Crime. Violence. Nasty things. Could there be anything more appealing to kids? Crime Time by Sue Bursztynski has it all… and here’s your chance to win a copy.
Crime Time is a who’s who of Australian crime. From infamous past criminals such as Ned Kelly, to more current underworld figures such as Tony Mokbel, there is plenty in this book to entertain and horrify kids who are hungry for a little mayhem and blood. Sensitive parents need not fear too much, as the book doesn’t get overly graphic.
Sue is visiting the Boomerang Books blog today to give away a copy of her book.
Crime Time giveaway
By Sue Bursztynski
A while back I received an email from Paul Collins of Ford Street Publishing. His partner Meredith Costain had done a book called Fifty Famous Australians — would I be interested in doing a children’s book on the theme of fifty infamous Australians, as a sort of companion volume?
Was the Pope a Catholic?
I’d written several non-fiction books and plenty of articles, including one on forensics. Research was second nature. For the next few months I plunged into books, websites and newspaper articles about the most evil and the plain silliest criminals this country has produced, starting from the Batavia hijacking in 1629 and going right up to the story of Tony Mokbel, who had just been arrested in Greece. When I was sickened by serial killers I found ridiculous stories like the one currently on my website about two idiots who tried to rob a restaurant and got away with … Well, check it out. There were fifty main stories, but a whole lot of snippets as well. There was no shortage of stories to choose from, and I made sure I chose those which kids would find most entertaining. Adults have also found them entertaining; I know of one who bought a copy for her nephew and never passed it on.
Now you can win a copy of Crime Time: Australians behaving badly, by leaving a comment at the end of this post and answering one of the following two questions:
In one or two sentences, name your favourite Aussie crime story, eg “The story of Snowy Rowles, who used an Arthur Upfield plot to commit the perfect murder, because he nearly got away with it.”
OR
Which Australian criminal would you invite to dinner, eg “the runaway convict Alexander ‘Cannibal’ Pearce, but I would supply the meat.”
These are two stories from my book, but you can use any name you like, including ones from the newspapers — I can look up any I don’t know. I will choose one entry and explain why.
Good luck!
George’s bit at the end
Okay everyone, getting your criminal mastermind thinking caps on and start writing those entries. Post your answers in the comments section below.
Entries close on Friday 5 October 2012 at 5pm Australian Eastern Time.
Thanks for the giveaway, Sue.
Catch ya later, George
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Or you could just tell me why I should give you a copy if the above questions are too hard. 🙂
Hi Sue,
I would love to read your books as I have always been interested in true crime stories especially Australian True Crime stories.
Those questions are too hard! I realise I don’t know enough about Australian criminal history to answer. That’s one of the reasons why I’d love to win a copy of the book.
The other reason is because I’m spending the National Year of Reading reading and reviewing books by Australian women for the Australian Women Writers challenge, and I’ve only read a few AWW books aimed at children.
Thanks to all of you for your answers! Jennie, Grade 5 and 6 are exactly right for this book, though it has been doing well in my library among Year 7 and 8. I have five copies there, and there are rarely any on the shelves for more than a day or two. 😉 Tricia, Aussie true crime is indeed fascinating – we’ve had crime here since 1629 and the first crime of the convict era happened a few days after the First Fleet got here. Elizabeth, with so many wonderful Aussie women writing for children I am very flattered that you have chosen my book to read – and thanks for the retweet on Twitter!
Who do we contact with address details? I assume I was one of the winners?
This giveaway has now finished. A winner will be chosen soon. Stay tuned!
Ahem! With only three entries and such good reasons, as a show of goodwill, I am declaring everyone a winner. Email me your details – just wander over to my blog, http://suebursztynski.blogspot.com, and get in touch via “Contact Me”.
Thank you Sue, for such a generous offer.