Don'T Call Me Ishmael!

Description: By the time ninth grade begins, Ishmael Leseur knows it won't be long before Barry Bagsley, the class bully, says, "Ishmael? What kind of wussy-crap name is that?" Ishmael's perfected the art of making himself virtually invisible. But all that changes when James Scobie joins the class. Unlike Ishmael, James has no sense of fear - he claims it was removed during an operation. Now nothing will stop James and Ishmael from taking on bullies, bugs and Moby Dick, in the toughest, weirdest, most embarrassingly awful - and the best - year of their lives.

Review: This is a really gripping story, first in a new series, with some unusual but well rounded characters. It has a clever use of humour to lighten some quite dark moments with plenty of surprises for both the characters and readers. Primary Times

Author Biography: Michael Gerard Bauer was born in Brisbane and taught English and Economics at secondary schools for a number of years but now he devotes himself to full-time writing, school visits and Festival appearances. His first novel THE RUNNING MAN won the 2005 CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers. Michael lives with his family near the beautiful Brisbane suburb of Ashgrove - the setting for THE RUNNING MAN. It is the suburb in which he grew up, where he went to school, where he spent several years teaching, where he met his wife and where, only a few streets away from his present house, in what used to be a private hospital, he was born. Sometimes Michael thinks he should get out more. Visit him at www.michaelgerardbauer.com.