Books and beyond

Albert of Adelaide by Howard L. Anderson

 

Albert of Adelaide is not a children’s book and is not as satirical as Orwell’s Animal Farm. However, Anderson’s characters are all Australian animals, except one emigrated raccoon from California. The animals take on vices of humans, like Orwell’s pigs in Animal Farm. The main character, Albert is a platypus who escaped from the zoo in Adelaide. He is searching for freedom and a better life. Rumor has it that there is a land of liberty, promise and peace. Stuck in the Australian outback; Albert finds friends, which he never had before, and learns that he can survive on his own. Anderson has written a clever novel, full of outlaws like one may have found in the Old West.