The year is 1977, and Adrian is nine. He lives with his gran and his uncle Rory his best friend is Clinton Tull. He loves to draw and he wants a dog he's afraid of quick sand and self-combustion. Adrian watches his suburban world, but there is much he cannot understand. He does not, for instance, know why three neighbourhood children might set out to buy ice-cream and never come back home... (Dymocks.com.au)

A Sonya Hartnett I haven't read but I think I can source another copy so will send this one travelling at the meetup this month. Such a fine writer she is.

Taken away from meetup. I have not read this book previously, and will try to do so in the next couple of weeks. Perfect size to carry to the Convention, but is the story too local and dated?

Not feeling 100% today, I decided to spend the day reading. This was a real gem and I read the whole book in the day (only 187 pages long though).
Adrian was nine years old and after being passed from mother to father, he was now living with his grandmother. He was a real worrier and felt very insecure in his home and school life. His only friend Clinton let him down badly which drew him closer to the children next door. The ending was quite surprising (and shocking).
I think the story was cleverly based around the disappearance of the Beaumont children, only the writer made them the Metford children.

Returning to Jean-Sol to read and possibly carry to Netherlands convention.

Book is back with me.