Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
I Own the Racecourse!
Patricia Wrightson · 2013
82/100
👍 Worth It
Patricia Wrightson's 1968 novel was groundbreaking for its empathetic, unsentimental portrayal of a boy with an intellectual disability, and the ethical dilemma at its heart — can you shatter a joyful delusion to protect someone's dignity? — gives middle-grade readers genuinely rich material to wrestle with. The Text Classics reissue brought it to new generations for good reason. Some language and framing around disability will feel dated to contemporary readers, and the pace is gentle, but as a landmark of Australian children's literature it holds up.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety88
substance85
craft82
originality80
accuracy85
hype72
age-fit82
human-eye83
Penny’s verdict82
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