A riveting story of courage, hope and extraordinary adventure.
"You will hardly read a more fascinating account of a convict's voyage to Australia" Australian Book Review
Thirteen-year-old Barnaby Fletch is a bag-and-bones orphan in London in the late 1700s.
Barnaby lives on his wits and ill-gotten gains, on streets seething with the press of the throng and shadowed by sinister figures. Life is a precarious business.
When he hears of a paradise on the other side of the world- a place called Botany Bay - he decides to commit a crime and get himself transported to a new life, a better life.
To succeed, he must survive the trials of Newgate Prison, the stinking hull of a prison ship and the unknown terrors of a journey across the world.
And Botany Bay is far from the paradise Barnaby has imagined. When his past and present suddenly collide, he is soon fleeing for his life - once again.
Multi award-winning and bestselling author John Marsden has sold millions of books worldwide, and won every major award in Australia for young people's fiction.
He has written more than 40 books, including So Much to Tell You and Letters from the Inside, which span a range of genres and audiences.
John's legendary 'The Tomorrow Series', called 'the best series for Australian teens of all time', has sold into multiple territories and was adapted into a highly successful movie and a major TV series.
His historical novel for adults, South of Darkness, won the Christina Stead Award for Best Novel of 2015.
John's enduring passion for education has led him to found two schools: Candlebark, on a vast forested estate near Romsey, Victoria; and Alice Miller, at Macedon, a Year 7–12 school with a particular emphasis on the creative arts.
His two adult, non-fiction titles, The Art of Growing Up and Take Risks, explore his fascinating life and his absorbing, profound insights into teaching, parenting and society today.
