When young Spit MacPhee comes to live with his grandfather, the people of the Australian country town of St Helen fear for his future. Fyfe MacPhee is a crazy old man, and barefoot Spit has to fend for himself along the riverbank where they live. While some people feel that Spit can look after himself, others believe he would be better cared for in a boys home - and when old Fyfe dies after one of his 'turns' a fierce battle to decide Spit's destiny begins. Featuring a new introduction from Phillip Gwynne in this Text Classics edition, The True Story of Spit MacPhee is a much-loved, quintessentially Australian novel for readers of all ages. James Aldridge is a multi-award winning Australian author and journalist. Aldridge was born in Bendigo and his family moved to Swan Hill in the mid-1920s. His novels based on the real living conditions of Swan Hill include his 1985 Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year The True Story of Lilli Stubeck and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize-winning The True Story of Spit MacPhee. James Aldridge now lives in London.