Life Choices in Captain Mack & Billy Mack’s War By James Roy

1637 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The psychosocial effects of trauma on children

Captain Mack and Billy Mack’s War by James Roy are both "heart warming and thought provoking" (Reading Time) insights into the tangles of childhood and early adolescence. Published by University of Queensland Press (UQP) in 1999 and 2004 respectively, both explore the theme of how choices define who we are and what we become. Both of these books explore unlikely friendships, with two central characters in completely different settings, they are intriguingly written in a mixture of narrative methods but are a relaxed and enjoyable read.

"James Roy was born an odd colour in Trundle Base Hospital [NSW] in 1968 and got to ride in an ambulance shortly after. Strangely he doesn’t remember the name of the driver." (Inside Cover – C.M.) He spent much of his childhood in missionary camps in Papua New Guinea and Fiji. This is where his love of literature began, he spent his days playing on the beaches and coral islands, but at night he would read books and dream of one day writing his own. Captain Mack is Roy’s third book and was short-listed for a Children’s Book Council of Australia (C.B.C.A.) Award. Billy Mack’s War is Roy’s seventh book, which he has written after many calls to complete the open-ended conclusion of Captain Mack. It has also won a C.B.C.A. honour award; "Roy’s well written story is full of insight and compassion without resort to sentimentality." (C.B.C.A.) James Roy’s style of writing is relaxed, succinct and subtle but thought provoking. He now lives with his family in the Blue Mountains and enjoys sailing, bushwalking and performing in his band ‘Cranky Franky.’ Roy draws on some of these varied life experiences to create the plots for his books.

"Captain Mack is an adventure about heroes and unlikely friendships" (Back Cover – C.M.) The book centres on 12-year-old Danny Snell who is bullied at school due to his crooked eye. He befriends an old man, known as Captain Mack, who thinks the nursing home in which he lives is a P.O.W. camp. Captain Mack is moved to a new nursing home, which he truly hates, he then calls on Danny to help him escape. Their friendship grows and there comes a time for Danny to make some tough decisions. Billy Mack’s War is the prequel to Captain Mack, Captain Mack is dead but his son William wants to meet Danny. This is William’s story; it takes Danny and the reader back to 1945 when William - then known as Billy - was a boy.

Show More
Related

  • How Does Johnny Tremain Change

    300 Words  | 1 Pages

    Nothing in life is permanent, everything one day will have to change. A basic necessity of life, change is the fuel that keeps our society moving. In the novel Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, Johnny Tremain, a fourteen-year-old boy gifted in craftsmanship, experiences changes in all aspects of his life. From a crippled hand to fighting against the British for his country's independence, war transforms Johnny Tremain from a selfish child into a patriotic hero. As the war relentlessly continues, Johnny learns the effects that it has on him as he must focus on the real issue rather than centering around his individual concerns. By reading this novel, we can learn from Johnny how in times of conflict, young men like him must mature into men who

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Book 'Soldier Boys' By Dean Hughes

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    Soldier Boys is a nonfiction book written by Dean Hughes. It was published in 2001, it is a book that was written about two boys during war time. There are two settings in this book, each of them are at the training camps where both of the characters are training. The main idea of this book is that two boys that wanted to be war heroes realize when they get there that it is nothing like they heard of it being like.

    Read More

  • The Innocence of Childhood in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

    1249 Words  | 3 Pages

    Growing up and becoming mature can be an intimidating experience; it is difficult to let go of one’s childhood and embrace the adult world. For some people, this transition from youthfulness to maturity can be much more difficult than for others. These people often try to hold on to their childhood as long as they can. Unfortunately, life is not so simple. One cannot spend their entire life running from the responsibilities and hardships of adulthood because they will eventually have to accept the fact that they have a role in society that they must fulfill as a responsible, mature individual. The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger follows the endeavours of Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old teenage boy who faces a point in his life where he must make the transition from childhood to adulthood. In an attempt to retain his own childhood, he begins hoping to stop other young children from growing up and losing their innocence as well. As indicated by the title, “The Catcher in the Rye” is a book that explores a theme involving the preservation of innocence, especially of children. It is a story about a boy who is far too hesitant to grow up, and feels the need to ensure that no one else around him has to grow up either. His own fear of maturity and growing up is what leads to Holden’s desire to become a “catcher in the rye” so he can save innocent children from becoming part of the “phoniness” of the adult world.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Open Boat And The Red Badge Of Courage By Stephen Crane

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    I have always been interested in war novels and who better to read than Stephen Crane. In Cranes short stories, The Open Boat and The Red Badge of Courage the general themes of realism are portrayed through his vivid writing styles and unique language. The idea of isolation and discovering oneself really relates to my life and reading his short stories not only helped me understand myself, but gain valuable knowledge from his brilliant works. Both The Open Boat and The Red Badge of Courage really reflect Cranes realistic writing, his sense of courage and hope, and survival even in tough situations.

    Read More

  • Book Report Soldier's Heart

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    Soldier’s Heart a book by Gary Paulsen about a young boy by the name of Charley who turns into a young man with a soldier's heart by the end of the book. Charey, a fifteen year old boy growing up in Winona, Minnesota, wants to prove he can be a man and do what men do. Charlie just wants to prove to everyone he can be just as man as anyone else, and Charley thinks by going to war he can prove this, but Charley does not really know what comes from war, no one does.

    Read More

  • Issac Newton Research Paper

    225 Words  | 1 Pages

    Issac Newton was born on Christmas in 1642, he was born premature and people did not think he was going to live. His father died three months after Issac was born. So his mother needed to raise him. Hannah Issac's mother got remarried to Bamabas. He was wealthy and he maid Issac's mother leave him with the grandparents while they go live in Witham. Ever since issac's mother got remarried he kept a diary explaining the hatred of his step father everyday. When he was with his grandparents he'd spend the whole day in his room building stuff. He was 10 and his stepfather died and his mother returned home. After a long life time and struggle he attended Cambridge university when his inventions started to boom. At that university he discovered

    Read More

  • Biography: A Brief Biography Of Sir Isaac Newton

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    Newton was very passionate about his work and his findings; he once poked a needle into his eye socket as a part of his experiment. He stared at the sun wi...

    Read More

  • Sir Isaac Newton

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sir Isaac Newton was a very intelligent mathematician and physicist who is considered one of the most influential scientist of all time. He became a very successful man making many contributions to the field of physics while battling memories of his early life and mental issues he encountered . He is well known for Newtonian mechanics, Universal gravitation, Infinitesimal calculus, Optics Binomial series, Principal Newton's method. Also for publishing a book and building the first reflecting telescope.

    Read More

  • Spartan Narrative

    1102 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though our story isn't all about the war; our story is about a young man that goes by the name lee, lee was about average height, with light blue eyes ,and unruly brown hair. Usually lee talks with his friends or lofts around his house; but today was different the war had gone bad to worse for them and you could

    Read More

  • Isaac Newton Research Paper

    313 Words  | 1 Pages

    Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643 in Woolsthorpe Manor, United Kingdom on the Julian calendar his birthday date is December 25, 1643. His nationality is British/English he grew up in a poor family.(biography.com) He was the only son of prosperous local farmer also with the name of Isaac Newton. His father died 3 months before he was born.(biography.com) Isaac Newton was not expected to survive because of being a premature baby and being very weak.(biography.com) When Newton was three years old his mother remarried and left him with his maternal grandmother, later left an indelible imprint on him, causing him to be insecure and causing irrational behavior.(biography.com) After his mother’s second husband died, she returned to Isaac and

    Read More

  • Isaac Newton's Accomplishments

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    As Newton stayed locked up at home avoiding the plague, he made a spectacular discovery with the help of a crystal prism. He discovered that white light was heterogeneous and made up of many colors arranged into a spectrum. Newton also demonstrated that rather than modifying it, prisms separate white light. Unlike many of his other discoveries and developments, Newton’s work in the optics was made public. In 1704, he published a book analyzing the fundamental nature of light called Opticks: or A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. According to Newton, the purpose of the Opticks was “not to explain the properties of light by hypotheses, but to propose and prove them by reason and experiments”. Isaac Newton’s theories in light were also very particulate. During the 17th century, many people believed that light consisted of a wave, similar to sound. However, Newton did not agree. Instead, he believed that since light travels in straight lines, light was composed of discrete particles moving in straight lines in the manner of inertial bodies. (Robert A. Hatch) In brief, Isaac Newton has influenced people’s understanding of the world with his discoveries in

    Read More

  • Isaac Newton Research Paper

    492 Words  | 1 Pages

    Many people did not agree with Newton’s theory, so he did a experiment with a glass prism and held it up to light causing it to refract the white light in to the color spectrum. Isaac Newton invented a reflecting telescope in 1672 and a sextant that was rediscovered in 1731 by John Hadley and Thomas Godfrey. In 1672 Newton was elected “Fellow of the Royal Society” for his paper on light and color. One of Newton’s greatest theory is the universal gravitation. Isaac Newton also discovered the three laws of motion. Isaac Newton wrote a book on universal gravitation called “Principia” or “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica ”, Witch some historians say is the greatest scientific book ever made. Isaac Newton ended his life in argument with Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz over who invented

    Read More

  • Isaac Newton Research Paper

    448 Words  | 1 Pages

    He was later elected to the Royal Society moving to London for a couple of years. He was finally able to published his first notes on optics for everyone to read. While in London Newton experimented with refraction. He could determine that white light was a composite of all the colors on the spectrum and also conclude that light was composed of particles instead of waves(History.com). With so much success in modern philosophy Newton paper was put into question by Robert Hooke who disagree with Newton polishing his own theories of light. This conflict brought so negative attention to Newton who vanish from the public eye for some times. After dedicating himself to the Royal Society for a couple of year he moved back to England. Edmund Halley encourage Newton to organize his notes on mathematical work on the elliptical paths of celestial bodies. Newton later publish “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica” in

    Read More

  • Sir Isaac Newton Research Paper

    201 Words  | 1 Pages

    Sir Isaac Newton is one of the most renowned mathematicians in history. He was born on January 4, 1643 in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. Initially he was to become a farmer to help his mother out but after much persuasion, was sent to school to study. He went on to attend Trinity College, Cambridge where he would learn from the works of notable people such as Aristotle, Descartes, and Galileo. It was here we he began to write his Quaestiones which are a set of notes written by Newton. During this time he also discovered the binomial theorem while getting his BA. After earninghis BA, Newton wnt back to his hometown and it was here we invented calculus. He published his findings in "The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy," which

    Read More

  • Biography Of Isaac Newton

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...s theory of light was in essence “corpuscular”, or particulate. In effect, since light (unlike sound) travels in straight lines and casts sharp shadows, Newton gave the impression that light was composed of small particles moving in straight lines in the manner of inert bodies. Furthermore, since experiments had shown that the properties of the separate colors of light were constant and unchanging, so too, Newton reasoned, was the stuff of light itself-- particles.

    Read More

More about Life Choices in Captain Mack & Billy Mack’s War By James Roy

Open Document