Vinnie's War

By David McRobbie

The story of a homeless boy who starts by losing everything, and—through his experience as an evacuee in World War II—finds friendship, vocation, and a place to belong. When Vinnie is sent away from the bombs in London, he has no idea what awaits him—all he has left of his old life is his harmonica. On the train, Vinnie meets fierce Kathleen, sweet Joey, and gangly Dobbs. The evacuee children find themselves thrown together in the country town of Netterfold, which seems beautiful and peaceful—until they meet the locals. There is a war raging across Europe, but Vinnie and his friends soon find they have their own war to fight as they face up to terrifying teachers, bad billets, and hostile neighborhood kids who set out to make their lives as "vaccies" miserable. And when things start to go missing, they discover that there are mysteries lurking in Netterfold's shadows, just waiting to be solved. Through music and friendship, can Vinnie make peace and finally find a place where he belongs?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Allen Unwin
• Release date: Sep 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781742693231

David McRobbie

David McRobbie was born in Glasgow in 1934. After an apprenticeship he joined the Merchant Navy as a marine engineer and sailed the world, or some of it. Eventually he worked his passage to Australia, got married and settled down for a bit only to move to Papua New Guinea where he trained as a teacher. Subsequently he found work as a college lecturer, then a researcher for parliament. Back in Australia in 1974 he joined the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a producer of radio and television programs for young people. In 1990 he gave up this work to become a full time writer for children and young adults. He has written over thirty paperbacks, mainly novels, but some are collections of short stories, plays and 'how-to' books on creative writing. Three of his novels were adapted for television, with David writing all of the sixty-five scripts — the first being The Wayne Manifesto in 1996, followed by Eugénie Sandler, PI then Fergus McPhail. These shows were broadcast throughout the world, including Australia and Britain on BBC and ITV. The BBC adapted another of David's novels for television — See How They Run, which became the first BBC/ABC co-production. At the age of 79, David is still at work. His most recent paperback novels are Vinnie's War, (Allen & Unwin) published in 2011, about childhood evacuation in the second world war. This was followed by To Brave The Seas, in 2013, a story about a 14-year-old boy who sails in Atlantic convoys during WW2. Both books are available online.