Gone Bush with Uncle Quinn: Part 2

By CHARGER MORRISON, Illustrator MARTIN BAILEY

When I first started school I didn't think I was any different to any of the other kids but Mum soon put me straight on that. Under no circumstances was I allowed to play any kind of contact sport because of my being "too thin-boned', whatever that meant (I'd never heard of anyone having fat bones). I wasn't allowed to go swimming or even play outside unless the weather was perfect.

I never had many friends at school but you couldn't blame the other kids; after all nobody wants to mix with a wimp and that's exactly what I was. All that stuff about my "delicate condition' had been drummed into me for so long I was convinced that if I kicked a ball I'd break a leg, getting caught out in the rain would give me a dose of double pneumonia, and even a walk in the park could be life-threatening if there was any pollen floating about ready to aggravate my respiratory ailment or bring on some kind of allergic reaction to the 101 things I was supposed to be allergic to.

Publisher: Reed Publishing, $12.95
Age group: 10+ years