Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
Although the title is over the top, this is a great Australian book. Trent Dalton's first book is certainly my book of the year. It weaves together an Aussie love of understatement with the paranormal. Matches the violence of illegal drugs with the love for family. It arouses hope, in the face of our ability to fuck things up
Set in Brisbane in 1983, it follows the coming of age of a thirteen-year-old boy in a family dealing with drugs. He is trying to work out what it would take to be a good man when as he puts it, all adults are fucked.
I recommend you read this book, but If you hear a red phone ringing, don't answer it!.