and the hair is 1969

It’s December, 1969 and Rod Stickle is released from prison.

But the sweet taste of freedom after five years inside is soured by the alien world he walks into. Changing fashions, landscapes, currencies, Vietnam and the Peace movement, make life on the outside a real challenge.
The long-haired louts marching the streets, protesting a war “they’re too gutless to fight” riles Stickle and prompts him to clean up and restore order.

Billy McCallum and his friends have also been released – from 12 years of schooling – and are looking forward to new adventures. Billy’s attraction to fellow-student Lucy Lewis grows as does Stickle’s lurking menace. Life soon heats up in the port as divergent paths converge towards Christmas and the end of an era.

About the Author

Born in Fremantle, Brendan Murray has taught Secondary English in Australia and overseas, including Tonga, Christmas Island and Singapore.

School’s Out! is his fourth fiction novel. Two of his previous titles Tev (short-listed, WA Premier’s Book Awards 2002) and Tev on Home Turf (2004) were published by Fremantle Press. Jail Road Shadows (Fontaine 2017) was ‘Highly Recommended’ by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. His non-fiction work has included several feature articles for National newspapers and magazines.

He currently lives in Western Australia’s South-West with his wife, Leti and their long-haired, Jack Russell, Eddy. When not reading or writing, he enjoys choral singing and pyrography.