Deadly, unna? is Philip Gwynne's debut novel, and like Spring, he came onto the teen literary scene like a lion. He sets the story in his native Australia against a background of interracial difficulties and friendships that are possible through a shared love of sports. Australian rules football team-mates Gary Blacky Black is white, and Nunga Dumby Red an Aborigine. Their friendship is unusual, and often frowned upon. The story shows the importance of judging people on their own merits, and espouses fairness and tolerance, as well as the courage to publicly be seen to have both.
The book is also realistic in that it does not try to turn the narrative into a fairytale; the community doesn't suddenly see the error of its collective ways; there is no coming together of influential adults who decide to put their difference aside and welcome each other into their respective communities. It shows accurately how hard it is to overcome prejudices, and also how ingrained a suspicion of those perceived as "outsiders" actually are.
The novel was extremely well received both by critics and teen readers. It received the Children's Book of the Year Award in the Older Readers category, and also won the Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction in 1999. In 2002 the book was adapted for the big screen, becoming Australian Rules and starring Nathan Phillips, Luke Carroll and Tom Budge.
Although this was Gwynne's first novel, it remains his best known and most successful. He has written a further eight books for young adult readers, and ten for younger children.
