Ash Road by Ivan Southall is an award-winning 1966 novel for older children or young adults (around 12+) in which a group of children are cut off from adult help while a bushfire rages through a small town. The fire was accidentally lit by three teenaged boys, and now they and some other children must band together to save themselves. The ways different children respond in such a crisis is realistically presented. The novel is a classic in Australia and often read in schools. Ivan Southall is known for books in which his child or young adult characters are faced with physical or psychological challenges. Other examples include Hills End and Josh (winner of the Carnegie Medal in 1971).