Book excerpt: Walkabout is a survival story for children written by James Vance Marshall. Mary and her young brother Peter are the only survivors of an aircrash in the middle of the Australian outback. Facing death from exhaustion and starvation, they meet an aboriginal boy who helps them to survive, and guides them along their long journey. But a terrible misunderstanding results in a tragedy that neither Mary nor Peter will ever forget . . . Reissued in the 'A Puffin Book' series of Puffin modern classics for children, Walkabout has been continuously in print since its first publication over 50 years ago.