Landfill doesn’t know anyone or anything but the teachings of Babagoo and his rules. Babagoo has told Landfill his entire life how he found him Outside, as just a tiny boyling. Outside is a place of Outsiders who wear masks and are consumed by a hunger so terrible it will finally eat you from the outside in, changing you into something terrible.

Babagoo even admits he too was once an Outsider, consumed by this hunger, but since finding Landfill he began building their home. Now it is a place they call The Hinterland. The Hinterland is a place full of rusting metal and rambling growth, but also enclosed behind a wall stabbed with glass. Babagoo has cleaned up spaces for them to live in and now with Landfill’s help, they have a garden, animals as friends as well as providers of milk and other things they need.

Landfill has grown up in this enclosed world and now has more questions that Babagoo is willing to answer. He wonders what the birds see over the wall. He knows the list of Babgoo’s rules forward and backwards, but he has started to push these rules to the back of his mind as he breaks them.

No looking over the wall is an important rule, and when caught doing this by Babagoo, Landfill is left outside their normal night hidey-hole as punishment.

Other things trigger more questions. He watches his wolf have her pups, then survives the sight of the red eye as it roared again overhead. Did Babagoo lie? Finally Landfill gets his chance to see Outside, following Babagoo to the pit where he lays his daily traps for the gulls they eat. It’s not long at all before Landfill faces all that Babagoo had warned him about, sending him back to their haven – terrified of all outside of it.

Landfill’s wonder and questions are more persistent than his fading fright, and he ventures forth again. This time is a completely different experience, bringing everything crashing down.

It took a wee while to get my head around the environment this young boy and his strange carer lived in. Landfill’s name gave me clues and his language even more. This boy has lived like this his entire life. As boys grow however, wonder turns to questions, and Landfill wants to know more about the Outside he’s forbidden to see, let alone go.

His carer’s past is gradually revealed, until the heart wrenching truth of Landfill’s first hours with him is laid bare. Landfill is torn between this man who has raised him, keeping him warm, fed and overall safe from the outside world, and what is really beyond their walls. Which is the biggest threat?

It was fascinating deciphering the things Landfill saw and tried to understand and name. Cars, cellphones, clothing, machinery and even women are perplexing to him. Scavengers is a multi award winning novel.

Great read.

Author – Darren Simpson

Age – 11+

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(2019, Harper Collins, Love, Blended Family, Courage, Secret, Poverty, Mystery, Growing up, Award winner, Rubbish tip, Coal yard, Hiding, Rules, Animals)