What is the appeal of biography for young people? Recently, I was asked by a Year Seven teacher to compile a list for her students. She commented that twelve and thirteen-year-olds were beginning to break away from fiction and that she believed biography made a good literary transition into nonfiction.

Anthony Hill’s book Soldier Boy was shortlisted for the 2002 Children’s Book Council Eve Pownall Award for nonfiction. It told the story of the youngest-known Australian soldier at Gallipoli. In his latest book, Young Digger, Hill once again combines historical record with family reminiscence to create a gripping narrative. Drawing extensively on the archives of the Australian War Memorial and family records, it tells the story of Henri Heememe, a French orphan who attached himself to an Australian Flying Corps squadron stationed in Germany in 1918. From scrounger lurking at the edges of camps, Henri graduated to mascot and all-round pet of the squadron, right down to a tailormade miniature uniform. Over the ensuing months, he gradually became a second son to Tim Tovell, who was determined to bring him back to Australia and raise him as a member of his own family. After making fruitless enquiries at Henri’s last known home, Tim and his brother Ted contrived to become people smugglers. There was no elaborate forethought; at each stage of their journey back to Queensland, intrigue, cooperation from officers and outright lying got the two brothers and their refugee through each military and civilian checkpoint.