Book received from Publisher
From the
BLURB:
Everyone knows seventeen-year-old Grace Foley
is a bit mad. She’s a prankster and a risk-taker, and she’s not afraid of
anything—except losing. As part of the long-running feud between two local
schools in Swanston, Grace accepts a challenge to walk the pipe. That night she
experiences something she can’t explain.
The funny girl isn’t laughing anymore. She’s
haunted by voices and visions—but nobody believes a girl who cries wolf.
As she’s drawn deeper into a twenty-year-old
mystery surrounding missing girl Hannah Holt, the thin veil between this world
and the next begins to slip. She can no longer tell what’s real or imagined—all
she knows is the ghosts of Swanston, including that of her own mother, are
restless. It seems one of them has granted her an extraordinary gift at a
terrible price.
Everything about her is changing—her body, her
thoughts, even her actions seem to belong to a stranger. Grace is losing
herself, and her friends don’t understand. Is she moving closer to the truth?
Or is she heading for madness?
‘Ballad for
a Mad Girl’ is the new young adult book from Australia author Vikki Wakefield.
Vikki is one
of my favourite
authors writing today. Hands down. I have loved all of her books, and even
though Ballad marks the biggest
departure from her contemporary backlist – it’s another one of hers that I’ll
cherish and count among my new modern, Aussie YA favourites.
Where as in
the past Vikki has written very gritty, realist teen narratives – Ballad is a bit of a
horror/speculative-fiction change-up, in which protagonist Grace Foley finds
her body inhabited by the ghost of a teenage girl who died tragically, decades
ago. Grace finds her ghostly companion after a death-defying school challenge
goes horribly wrong, and in the midst of her deep-seated grief over the death
of her own mother a year ago.
Now Grace’s
dog is wary of her and biting mad, she of – zero artistic talent – can suddenly
draw haunting portraits, and there’s a girl always standing in the corner of
her room at night.
Even though
there are horror and gothic threads in this book, long-time fans of Vikki’s
should know that they’re still getting a gritty novel from this beloved author who
is celebrated for her gut-punching YA – because she knows that
speculative-fiction without relatable backbone means nothing. Vikki takes the
haunting and uses it as an extension of Grace’s grief and denial over her
mother’s death, as well as her uneasiness over growing up and apart from her
core group of friends. There were times when I felt like maybe there were
one-two-many metaphoric ideas happening – between the death of Grace’s mum, and
her friendship dramas, as well as Grace’s own mental health questions – but by
the end all of these narratives were bought together rather neatly for a
satisfying, if haunting conclusion.
Vikki
Wakefield is one of the most creative and daring authors writing for young
adults today. Ballad for a Mad Girl
is an Aussie YA Gothic tale that smartly uses the supernatural to explore the
depths of grief and growing up, and the pain to be found in both. This is a
caring and keening novel, creepy but tender and wholly marvellous.
5/5
