Joey, the Boy from the Sky

By Fairbanks

Synopsis

It is like a fairy tale, a modern-day fairy tale. The first part of this story is a mystery which builds to an absurd fantasy premise that the reader is encouraged to accept. To give it away would spoil it. The rest of the story is a quest for justice and for resolution. It is a story about a wholesome relationship between a man and a boy.

The story reiterates universal truths about hope and about looking forward in life, as in this quote from a victim character at the end of the story: We must not wallow like pigs in the mud, feeling sorry for ourselves and blaming. But at the same time, we must never forget!

The eccentric story is set in outback Australia and Aboriginal Australia and then in the nation's capital, Canberra, and then preposterously in the Kalahari in Botswana. The central (title) character is a young boy-hero emotively but also realistically presented. Joey takes a large host of other characters and the world and the reader on a yellow-brick-road adventure which captivates and inspires.

Joey and his mentor / father figure, Adam, are rescued after The Escape by an Aboriginal family in the outback and then journey through an epic saga, trying to resolve an impossible quest to save Joey's people. In the end, the story is more than a quest but also a reflection on hope and inspiration in life. Always there is Joey. And everyone loves Joey.