‘Neddy’ Hawkins, a seven-year-old understands the world through music, but others regarding him as retarded. Elsie Fischer, a twelve-year-old of German descent and a musician herself, is the only one who sees potential in him, and starts to tutor him. Neddy is making progress, but with WW I raging in Europe, many South Australians have little tolerance for Germans living among them. When Elsie’s mother dies, the family moves to Adelaide and change their name to be more English. However, bigotry is not far away, and Mr. Fischer is forced to keep his identity secret.

When I started reading Stephen Crabbe’s Song of Australia, the developing relationship between Elsie and Neddy drew me into this short book, and I was eager to read more. Unfortunately, I soon became frustrated when the story and the shallow treatment of its characters wandered off the theme. That in itself would have been forgivable had Mr. Fischer’s life in Adelaide been developed fully, but the story took off in another direction, introducing another set of characters. When Neddy and his mother came to Adelaide, I though the plot would pick up, but it failed to resolve what happened to them. Stephen Crabbe has a polished writing style that is easy to read, but lack of characterization, emotion and drama in Song of Australia left me unsatisfied.