Tom Appleby, Convict Boy

At the tender age of eight, chimney sweep Tom Appleby is convicted of stealing and sentenced to deportation to Botany Bay. As he sails out with the First Fleet, Tom sadly realises that he will never set foot on English ground again.

Luckily, not long after Tom’s arrival in the colony, the fair and kind Sergeant Stanley decides to take on Tom as a servant. Together, Tom, Sergeant Stanley and his son, Rob, build a house, set up an orchard and a vegetable garden for themselves – and thrive, unlike many others in the new colony.

Tom Appleby, Convict Boy is brilliant historical fiction. Jackie French tells of a colony that, despite its natural abundance, cannot offer what the colonists want – familiarity. While the people’s health is better than it ever was in England, their morale is low as they wait for news from home.

©2004 Jackie French (P)2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Best book in the world.

I loved the story, I loved the readers voice. The only thing that was bad, it skipped every o other chapter, I was reading it with the book, so I had to pause it and unpause it every chapter.