It's gimmicky. I'm not being derogatory when I say thisThey'll also enjoy Henry and the Flea, probably because it's gimmicky. I'm not being derogatory when I say this: there's a good gimmick/idea at the centre of this book, and it will intrigue boys. It's this idea that gives the book a wonderful initial spurt; it really launches it. Sadly it has no strong narrative with which to continue. the tale lapses into invertebrate form halfway through.
Thirteen-year-old Danny wants to play rugby league for the Warriors (read New Zealand Warriors), and he can do this because he possesses a magic trick - usually accessed by blinking twice - that transforms him into a sporting whiz. It's every boy's dream come true, and I imagine that this fantasy allows Brian Falkner to get male readers' attention snappily. His prose is snappy too: it's energetic and workmanlike. The scene is set quickly, and events move along fast.
Except that one wonders what for? Because although Danny does get to play for the Warriors, and learn about friendship and fame, and have a bonding experience with ace player Henry Knight (just a big kid at heart), there isn't a lot of story happening. I couldn't say what this book was about at all and thought the author actually avoided story, simply charting Danny's progress through a league season.
Early on, Falkner makes statements that ring alarm bells for me. Phil Domane, the possible villain of the story (but in fact a cipher), "just wasn't very nice". This signals an early evasion of characterisation; it's putting a middle-class prudish mindset on a character who could contribute to the story in a dynamic and possibly evil way, for Phil Domane, alias "the boy without a brain", ends up with Jenny, the girl whom Danny (even at the tender age of 13) vaguely intends to marry.
Apart from a bit of strange hero-worshipping bonding with Henry, Danny isn't allowed to get involved with his mates or his girlfriend. Indeed, early on, Danny says, "Jason and I were close friends. Not best friends, 'cos boys don't have 'best' friends. That's something that girls do."
Really? I suspect Falkner of putting strict parameters around relationships so that he doesn't have to explore them and face the hard creative work of developing characters. Indeed, Danny's relationship with jenny (his future spouse) is so "okay" and devoid of feeling that I started to suspect there was some curious misogynistic agenda running through the book.
Norman Bilbrough, New Zealand Books
November 2003
