A Larrikin's Memoir
The end of 1961 . . . and the New South Wales country town of Albury lies flat on its back in the sun swatting flies, with its feet sticking out over the mighty Murray River into Victoria. Everything is on the cusp of something else.
A battle royal rages as Alburnians put aside family feuds to present a united front against the dreaded prospect of fluoridation of the town's water supply. This monstrously conceived communist plot must be stopped in its tracks; the people of Albury insist on their sacred right to let their teeth, and those of their children, rot.
Through this furore and tumult, Charlie Waterstreet, 11, local larrikin, and his mate taillight, legend and lair, roam the parks and highways of their home and discover the real hidden horror of childhood: everything is what it seems.