by Tim Winton
First published 1999
Lockie Leonard spots the dead fish floating in the bay near his Australian coastal town. The water looks wrong, smells worse, and nobody seems to care except him. While other teenagers worry about surfing and school, Lockie becomes obsessed with tracking down whoever is poisoning the ocean he loves. His investigation leads him through town politics, corporate cover-ups, and family tensions. Lockie's parents think he should focus on normal teenage problems. His friends call him paranoid. But Lockie refuses to ignore what he sees happening to his environment. He gathers evidence, confronts authorities, and discovers that fighting pollution means fighting powerful people who profit from it. The deeper Lockie digs, the more dangerous his crusade becomes. He must choose between staying safe and staying silent, or risking everything to expose the truth about who is destroying his town's waters.
Genres: fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, activism
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: crusade, investigation, teenage-rebellion
Setting: Australia, Australian Coastal Town
144 pages · Hardcover · Margaret K. McElderry