The Not-So-Goblin Boy by Ezekiel Kwaymullina

Walker Books, 2011. ISBN 978 1 921720 15 4.
The Not-So-Goblin Boy is well and truly aimed at kids but especially boys! As an adult, I kept thinking eww and gross as I read the story of Samuel, the only human in a goblin world, because of all the talk about farts. How do goblins greet each other? They fart! How to they rob each other? They fart! What are they most proud of? Their farts! Goblins are also expected to be sneaky, lie and are generally gross. Unfortunately for me, the more I read it, the more I enjoyed it and started giggling at the different events and comments.
As the only human in this world, Samuel struggles to prove himself as a good goblin and make his parents proud. He uncovers secrets about his parents and is 'kidnapped' by goblin pirates. All of a sudden, he is facing a future where he can actually be himself - a human - in a dangerous goblin world whose leader is called The Grand Stinker. He is enlisted to help find out who is the spy in the Goblin World but will they be able to uncover the truth in time?
Boys aged 10+ will thoroughly enjoy the 'grossness' that is the world of goblins but the author (a young Indigenous author, excellent for our children to be exposed to) has also managed to create a whole new world with some amazing inventions. One of the ways to prove yourself a good goblin is to invent crazy machines like goggles that detect radiation, bracelets that make you teleport and the fart forcer that makes anyone you point at, fart uncontrollably (of course)!
Kylie Kempster