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labsandliterature's review against another edition
4.0
I want to thank @walkerbooksaus and @AusYABloggers for having me as part of the tour and #gifting me a copy of this wonderful book by Archimede Fusillo.
Synopsis
A moving and explosive tale about what happens when tradition and the need to belong collide.
Frankie Rescio is struggling with the death of his sister. Next door, Lochie Marsh is about to have his world invaded by his estranged, pregnant half-sister and her layabout boyfriend. Despite tensions simmering just below the surface for both boys and their families, they form a bond that connects their different worlds. Until tribal lores threaten to bring everything crashing down.
Tribal Lores explores the fundamental things about growing up that never change: the desire to fit in and be accepted by one’s peers, the intrinsic urge to belong.
Review:
I was unsure of what to expect when my copy arrived but what followed was a beautiful story of the teenage struggle. It is widely accepted that being a teen is hard but Tribal Lores showed me another side to it that I had no experience with. The main character, Frankie, is struggling to maintain two lives: a typical Australian teenager and the son of Italian immigrants who are deep seated in their culture. From the very first chapter we see the struggle Frankie faces about these opposing cultures and how he can respect and embrace them both.
Frankie’s neighbour and friend, Lochie, provides a polarising character. The social dynamic of Lochie’s family is very different to Frankie’s close-knit Italian one and as a result his personality is also very different. Lochie is the definition of street smart but is also compassionate to the others in their friend group when they are struggling. The friendship between Frankie and Lochie is such a refreshing and unique relationship and something that is lacking in YA fiction. There is always a focus on female friendships but there is a lack of well written, authentic male friendships. Tribal Lores helps fill that hole.
Fusillo has written a beautifully character driven story that tells the story of not just the main characters but the supporting ones as well. It is well rounded and filled with emotion. It discusses the cultural differences and celebrates them both while guiding the reader through. Tribal Lores is a heart warming story that made me smile, laugh and cry throughout.
Synopsis
A moving and explosive tale about what happens when tradition and the need to belong collide.
Frankie Rescio is struggling with the death of his sister. Next door, Lochie Marsh is about to have his world invaded by his estranged, pregnant half-sister and her layabout boyfriend. Despite tensions simmering just below the surface for both boys and their families, they form a bond that connects their different worlds. Until tribal lores threaten to bring everything crashing down.
Tribal Lores explores the fundamental things about growing up that never change: the desire to fit in and be accepted by one’s peers, the intrinsic urge to belong.
Review:
I was unsure of what to expect when my copy arrived but what followed was a beautiful story of the teenage struggle. It is widely accepted that being a teen is hard but Tribal Lores showed me another side to it that I had no experience with. The main character, Frankie, is struggling to maintain two lives: a typical Australian teenager and the son of Italian immigrants who are deep seated in their culture. From the very first chapter we see the struggle Frankie faces about these opposing cultures and how he can respect and embrace them both.
Frankie’s neighbour and friend, Lochie, provides a polarising character. The social dynamic of Lochie’s family is very different to Frankie’s close-knit Italian one and as a result his personality is also very different. Lochie is the definition of street smart but is also compassionate to the others in their friend group when they are struggling. The friendship between Frankie and Lochie is such a refreshing and unique relationship and something that is lacking in YA fiction. There is always a focus on female friendships but there is a lack of well written, authentic male friendships. Tribal Lores helps fill that hole.
Fusillo has written a beautifully character driven story that tells the story of not just the main characters but the supporting ones as well. It is well rounded and filled with emotion. It discusses the cultural differences and celebrates them both while guiding the reader through. Tribal Lores is a heart warming story that made me smile, laugh and cry throughout.
caszriel's review against another edition
3.0
~I received a copy from Walker Books Australia and willingly reviewed it~
This is one of those books you have to sit down and think about, both during and after the read. There are a lot of layers to this book, as well as various themes that are explored in an interwoven way. Ultimately it’s a story of culture and belonging, set in a coming-of-age context. The main character, Francesco “Frankie” Rescio, takes us on a journey of his everyday life, a simple yet revealing premise that sets the stage for the showcasing of many issues.
The first major theme that comes up is culture. Frankie’s family are Italian immigrants, and they have a completely different set of customs from their born-and-bred Aussie neighbours the Marshes. The contrast is shown through their interactions and responses to big events, for example a wedding or funeral. The exploration of culture extends beyond the neighbours to Frankie’s friends, from Frankie’s lack of availability for nighttime excursions to the different family dynamics at play.
As the title suggests, Tribal Lores is also about tribes, the notion of extended family linked by culture as well as by blood. The main tribes are that of Frankie’s family, his neighbour Lochie’s family, and, to a lesser extent, his friend Andrew “China” Wang’s family. Each tribe has their own skeletons that are revealed in the book, and they deal with them in different ways. Family is also linked to identity, which is something we see Frankie struggling with; the labels of us versus them, Italian versus Australian. There’s a point at which someone—Lochie’s mum I think—says we’ve been here for twenty years, yet we are still not considered Australian and I really felt that.
My favourite thing about this book has to be the strong, convincing characterisation. Main characters aside, we’ve got an annoying little cousin who’s always breaking things and is never held accountable by adults due to her age, a shady family friend who’s always hanging around for more favours, and the friend who uses anger as a coping mechanism instead of confronting his problems. Archimede Fusillo’s characters are identifiable in our own lives, but that only adds to their brilliance; they’re universal yet unique. My personal favourite has to be Frankie’s cousin Gabby, who is first introduced as Frankie’s favourite cousin and completely lives up to that reputation because she’s always the coolest person in the room. I really liked the development of Frankie’s brother Stefano, and how Frankie’s perception of him shifts from annoying little brother to more of a friend and ally in the household. Similarly, the relationship between Lochie and Frankie deepens a lot as they share more secrets and it makes the ending that much sadder.
Speaking of the ending, I’m still numb? I’m not sure if I like where it went but at the same time it made sense considering it was the ultimate cataclysmic event that linked together everything in the book. Tribal Lores reminded me of Craig Silvey’s Jasper Jones, mainly due to the somewhat similar dynamic between Jasper and Charlie and between Frankie and Lochie. Both books also have scenes where one character knocks on the other’s window in the middle of the night, I might add. This book does a wonderful job of exploring the complexity of culture clashes and identity through day to day lives, character interaction and tragedy.
This is one of those books you have to sit down and think about, both during and after the read. There are a lot of layers to this book, as well as various themes that are explored in an interwoven way. Ultimately it’s a story of culture and belonging, set in a coming-of-age context. The main character, Francesco “Frankie” Rescio, takes us on a journey of his everyday life, a simple yet revealing premise that sets the stage for the showcasing of many issues.
The first major theme that comes up is culture. Frankie’s family are Italian immigrants, and they have a completely different set of customs from their born-and-bred Aussie neighbours the Marshes. The contrast is shown through their interactions and responses to big events, for example a wedding or funeral. The exploration of culture extends beyond the neighbours to Frankie’s friends, from Frankie’s lack of availability for nighttime excursions to the different family dynamics at play.
As the title suggests, Tribal Lores is also about tribes, the notion of extended family linked by culture as well as by blood. The main tribes are that of Frankie’s family, his neighbour Lochie’s family, and, to a lesser extent, his friend Andrew “China” Wang’s family. Each tribe has their own skeletons that are revealed in the book, and they deal with them in different ways. Family is also linked to identity, which is something we see Frankie struggling with; the labels of us versus them, Italian versus Australian. There’s a point at which someone—Lochie’s mum I think—says we’ve been here for twenty years, yet we are still not considered Australian and I really felt that.
My favourite thing about this book has to be the strong, convincing characterisation. Main characters aside, we’ve got an annoying little cousin who’s always breaking things and is never held accountable by adults due to her age, a shady family friend who’s always hanging around for more favours, and the friend who uses anger as a coping mechanism instead of confronting his problems. Archimede Fusillo’s characters are identifiable in our own lives, but that only adds to their brilliance; they’re universal yet unique. My personal favourite has to be Frankie’s cousin Gabby, who is first introduced as Frankie’s favourite cousin and completely lives up to that reputation because she’s always the coolest person in the room. I really liked the development of Frankie’s brother Stefano, and how Frankie’s perception of him shifts from annoying little brother to more of a friend and ally in the household. Similarly, the relationship between Lochie and Frankie deepens a lot as they share more secrets and it makes the ending that much sadder.
Speaking of the ending, I’m still numb? I’m not sure if I like where it went but at the same time it made sense considering it was the ultimate cataclysmic event that linked together everything in the book. Tribal Lores reminded me of Craig Silvey’s Jasper Jones, mainly due to the somewhat similar dynamic between Jasper and Charlie and between Frankie and Lochie. Both books also have scenes where one character knocks on the other’s window in the middle of the night, I might add. This book does a wonderful job of exploring the complexity of culture clashes and identity through day to day lives, character interaction and tragedy.
bookish_brooklyn's review against another edition
3.0
Tribal Lores is a completely remarkable, raw and powerful coming of age novel, focusing on a young teenage boy who’s born in Australia to Italian Parents, who are firmly still set in their ways and traditions of their country. Frankie, our main character, is still struggling with grief for his sister who died young, whilst his best friend Lochie is grumbling because his estranged (and pregnant) half sister and her layabout partner will soon be moving in with the family in the too small property.
This essentially sets the foundation for quite the unique read! I feel like almost instantly, that I hadn’t read anything like Tribal Lores before and could appreciate Archimede Fusillo’s honest and raw approach to portraying family dynamics. I found myself really enjoying the scenes between Frankie and his Parents, with Frankie expressing on more than one occasion that whilst his parents are completely Italian, he himself is Australian born and doesn’t quite know where he fits in with everything! In turn, he knows his Parents have been struggling with Amelia’s death, which is completely tragic but it just seemed equally poignant that their Father says Frankie’s younger Brother “isn’t a man” and that he picked up habits such as playing the Accordion to make up for Amelia not being with them anymore: I just thought that was so sad to be announced, when one can clearly tell that Frankie’s little brother enjoyed the instrument and had a talent for it, which should just completely be attributed to himself…
As profoundly impactful this story might have been, I personally felt like there were quite a few elements of this story that really nipped the emotive aspects in the bud! Whilst Frankie and Lochie’s friendship I suppose could be considered one of the heralding highlights of this book, a lot of the secondary friendships really kept me wondering. Take China for example,honestly there was not a point throughout this book where I was wondering what his name was, because I’m really thinking it wasn’t China? It’s just that said character is of Chinese ethnicity, but how about actually naming a name. Spicks too, I felt like between both of them they didn’t overly contribute too much to the focal point of the story, I think they were Lochie’s friends more than Frankie’s and even now having finished the book, I’m still left pondering the authenticity of the friendship circle, especially after the penultimate events towards the ending where one of the characters almost meets a grizzly date, I felt like the secondary friendships just posed more angst than anything else, because often Lochie would go off gallavanting with China and Spicks (Frankie feeling unable to do so potentially due to his strict parents), but I mean these boys were really just young teenagers, which just made me raise an eyebrow at the consistencies here (like could they really take off of a night in one of their Dad’s car?!).
Something else which kept me wondering was the time in which this book was supposedly set. I feel like it’s never really been clear when this story was meant to take place, purely because the interactions with the characters and how people from different cultures and countries are perceived, didn’t exactly feel as authentic compared to the modern day, as it were. In terms of society even, I feel like Australia is more accepting and inclusive, so I was completely unsure as to why the word wog was thrown around so much at one point too, given how it’s essentially considered to be a slur.
Consequently, as impactful as I would’ve hoped that Tribal Lores might’ve been, I honestly felt myself just really left wondering about some of the characters thoughts and gestures and questioning some of the sub story plots too. However, I will remain firm that the story definitely remains at heart about family ties and I did find myself appreciating that honest and raw portrayal of family dynamics! It’s definitely worth picking up a copy for that alone, for I’ll be reflecting about this aspect of Tribal Lores for some time.
This essentially sets the foundation for quite the unique read! I feel like almost instantly, that I hadn’t read anything like Tribal Lores before and could appreciate Archimede Fusillo’s honest and raw approach to portraying family dynamics. I found myself really enjoying the scenes between Frankie and his Parents, with Frankie expressing on more than one occasion that whilst his parents are completely Italian, he himself is Australian born and doesn’t quite know where he fits in with everything! In turn, he knows his Parents have been struggling with Amelia’s death, which is completely tragic but it just seemed equally poignant that their Father says Frankie’s younger Brother “isn’t a man” and that he picked up habits such as playing the Accordion to make up for Amelia not being with them anymore: I just thought that was so sad to be announced, when one can clearly tell that Frankie’s little brother enjoyed the instrument and had a talent for it, which should just completely be attributed to himself…
As profoundly impactful this story might have been, I personally felt like there were quite a few elements of this story that really nipped the emotive aspects in the bud! Whilst Frankie and Lochie’s friendship I suppose could be considered one of the heralding highlights of this book, a lot of the secondary friendships really kept me wondering. Take China for example,honestly there was not a point throughout this book where I was wondering what his name was, because I’m really thinking it wasn’t China? It’s just that said character is of Chinese ethnicity, but how about actually naming a name. Spicks too, I felt like between both of them they didn’t overly contribute too much to the focal point of the story, I think they were Lochie’s friends more than Frankie’s and even now having finished the book, I’m still left pondering the authenticity of the friendship circle, especially after the penultimate events towards the ending where one of the characters almost meets a grizzly date, I felt like the secondary friendships just posed more angst than anything else, because often Lochie would go off gallavanting with China and Spicks (Frankie feeling unable to do so potentially due to his strict parents), but I mean these boys were really just young teenagers, which just made me raise an eyebrow at the consistencies here (like could they really take off of a night in one of their Dad’s car?!).
Something else which kept me wondering was the time in which this book was supposedly set. I feel like it’s never really been clear when this story was meant to take place, purely because the interactions with the characters and how people from different cultures and countries are perceived, didn’t exactly feel as authentic compared to the modern day, as it were. In terms of society even, I feel like Australia is more accepting and inclusive, so I was completely unsure as to why the word wog was thrown around so much at one point too, given how it’s essentially considered to be a slur.
Consequently, as impactful as I would’ve hoped that Tribal Lores might’ve been, I honestly felt myself just really left wondering about some of the characters thoughts and gestures and questioning some of the sub story plots too. However, I will remain firm that the story definitely remains at heart about family ties and I did find myself appreciating that honest and raw portrayal of family dynamics! It’s definitely worth picking up a copy for that alone, for I’ll be reflecting about this aspect of Tribal Lores for some time.
readingwithcake's review against another edition
3.0
Sooo for me this was basically the male version of Looking for Alibrandi, which was one of my favourite books growing up. I say male version but obviously it was different and I didn’t enjoy it as much as Alibrandi. The conflict felt by our main character, Frankie, was the main plot of the book, his internal struggle with his Italian heritage and trying to assimilate into the Australian way of life. I struggled with trying to figure out what era this was set in but I think it was the 90s? I wish that had been clearer as it would’ve helped with the story setting ( in my opinion). It was a nice read that looked at the strong family ties within Italian communities and I particularly enjoyed the wedding scene at the end. The ending definitely saved the book for me, I definitely don’t think it needed to be that big, cut half the book out and it would be a more enjoyable read.
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bookishuniversee's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars*
Was sent a free review copy by @walkerbooks and @ausyabloggers in exchange for an honest review. In no particular way does this influence my opinion.
This story follows Frankie, who comes from an Italian family, and Lochie, who comes from an Australian family through Frankie’s point of view. Both families have very different value and customs. While Frankie and Lochie often irritated me, I realise it was because they were realistic. I have met both personalities in real life and both characters reflected with flaws and all.
While the pace and plot at sometimes were slow, the author was able to bring in the discussion of many topics. Mainly as the title suggest is ‘tribes,’ cultures. Readers are given an insight on the clashes of opposing cultures, and how Frankie grapples with it all. I also enjoy how the book was very friendship focus and it follows a unique dynamic I fell like there should be more of in YA. I don’t think I’ve read much about solely on male friendships and this book fills in that hole.
I highly recommend this if you are looking for a character driven story that guides readers through a great story about family and friends.
AVAILABLE NOW
Was sent a free review copy by @walkerbooks and @ausyabloggers in exchange for an honest review. In no particular way does this influence my opinion.
This story follows Frankie, who comes from an Italian family, and Lochie, who comes from an Australian family through Frankie’s point of view. Both families have very different value and customs. While Frankie and Lochie often irritated me, I realise it was because they were realistic. I have met both personalities in real life and both characters reflected with flaws and all.
While the pace and plot at sometimes were slow, the author was able to bring in the discussion of many topics. Mainly as the title suggest is ‘tribes,’ cultures. Readers are given an insight on the clashes of opposing cultures, and how Frankie grapples with it all. I also enjoy how the book was very friendship focus and it follows a unique dynamic I fell like there should be more of in YA. I don’t think I’ve read much about solely on male friendships and this book fills in that hole.
I highly recommend this if you are looking for a character driven story that guides readers through a great story about family and friends.
AVAILABLE NOW
missusb21's review against another edition
4.0
Exploration of male friendships, sibling relationships, and father-son relationships.
There's also cultural insights. He packs a lot in.
There's also cultural insights. He packs a lot in.
missarnold's review
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
A slow-paced coming of age story set in Melbourne amidst the cultural diversity and tension of Australia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
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