THE TRUE STORY OF SPIT MACPHEE

by James Aldridge

Title+Author:

The book is called 'The True Story of Spit MacPhee' and it was written by James Aldridge.

Other Information:

It was published by Penguin Books in 1986.

Type of book:

It is an original novel and it is a biography of a young boy.

Subject:

It is about an eleven-year old boy, who does not want to do what the grown-ups have decided for him.

Setting:

The story takes place in St. Helena, a town in Australia, in 1928.

Characters

Spit MacPhee is an eleven year old boy who has bad manners: he always shouts loud and he spits.

Fyte MacPhee is Spit´s grandfather and after an injury in the war, he is mentally ill. He does not like others and so he has not got any friends.

Betty Arbuckles wants to help Spit and that is the reason why she wants to  put him in the evangelic children home in Bendigo.

Grace Tree and her daughter Sadie are good friends of Spit and Grace wants to adtop him.

Summary

Spit lives with his grandfather in an old boiler. No one knows much about them, because they do not like visitors. Betty Arbuckles, a very religious woman, wants to save Spit´s soul and so she tries to find out as much aas possible, but she only gets to know that his grandfather has moved to St. Helena after the World War, where he works now as a clock-maker. Also his daughter and Spit´s mother moves to St. Helena. She always hides her face, because a fire has destroyed her skin and killed her husband.

After a few month, she dies and Spit´s grandfather becomes so ill, that he also dies.

Now Spit has to live with Betty Arbuckles, but he hates her, because he always has to pray and to say 'thanks' for everything. So he runs away.

The men search him and after some days they catch him. Spit says that he will run away again, if he has to libe with Betty or in the childen´s home.

He seeks refuge with Sadie´s mother, although her husband does not like him, but then he accepts him. Betty is angry that Grace has got the boy and she goes to court and takes a famous civil prosecutor, Mr Quayle. The judge, Mr Laker, explains, that this is a diifficult case, bacause Spit is Protestant and so he has to live with a Protestant family lithe the Arbuckles, but Spit pregeres the Trees, a Catholic family. With the help of mr Quayle spit can live with the Trees.

Idea

The author wants to show that the most reasonable desicion does not have to be the best one and that the religion is not the only thing that counts.

Opinion:

I like this book, because there are the feelings of a boy in a hard situation described. And it shows, that you can not decide for another person what is the best for him.