Review of Along the Waterways

[Alex Wooden]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Along the Waterways" by Jenni Barnett.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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Jenni Barnett creates a beautiful visual of the Australian outback by describing the landscape wonderfully. The book is a stunning insight into the Australian Aboriginal culture and the importance of the Dreamtime. Our main character, Rex, experiences a physical and spiritual journey while camping out in the Australian bush. The Dreamtime, storytelling enables the traditions and history of the Aboriginal culture to travel between ancestors, Elders, clans people and emerging members. The Dreamtime also presents an opportunity to communicate with ancestors to uncover past mysteries’. The Dreamtime story discussed throughout the book reflects on the lifestyle within an Aboriginal community thousands of years ago. We learn about the roles of individuals, traditions, art, hunting, corroboree, food and celebrations.
I rate this book a 3 out of 5 as the story of Mullawanda was fascinating with lots of surprises and wonderful characters along his journey. Jenni Barnett writes of life in the community and its impacts on the Earth. The reader is encouraged to reflect on a life long ago and the impact of advancing technology. I enjoyed reading about the relationships within the community and how the surrounding communities come together to learn and share knowledge. The respect between communities has a huge role in how they interact and encourage the advancement of transport, art, textiles, and many other specialties. The characters throughout the story experience many hardships and need to rely on their education during childhood to survive. Reading the book can become confusing trying to remember all of the Indigenous names of the characters and their roles in the community but there are many lists and maps to make it easier. The main character of the story Rex is not often mentioned in the novel and is hard to connect to after hearing the Dreamtime story. His story seems rushed and how his experiences impact him in today's society is not well explained compared to the rest of the story.

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Along the Waterways
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