One of Australia’s most acclaimed actors, Toni Collette, has joined the cast of the upcoming film adaptation of Jasper Jones.

Collette joins Levi Miller, Angourie Rice and Aaron McGrath as headliners for the long awaited production of Craig Silvey’s seminal 2010 novel.

Jasper Jones will be directed by Rachel Perkins (Bran Nue Day, Redfern Now, Mabo) and produced by David Jowsey (Toomelah, Mystery Road) and Vincent Sheehan (Animal Kingdom, The Hunter). The script has been penned by Shaun Grant (Snowtown). Both Screen Australia and ScreenWest are supporting the project.

Despite narrowly missing out on the 2010 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Jasper Jones is one of the most acclaimed Australian novels of the 21st century and a regular at book clubs and in schools since its release.

Grab your copy of Jasper Jones here

Jasper Jones

by Craig Silvey

‘If we see a more entertaining, heartfelt piece of Australian literature in the next 12 months, it will be a rare year indeed – an Australian To Kill a Mockingbird.’ – The Monthly

Late on a hot summer night in the tail end of 1965, Charlie Bucktin, a precocious and bookish boy of thirteen, is startled by an urgent knock on the window of his sleep-out. His visitor is Jasper Jones, an outcast in the regional mining town of Corrigan. Rebellious, mixed-race and solitary, Jasper is a distant figure of danger and intrigue for Charlie. So when Jasper begs for his help, Charlie eagerly steals into the night by his side, terribly afraid but desperate to impress.

Jasper takes him through town and to his secret glade in the bush, and it’s here that Charlie bears witness to Jasper’s horrible discovery. With his secret like a brick in his belly, Charlie is pushed and pulled by a town closing in on itself in fear and suspicion as he locks horns with his tempestuous mother, falls nervously in love and battles to keep a lid on his zealous best friend, Jeffrey Lu.

And in vainly attempting to restore the parts that have been shaken loose, Charlie learns to discern the truth from the myth, and why white lies creep like a curse. In the simmering summer where everything changes, Charlie learns why the truth of things is so hard to know, and even harder to hold in his heart.

Grab your copy of Jasper Jones here

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About the Contributor

Andrew Cattanach

Andrew Cattanach is a regular contributor to The Booktopia Blog. He has been shortlisted for The Age Short Story Prize and was named a finalist for the 2015 Young Bookseller of the Year Award. He enjoys reading, writing and sleeping, though finds it difficult to do them all at once.

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