Reviews: (by author)

Forrestal, Elaine. Graffiti On the Fence. Puffin, 1999, $A12.95, ISBN 0-14-130519-3.

Hellz, Eddie and Tan form a skate-boarding gang. They are in their early teens and are determined to assert themselves as the local 'tough guys' (Eddie is, in fact, a girl). They obtain most of their fun by terrorising the local 'witch', their name for the elderly Lallie, who lives alone with her dog. But she has more problems than the children's persecution of her, as her son is trying to get her to move from her house into a retirement home and he enlists the aid of a very unscrupulous real-estate agent to try to persuade her.

Hellz, the leader of the gang, eventually strikes up an unexpected friendship with the old woman as she is the one in whose garden he hides when he is trying to escape from his mother's knife-wielding boyfriend. Lallie's courage and presence of mind during this incident impress everyone. Hellz and his friends help her keep watch to try to catch the person who is frightening her at night and vandalising her garden. They help her convince her son that she is quite capable of looking after herself, especially with the support of her neighbours. The change in the relationship between the gang and the old woman is not made to happen too quickly however; there is enough reluctance on both sides for the whole thing to be convincing.

This is a well-written and moving novel and the friendship across age-groups is well-drawn and convincing. The trust of the old woman transforms the children, especially Hellz. There are touches of humour amongst the pathos and the relationship between the old woman and her dog is also warm and loving - he is the recipient of most of her poetry recitations.

Recommended reading level: Age 11-13

Reviewed by Margot Hillel

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