The Nargun And The Stars

Winner of the 1974 CBCA Book of the YearWhen Simon Brent's parents are killed in a car accident he is taken to live with his mother's second cousins, Edie and Charlie, on Wongadilla, their 5000 acre sheep run in the Hunter Valley. Simon, with his city attitudes feels like an outsider, unable even to bring himself to call his cousins by name. But Simon is not the only thing that doesn't belong in Wongadilla. The arrival of heavy machinery intent on clearing the land brings to life the Nargun, a great rock, older than time itself, that has slowly dragged itself into the valley - and with it, a simmering rage that drives it to kill. Before long, Simon is captivated by the land and by the Potkoorak, the Turongs and the Nyols, mischievous and ancient creatures steeped in the traditions of the land and its inhabitants. As the terror begins, Simon, his cousins and the creatures must use their wit and ingenuity to drive the monster away. Rich in mythology, The Nargun and the Starsevokes an image of this land and its people, and carries an environmental message that is as important and relevant today as it was thirty years ago.

Simon, still grieving over his parents' death in an aircrash, comes to live with his elderly cousins in their farm in the Australian mountains. He feels very much alone, and turns to the comfort of the land, and to the spirits who inhabit it.

Wirrun, a young aboriginal inhabitant of an Australian coastal town, searches for the eldest Nargun, an age-old monster with the power of fire, in order to stop the Ninya, ancient ice creatures, from overwhelming the land.

A young boy runs away from home to rescue an abused baby dragon held captive to serve as a free twenty-four hour, seven-days-a-week ferry for the lazy wild animals living on Wild Island.

Tribal elders urge a young Australian Aborigine to investigate the strange events occurring in the interior of their vast continent.

SUMMARY: When they have unexpected time off from school, the Collins children camp out in a dilapidated hut in the bush. When two boys Kidnap their dog, Binty, who lacks confidence and self-esteem blames himself and tries to rectify the sistuation secretly. Finally he shows courage in rescuing the dog.

Beneath the earth are older things than perhaps we understand. Every so often, when the time is right, they appear again above the earth to visit the world that was once theirs alone.