This a superb novel which won the 2012 Vogel prize for young Australian writers. Jason is a young teen living in the inner eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It's 1985 and his greatest joy and meaning in life is football. His Mother is bringing him up on her own. She works incredibly hard as a nurse and Jason has to cope with a lot of time on his own. Jason wants to play football and his Mother, Christine, is not happy about that, but she is persuaded by another parent to let him play, but he must wear a helmet.

Jason is a gifted and committed player and football gives him a status and confidence among his peers. But this doesn't translate into a better relationship with his Mother. By year 11 Jason has dropped out of school and is doing dope and booze and hanging with graffiti gangs. With the help of a few football mentors he manages to keep things together enough to attract interest from the Hawthorn under 19 squad. A difficult adolescence seems to have been survived until a clash with his Mother uncovers shocking events from the past and Jason's world falls apart. To bring things back together Jason must discover more about himself and his family's past.

Written in a simple but evocative style that moves the story along with suspense, intrigue and poignancy, Eleven Seasons is the best footy novel for many years. Hawthorn fans in particular will love the many references to the great Hawks players and moments of the 1980s and early 1990s, including a description of Chris Langford's very muscular but lean action man physique as ''mesmerising". ( )

The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award is awarded for an unpublished manuscript by a writer under the age of thirty-five. The winner receives up to $20,000 in prize money and is published by Allen & Unwin. This years winner, Paul D Carter, is a high school teacher who admits it took him almost 9 years to write Eleven Seasons.

Eleven Seasons is essentially a coming of age story, Jason Dalton is thirteen years old in 1985 when the book opens, and since this book is set in Melbourne, it is VFL (now known as the AFL), that is his obsession. Jason lives with his mother, a hardworking nurse who is largely absent from his life, in a tiny shabby flat finding solace in music, television and his beloved football team, Hawthorn. As he navigates the trials of adolescence - friendships, girls, drugs and alcohol, Jason dreams of becoming a professional football player and nurtures his talent for the sport with single minded dedication. His mother's lack of support cuts deeply though and on the day of his biggest success, his mother reveals a shocking secret that blows his world apart.
The Australian male obsession with sports, football of one type or another in particular, is well known and Carter draws heavily on this in Eleven Seasons. This is not only a book about the love of the game, even if it seems like it at times, but also a means for Carter to explore masculinity and male identity. Football seems to offer Jason the things he lacks - male role models, a sense of belonging and the potential of success. When that dissolves, Jason is left floundering, and must piece together an identity from his shattered hopes. Carter's characterisation of Jason is crafted with surprising subtlety. It's not easy to balance a masculine swagger with male vulnerabilities but the author does so and Jason feels familiar and authentic.
I like how casually Carter portrayed Jason's relationships with his mates, he captures the uniqueness of the male bond which seems to rely more heavily on external shared factors and proximity than female relationships do. Arnie is a quietly heroic character, a mentor to Jason both on and off the field. I love that Arnie welcomes Jason on his return, as if Jason hadn't simply disappeared for a few years without a word.
I'm not terribly keen on the few female characters in Eleven Seasons, they tend to be either victims or emotionally negligent, or both. Jason's mother in particular is an odd character and her relationship with Jason is complex. I felt more pity than sympathy for her though and didn't think her likeable.

I have to admit I didn't find Eleven Seasons a compelling read, not being a football fan I was more than a little dismissive, but on reflection I discovered that Jason had gotten under my skin. This is a uniquely Australian novel of surprising depth and a deserving winner of the Vogel. ( )