Scar Town
by Tristan Bancks
Published by Puffin (AU) an imprint of Penguin Random House Australia
Inside the CBCA Shortlist
Inside the 2024 CBCA Shortlist
Scar Town is the winner of the prestigious CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Reader category and is also declared the winner by children, who read the shortlist as Shadow Judges. Congratulations Tristan.
Book review and suggested activities by Joy Lawn (Joy in Books) at PaperbarkWords blog
‘I wish we’d left before Butcher came into the house. I wish we hadn’t come out here again. And that I hadn’t gone snooping at the truck depot. That we hadn’t come into the house yesterday. There were so many times I could have made a different choice, but I didn’t.’ (Scar Town)
Scar Town book trailer by Tristan Bancks
You never know where a Tristan Bancks story is going to take you. He finds new paths, new storylines and exciting ways of telling them to reel in the reader. His stories are truly gripping and easy to read yet with layered depths – the mark of a very skilled writer who cares for and respects his readers.
Scar Town is a suspenseful mystery-crime thriller. It has a cracking start with an atmospheric, uncanny (but realist) setting where Old Scarborough, a town that had been deliberately flooded (like old Jindabyne), is now rising again after seven years because drought and a hole in the dam wall are causing the waters to recede.
Will and thirteen-year-old twins, brother Dar and sister J, brave the cold water to clamber into a partially submerged house where they find thousands of dollars hidden, as well as human bones. They encounter ‘the Butcher’ there, a man later implicated in a high stake’s episode.
Will wonders if he’s “brave and reckless like J or a scaredy-cat like Dar”. The three are struggling in different ways because they all have missing parents. Dar and J’s mother left the family and their father spends too much time at the pub. Will’s father disappeared seven years earlier, around the time of the old town flooding, and is presumed dead. Will dreads that the bones belong to him.
His mother is very protective but doesn’t get on with Will’s grandfather who lives out the back of their house. Pops has had a stroke, memory loss and echolalia. He parrots some of the secrets that Will tells him, which could lead to further danger. Will cares for him, continuing his father’s legacy of being a ‘brave and gentle man’. He also sees himself as representing kids with missing parents. In Will, Tristan Bancks captures the complexity of an active, thoughtful young male. He is a fine role model.
****
Using the book with students:
There is much to explore in this book and a second reading will be rewarded.
Some (of many possible) ideas follow:
The title – Scar Town
Scarborough is the town where the events take place.
Why is it nicknamed Scar Town?
Students also discuss the meaning and allusions of ‘scar’, Scarborough as a ‘bad luck town’ [pp67,88] and the irony of the town banner, ‘Scarborough – Come for a Day, Stay for a Lifetime’. [pp36,68]
The partially submerged house
How does the author create a dangerous, eerie atmosphere inside the partially submerged house? What words and descriptions (including personification and other metaphorical images) does he use? How do the things the friends find inside increase the suspense? How are they a contrast to each other? How do the characters react? What does Will think about the house? How does he relate it to Dar’s horror movie?
[pp 5-29,44, 95- and elsewhere]
Reading and libraries
The library becomes a place of refuge in the novel, particularly in contrast with the sunken house.
At one point in the novel Will’s mother comments that he doesn’t read now [p45], inferring that he used to read more. He does recall reading ‘creepy’ Skellig [by David Almond, p56], which is definitely a novel to recommend to discerning upper primary and older readers.
Studies are showing that young people are reading less for enjoyment once they reach secondary school.
To gain a sense of how much and what students are reading, students survey or share anecdotally their own reading habits.
Personal recommendation is one of the best ways to promote books so they should then recommend books to each other. Maintain a data bank of recommended books as an ongoing resource. Students also keep a list of books to read now and in the future.
The Writing
To help improve their own writing and also appreciate what Tristan Bancks has achieved in his novel, students look at how he has executed his storytelling. Consider and discuss why the story is so entertaining and enjoyable to read. Then consider technical aspects such as how the writing is concise with nothing extraneous, but also gives plenty of information and colour.
There is much to look at but a focus could begin with the following structural and symbolic features:
Cliff-hangers (structure)
The short chapters often end on a cliff-hanger. Why are cliff-hangers important? Students find examples from the novel.
Ticking clock (structure)
The ‘ticking clock’ technique creates drama and suspense. Often a countdown is put in place with a ‘ticking clock’ running out of time until an action is resolved. (For example, in a movie there may be a bomb that has to be defused in time.)
There are a couple of ticking clocks or countdowns in Scar Town. Students identify them and discover how effectively they drive the narrative. They should then use this device in their own piece of writing.
The Crow (symbolism)
There are many symbols in the book. The crow is one example of symbolism to create effect in the novel [pp7,29,95 …]. Students track the appearance of the crow and discuss or explain how each appearance reflects or enhances the dramatic moment.
Humour
Scar Town is a thriller but includes humour, for instance, when one of the friends tells the others ‘Don’t look behind’ [p89 and elsewhere] and of course they turn around to look back.
Students find examples of humour in the novel and explain how they diffuse tension and lighten the tone.
Film
Scar Town has many filmic qualities and Dar himself is making a horror movie. Students read the descriptions of his movie. In groups, pairs or individually, students make a short animated or other movie using some of the plot or elements of the book.
*****
Scar Town is a riveting, unputdownable book that will have its readers contemplating further as they read. Tristan Bancks has certainly secured his position as a consummate storyteller who can simultaneously and seamlessly explore important ideas.
Thanks to Penguin Random House Australia for the review copy of Scar Town.
Scar Town at Penguin Random House Australia
Interview with Tristan Bancks about Detention at PaperbarkWords blog
Interview with Tristan Bancks about Bancks’ Ginger Meggs at PaperbarkWords blog
paperbarkwords.blog 
5 thoughts on “Scar Town by Tristan Bancks”