Last of the Braves

Last of the Braves

Alex is a young Australian-Italian teenage boy living in Melbourne. He has just turned 18. He is gay. His uncle is a small-time gangster. His mother is dying.

Alex feels the weight of his mother's expectations on him, her obsession with Caravaggio and her own lost dreams fall heavily on his great talent as an artist.

Making money from selling painted skateboards, Alex struggles with his hot temper, the loss of his doting mother.

The pressures of life become to much for Alex and he goes off the rails, using violence and stealing as an outlet and a message to his family.

Can Alex come to terms with his mother's death, his relationships with his family, and his acceptance of who he really is? Or will it come to a head too soon?

An authentic and fascinating slice of Australia-Italian life, Last of the Braves, is woven with a wealth of themes and issues, including growing up, family life, responsibility, relationships, death, respect, caring, grandparents and homosexuality.

In this extremely brave prototypal of a teenager struggling to find his voice Archimede Fusillo captures the impact of family on a young person in a vivid and moving way.

Archimede Fusillo also explores the relevance of Caravaggio's art and life making this young-adult novel brilliant for art students.

Archimede Fusillo was born in Melbourne to Italian immigrants. He has worked as a features writer for two international magazines, and many of his short stories have been published in several leading magazines and journals. He has own the Alan Marshall Award and the Mary Grant Bruce Award for Children's Literature. Archie lives with his wife Pina and their two children Alyssa and Laurence in Melbourne's outer suburbs. Bruises is his most recent novel, was a 2005 CBCA Notable Book.

Last of the Braves
Penguin Australia
Author: Archimede Fusillo
Price: $19.95