Shortlist year: 2010
Shortlist category: Young adult literature
Published by: Penguin Random House
One of the country's finest young cellists, 16 year-old Hugh Twycross has a very bright future. A future that has been mapped out by his parents, his teachers, by everybody, it seems, except Hugh Twycross.
Hugh has a secret, though: he loves cars and he loves car racing. When his newly discovered grandfather, Poppy, asks him to go on a road trip to Uluru in his 1970 Holden HT Monaro, Hugh decides, for once in his life, to do the unexpected.
But Poppy has a secret that will unravel both their lives and take them in a direction they never expected.
About the author
Phillip Gwynne
Phillip Gwynne's first novel Deadly Unna?, the literary hit of 1998, has now sold over 180,000 copies. It was made into the feature film Australian Rules for which Phillip won an AFI award. The sequel, Nukkin Ya, was published to great acclaim in 2000.
For the Aussie Bites series, he wrote The Worst Team Ever, Born to Bake, and A Chook Called Harry.
Independent novels include Jetty Rats and Swerve (which was shortlisted for many awards amongst them the 2010 Prime Minister's Award and the Golden Inky).
Phillip is also the author of Michael in the Stuff Happens series.