Riveted Press, Australia 2026
Cover art Tamlyn Teow
The Prime Minister Problem is a book of considerable charm. Its main character Wren is a gentle lad, never feeling like he belongs, not ‘in’ with the popular kids and often teased or left out at school.
His favoured company is that of his Grandma. In her company, he feels sure of being loved; he enjoys their time together in the garden and talking about books.
Hence, when Grandma is taken seriously ill and needs both hospital and after-care a long way out of his hometown, Wren is bereft. His sadness is not just for himself but a real concern for the welfare of his Grandma, so far away from those who love her and all that is familiar.
Meanwhile at school, Wren’s class is studying our system of government, and the students are tasked with writing a letter to the Prime Minister. Wren soon decides that this is the perfect opportunity to alert her to the social problems of his regional town, with specific reference to his Grandma’s plight. His pleas for help, however, seem to fall on deaf ears.
Living with his single parent Mum, Wren must take on a certain amount of adult responsibility. One thing he gathers very quickly is the importance of helping neighbours, especially the elderly. His practical kindness pays dividends he could never have imagined and his dreams of a place in his hometown for people like his grandma gradually takes form.
His idea of kids adopting a grandparent takes off like wildfire, with benefits for the whole community and well beyond thanks to social media.
Thus it is that the author subtly raises a number of social issues especially pertinent to regional and rural towns – the provision of health and social services, loneliness, practical community-building ways to help others, the plight of single supporting parents.
At the same time, Brenton Cullen directs our attention to the ‘power of one’, the capacity we all have no matter our age, to facilitate positive change in our own communities.
Wren finds his voice and furthermore, he finds it in a very public way. His early lack of confidence is replaced with a personally motivated zeal to make things better not just for his Grandma, but for everyone in the place he lives. In the course of his campaign, he learns something about the power of democracy, of the capacity we have to use our voices for good.
The didacticism of this book is clear to adult readers, but at no time does it interfere with the pace and spirit of the story. We are thoroughly engaged in the challenges of Wren’s young life and are happy to cheer him on as he learns about himself and the world through struggle and eventual triumph.
This novel encourages young people to believe in the power of kindness, of translating ideas into actions and in the capacity we all have to be the writers of our own stories in life.
Thank you to Riveted Press for my review copy and to Brenton for speaking to me about this gentle and affecting story of the ‘power of one’ and the strength of community.