Set against a red desert landscape, this novel is the wry, powerful story of two teenagers in unfamiliar surroundings. Jack Alber and Clive "Rolly" Rollins are both stuck in dead-end lives. Jack is trapped in a small town with no opportunity for excitement or even a job; Rolly is wasting his life away in a big city, with few prospects and more of an interest in observing life than living it. The lives of both these imaginative, quirky characters change forever when they apply to work as jackaroos, or livestock workers, for a remote outback station. Out in the Simpson Desert, Jack and Rolly experience adventure and the opportunity to prove themselves to their friends and family. This novel features themes of independence, self-discovery, and wanderlust.