plumber's assistant is a long way from movie stuntman.

And Kevin Daly, the plumber, is not a movie star – he's a grumpy man-mountain of muscle and hair, and needs an assistant like a gas leak needs a spark. Together, Gary and Kevin could go up in a big way.

From the critically acclaimed author of
Burning Eddy
comes a story about finding, facing and fixing broken hearts . . . with silicone.

‘A confident, entertaining and emotionally attuned read for older teenagers'
MIKE SHUTTLEWORTH, CYL NEWSLETTER

Scot Gardner
The Other Madonna

Madonna O'Dwyer is not the mother of the Messiah and she's not a sex-powered pop diva. She's a hardworking girl with a drama queen for a sister and a dad who sounds Irish when he's drunk.

The mother who blessed (or cursed) her with her name died when she was young, leaving a hole in Madonna that, at seventeen, has become as raw as a decayed tooth.

Madonna's friends think she can heal with her hands, but Madonna has her doubts. Her hands make pizzas and wash dishes. Her hands caress the boy and smash down the door. Her hands strangle demons from her past and pray for a spirited future.

The hands of Madonna.

The other Madonna.

A humorous novel about piercing, pizzas and the healing power of love from the highly acclaimed author of
One Dead Seagull, White Ute Dreaming and Burning Eddy
.

‘Scot Gardner has done such a convincing job . . . Madonna O'Dwyer is unique, enormously likeable and believable. In Gardner's hands, her story is involving, moving, funny and immensely enjoyable. Highly recommended'
GOOD READING

‘Madonna is drawn with great compassion and sympathy'
THE AGE

Scot Gardner
Burning Eddy

‘Get a life, Fairy.'

In the country, where his fifteenth summer has burned the life from the grass, Daniel Fairbrother is searching. Looking for something that will make tomorrow seem worth the effort. Something that will fix the rot in his family tree. Stop it from falling apart under the weight of a thousand secrets.

Dan's clues come from the animals. And the Dutch woman.

He works in her garden. Eddy's eighty-six. She has a tattoo, a history, and can make music with her farts. She pays in cash and can read Dan's mind.

In a shady corner of Eddy's garden, Dan finds something growing . . .

Hope.

But something is burning.

‘I feel I could walk right on out the door and encounter Dan, Eddy or Wayne, the hero of Gardner's first two novels, so fresh and seemingly complete is their creation'
AUSTRALIAN BOOKSELLER & PUBLISHER

‘Exquisite . . . an honest and perceptive account of growing up'
MAGPIES

Scot Gardner
White Ute Dreaming

Ernie has a good life. Never has to go to school. Never falls out of love. Never knows what it's like to have his world turned upside down. Ernie's a dog. Unlike Wayne. Wayne is sixteen. Trapped.

With a bite as bad as her bark, his mum could be mistaken for a drill sergeant. With a bottle in a brown paper bag, his dad could be mistaken for a lost cause. But Wayne has found his dream . . . a white ute, Kez, the swag and his yellow dog. To go bush. Live it.

Wayne's best mates move. His favourite uncle dies. His dream takes a hammering. But at the bottom, if you're going to survive, you've got to look up.

From the author of
One Dead Seagull
comes a tragicomedy about life, death and a mad-arsed dog.

‘reassuring and real'
VIEWPOINT

‘an absorbing, honest and thoughtful novel'
AUSTRALIAN BOOKSELLER & PUBLISHER

Scot Gardner
One Dead Seagull

I got a flash of Dad running at me screaming. The brick grabbed and dragged me into the blade. My head smacked into the cover. My arm got stuck at the back of the blade and I could feel it cutting me. Rasping the bone. Red dust. Red blood. Black.

At times life seems brutal to Wayne. His mum and dad have been best enemies since they broke up, he thinks he loves Mandy but she loves Phillip, and his best mate Den is a serious health hazard. Even if Wayne survives the booby-traps and accidents that face him, Den could still get them both killed!

But no matter what the odds, Wayne has a lot of living to do. He's determined not to rot in the hot sand like a lone dead seagull.

From a fresh new voice comes a serious comedy about what happens when you make a truck-load of mistakes and a handful of gutsy decisions.

‘Entertaining and heartfelt . . . Scot Gardner presents pictures of youth with a compassion that endures'
VIEWPOINT

‘An often hilarious glimpse into a fifteen-year-old boy's life . . . Gardner has the ability to describe very funny events'
MAGPIES