Josh Cranford loves running, soccer, cricket - anything, as long as it's sport. Most of all, he loves to win. Just one person stands in his way: super-jock Shane Hunter. They clash head to head in everything, and Shane always comes out best ...especially where girls are concerned. Makes it feel that way, anyhow. Then along comes an off-the-wall new teacher, and a wicked new challenge: the Energex Iron Kid Triathlon. The perfect chance to take Shane on and come out on top. Except Josh can't swim. Never has - and vowed he never would. If he's going to enter the triathlon, he'll have to overcome his fear of water ...and take the first step to confronting a secret buried too deep in his past to think about. Josh's decision triggers the most important six weeks of his life - and Shane Hunter isn't the only problem. Josh not only has to learn how to swim; he has to learn to deal with his Dad's new live-in partner, Suzanne. And then there's his biggest and most painful secret of all ...Buddy.
Accolades
Winner of New Zealand Post Children's Book Award: Best First Book 2003.
Winner of New Zealand Post Children's Book Award: Junior Fiction 2003.
Author Biography
V M (Vicky) Jones lives in Christchurch. Buddy was her first novel and won the Junior Fiction and best First Book Awards in the 2003 NZ Post Childrens Book Awards, Juggling With Mandarins, winner of the junior Fiction in the 2004 Awards, and the hugely successful Karazan Quartet
