Pool

Short-listed for the 2008 Victoria Prize for Young Adult Fiction Justin D'Ath's Pool is a beautifully modulated novel that explores adolescent transitions and discoveries in seamless prose. Sixteen-year-old Wolfgang Mulqueen works at the public swimming pool in New Lourdes, Victoria, where pilgrims from across the world travel to test the waters curative powers. In the course of a long hot summer, Wolfgang is forced to confront his own strengths and limitations. D'Ath juxtaposes intriguing characters, metaphors and events - a blind girl, a black butterfly, a tragic 18-year-old mystery - to create a truly original work. Pool is a powerful and moving novel about love, death, faith and family.**