Uncovered is the eighth in a series of collections of short stories by Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n author Paul Jennings

Paul Jennings (Australian author)

Paul Jennings AM is an English-born Australian children's book writer. His books mainly feature short stories that lead the reader through an unusual series of events that end with a twist.-Biography:...

. It was first released in 1995.

For Ever

A deliberately humourless melancholic drama about a terminally-ill boy who wants nothing but to see snow and has an untalkative brother who is obsessed with toilet paper and honey. Could this obsession be linked to his brother's condition and/or desire?

Too Many Rabbits

A boy who owns a bookshop buys a rabbit from his girlfriend who owns a pet shop. But when the rabbit has babies, not only must the boy keep them locked in his secret room, but the breeding starts to get out of control, causing hundreds of rabbits, and the boy spends a lot of his time feeding every single one of them and cleaning up after them.

A Mouthful

A girl has a father who loves playing practical jokes on her friends whenever they come for a sleepover. But one night, he ends up becoming the victim of his own joke.

Listen Ear

When a boy looks at his father's compass and accidentally hides it, then lies about looking at it, he is forced to stay home and be babysat. But when the babysitter does not come, there is a power outage, and the boy ends up being chased by his reflection.

Picked Bones

A boy owns a cat that loves attacking people. He also gets a box from his late uncle that has a warning to be kept away from his cat - but not because the cat will damage whatever's inside.

Just Like Me

A 21-year-old man visits the site of his primary school, which has become a shopping centre. When he was 12, he buried a time capsule containing a letter to his girlfriend here. He hopes that someone will uncover that time capsule, as it is supposed to be uncovered nine years from its burial.

Ringing Wet

A girl who always wets the bed enjoys spying on her neighbour, who she believes has buried his wife. Also, when her mother (who has divorced and lives away from her) takes her and her brother to Luna Park, and they are forced to go home early due to a prank played by her brother, their father gives them a bet that when one of them talks, the other gets 50 dollars.

A running gag in this story is "Yes,", followed by a capitalised word or phrase.

Backward Step

A 14-year-old boy has the ability to travel through time, as well as change to his 5-year-old self. He decides to travel to just before his mother was killed and stop her from going on the drive that kills her.

Pubic Hare

A boy who is the first in his class to grow pubic hair feels embarrassed about it, so he gains from an old man the ability to move objects with his mind.

External links

• The book on Paul Jennings's site