Review: Two Wolves by Tristan Bancks

I have to be honest and admit, before I found this book for sale at my local Big W, I was more familiar with Tristan Bancks for his portrayal of larrikin teenager Tug on TVs Home and Away during the early to mid 1990s. Of course, that was some time ago and it turns out that Bancks can write a bloody good story. 

Two Wolves is one of those rare books for children that can be read and enjoyed by adults. It tells the story of Ben, a boy on the cusp of adolescence whose life is thrown into chaos when two police officers arrive at his home, looking for his parents. Later, his parents arrive at the house and take Ben and his sister Olive away, 'for a holiday.' But Ben knows that something is not quite right and carefully, he tries to put the details together to work out what his parents may have done. Running through the narrative is the idea of choices--that we have both good and bad inside of us--and the question of what side Ben will choose. Good, or bad?

The writing is faced paced and the ending is, ultimately, a fitting one. Recommended.

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