The crocodile’s eyes were yellow, slit by a vertical pupil.
The creature remained perfectly still, but it throbbed with life.
Ezra felt goosebumps in spite of the afternoon heat,
and took a few steps back.
‘Is that thing looking at you?’ asked Mason.
‘Nah. How could it be?’
It took me many days to read this book but I am not the target audience. I did find myself wondering though, why Spirit of the Crocodile has been short listed by the CBCA even though I think it was a good choice for their Notables list and secondly, I wonder how many readers (target audience ages 10+) will have enough reading stamina to stick with this story right to the end. Spirit of the Crocodile has been short listed by the CBCA as I mentioned and by ABIA and for the Queensland Literary Awards and it was awarded Highly Commended in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. It clearly appeals to many adult judges of book competitions here in Australia. I have made some suggestions of extracts you could use to entice readers in your library to read this book later in this post because there are some moments of good tension which young readers will enjoy.
Here are the CBCA judges comments:
Publisher blurb: Twelve-year old Ezra is an ordinary boy who lives on Saibai, an extraordinary Australian island. He loves a laugh, he loves his family, and - almost more than anything - he loves a dare. But when one of his dares goes wrong, Ezra realises he needs to make some decisions about helping out and measuring up. He learns that there's more than one way to look at, well, nearly everything. And as ever-increasing climate disasters threaten Saibai, Ezra and his best mate Mason must draw on their resilience and courage to help the community survive a massive out-of-season storm. Set in today's Torres Strait, Spirit of the Crocodile is a captivating novel that explores the importance of culture, community and place to a carefree kid on the cusp of growing up.
Strengths of this story/book:
- An appealing cover
- The decorations used to fill the cover title lettering and chapter headings (check out the link to the blog Paperbark Words to read more about this - see below)
- The exploration of extended family relationships in indigenous communities
- The family relationships, sibling relationships and friendships - I especially love Ezra's little sister Tarzie.
- Descriptions of the island landscape and village
"Saibai's tiny village of maybe a hundred buildings perched on the northwest coast of the island. The village looked out to sea on one side and was hemmed in by bird-filled brackish lagoons on the other. Mason's home and the airport were at one end of Main Road. The other end of the road ran past the jetty and the council depot before finishing at the cemetery."
- Details of indigenous cultural practices and beliefs
"Ezra looked at the evening star, knowing it was part of the Koedal constellation and thinking about how he himself belonged to that crocodile clan. He thought about what Mum had told him - that Koedal was fierce and fast moving, but patient and knowledgeable as well. When Ezra's male ancestors died they became part of the Koedal constellation. when Ezra's time came, he would too."
- Ezra is so proud of his mum (and dad).
"Ezra's mum Zipporah, a teacher's aide, worked in the junior classes at the school on Saibai. Zippie was a tall, intelligent woman, full of enthusiasm and energy. With her beautiful green eyes, not a few of the littlies in her classroom were madly in love with her. She was studying part-time and online to become a fully qualified teacher."
Here are some very detailed teachers notes from the publisher (via Pegi Williams).
Here is the author talking about his island. Further thoughts:
This quote could be a good discussion point with your class:
"the conversation sometimes veered off into a discussion about marine pollution; about which containers sank straight away and which ones kept floating for weeks; about how many and what a menace they were; about the impact of other discarded objects like fishing gear, and plastics, and household rubbish."
Ezra has a different experience of moving from Primary to High school - leaving Saibai and heading to Thursday Island. I imagine most readers of this book will have no idea about this and again this could be a good topic to discuss especially since this experience is not unique to Australia - I met a family on Fair Isle (Scotland) and their son was about to head away to his high school in Lerwick having just finished Grade 6.
It is vital to explore the topic of global change, and the dangers and evidence are a daily and terrifying reality for island communities such as this one on Saibai I did find this aspect of the story
"He knew that the seawall, seemingly so solid and sturdy, was in fact a desperate attempt to keep the remaining community safe from the encroaching waters of the sea. Two years ago he'd seen a tide come up so high that the sea water sloshed right over the wall and inundated the gardens of many of the houses fronting Main Road. It was as if the wall wasn't even there."
"The whole world knew that islands like Saibai were in danger - that special tress like his were in danger, that houses like Mason's were in danger - and no one in charge was doing a thing to stop it. They said all the words, but they never did anything real. Nothing."
Here is another quote which you could use for a discussion with an older group of students:
"What it might give me is an easier way through to the whitefella world ... So I can learn how to use their stuff to help our people. Like Eddie Mabo did. Like the uncles achieved in the High Court. I want to learn how to use their rules, their laws, their knowledge."
The action in this story really does not 'heat up' until page 175+ of the 242 pages. This makes me wonder if readers aged 10+ will 'stick with' this book right to the end. There are a couple of terrific scenes earlier in the story though. If I was sharing this book with a group in the library here are a couple of the scenes you could use for a book talk: When Ezra dives under the truck pages 101-103 and the awful incident with the spear fishing 'gun' pages 155-157.
Joy Lawn from Paperbark Words talks to the creators of this book.
It is books like this about community and culture that truly showcase what a different culture is like, what they contribute and how they bring two worlds together to create lives filled with joy, family and everything they need to live. It acknowledges the conflicts and knowledge gaps, and shows that using what you have at hand can be the best way to work towards making a difference. The Book Muse (this review has a good plot summary).
Spirit of the Crocodile is, in many ways, an extremely relatable, age-old story exploring the pain and excitement of growing up. However, its evocative descriptions of island life, kinship systems, trilingual code-switching, cross-cultural negotiation, and community resilience also offer a generous and original insight into Torres Strait culture. Story Links
There is real tension which the authors bring to a head and then resolve beautifully. The Australian Legend
Here is a 12 minute ABC Pacific radio review.
Companion book to read after Spirit of the Crocodile:
Having now read all six of the CBCA 2026 Younger Readers shortlisted titles I cannot help but observe that the CBCA Younger Readers short list for 2026 does seem to be a little contrived because the choices by the judges seem to fit into very specific categories. One graphic novel - Inked; a junior chapter book for the youngest readers - Tim tie-your shoelaces; a verse novel - Little Bones; the action thriller Run by Sarah Armstrong; a realistic fiction title The Paperbark Tree Committee; and one indigenous title - Spirit of the Crocodile.
