Interview with Crystal Chan, author of 'Bird'

Crystal Chan is the debut author of the novel Bird, now available in Australia from Text Publishing. 

This book is so beautiful, and I'm so glad that I was given the opportunity to ask some questions of the very talented author-to-watch, Crystal Chan.

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Q: How were you first published – agent or slush pile?

Agent, kind of. I went to a writers’ conference and submitted my first 20 pages for a critique, and the reader loved my manuscript and wanted to read the whole thing! After that, she put me in touch with her agent and other agents she knew. So that’s how I got my agent. BUT fast forward about a year: I went to another writers’ workshop with this editor, who read the first 50 pages of my second manuscript, which was (then) a WIP, when we went out with my finished, original manuscript, the editor said thanks but no thanks; I want to acquire the WIP I read – I can’t stop thinking about it. So we sold the second manuscript as a first-draft partial, which was crazy process, let me tell you. It just underscored for me how individualized each person’s path to publication really is.

Q: Are you a ‘plotter’ or a ‘pantser’ - that is, do you meticulously plot your novel before writing, or do you ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ and let the story evolve naturally?

I let the story evolve naturally, until a certain point – usually midway through, and then I start plotting it out. 

Q: How long did it take you to write ‘Bird’, from first idea to final manuscript?

About a year and a half.

Q: Where do story ideas generally start for you? Do you first think of the character, theme, ending? Or is it just a free-fall?

It’s a total free-fall – I like that word to describe the process, btw. In fact, for me (and I know this sounds weird) but for the stories I’ve written, the voice just comes to me – I can hear it so distinctly in my mind – and the first chapter is basically writing down what I’m hearing. The subsequent chapters aren’t necessarily like that, but the voice remains strong.

Q: Jewel is half-Jamaican, a quarter white and a quarter Mexican. The boy she befriends, John, is African-American adopted by white parents. You yourself are of Chinese/Polish descent – why was it important to you to write about mixed-race characters and families?

Growing up in a small town in the 80’s, no one around me was bi-racial. No one looked like me, and no one shared my experiences.  In a way, I was lonely and didn’t even realize it – I didn’t know what it would be like to have someone understand the questions I faced…that was so outside my realm of experience that I didn’t even long for it. Until I got older, as in, college-age. They (at writer’s conferences) always say to write the book you wanted to read as a child, and I knew that if I’d had a book like Bird as a child, I would hang onto it for dear life and never let it go. 

Q: John has dreams of being as astronaut, and Jewel wants to be a geologist when she grows up –the book is full of interesting facts about astronomy and geology. I wonder if there were already two areas of interest for you, or did you have to do copious amounts of research when you decided on those ambitions for Jewel and John?

I’ve always loved geological formations, but not in a scientific way. Same with astronomy. So I had to do a LOT of research, which was fun and interesting – and challenging, as I’m not really a scientist, I don’t have a scientist’s mind.

Q: In the book, Jewel talks a lot about ‘duppies’ - evil spirits from Jamaican mythology. How did you first learn about duppies, and what sort of research did you do into their origins?

I first encountered duppies when, after college, I was working as an AmeriCorps volunteer at a college in New Jersey, and one of my interns was from Trinidad. He was totally chill, very laid back – until you got him talking about duppies and ghosts and curses. Then his eyes would get big, his voice would deepen and tense up – you could really tell that this affected him deeply. That was my first encounter with the duppy. But more than that, I just knew that Jewel was part Jamaican, and I found the duppy again when I was researching Jamaican worldviews/beliefs. I did tons of research: books, websites, interviews with Jamaicans, and I explored different belief systems city v. country, etc. I really wanted to get the culture as accurately as I could; I myself have often been misrepresented, and I wanted to be as accurate and respectful as possible.

Q: What’s the appeal in writing for younger readers?

Writing for younger readers isn’t intentional on my part – it’s just the story that comes out. But I do love the fact that kidlit is so family based, and I can really explore the intricacies of family dynamics. Writing for kids really lends itself to that.

Q: Favourite author(s) of all time?

Always hard! Madeline L’Engle, Kate DiCamilo, Kathi Appelt, Neil Gaiman, Adam Rex, Cynthia Kadohata, Angela Johnson, Junot Diaz, Joy Harjo, Sherman Alexie

Q: Favourite book(s)?

Always harder! A Wrinkle in Time, The Tiger Rising, The Underneath, The First Part Last, Blasphemy

Q: Do you have any advice for budding young writers?

Accept whatever emotions come up inside you – don’t push them down or ignore them, even if it’s uncomfortable. Because if you don’t allow yourself to feel anger, sadness, grief, or loss, how can you possibly write about these emotions for your characters?

And write from your heart, always. When you write, remember you’re writing from a special space inside, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Practice telling stories – tell stories all the time. When you’re not telling stories, practice listening to others tell their stories. Because that’s all that writing really is: telling a story.

Alex Award: introducing teen readers to adult books

Bit late with this, sorry.

I'm back as online columnist for Kill Your Darlings, writing about all things Children's and YA. 

My first piece for 2014 is 'Alex Award: introducing teen readers to adult books' 

‘This One Summer’ written by Mariko Tamaki illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

 Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It's their getaway, their refuge. Rosie's friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose's mom and dad won't stop fighting, and when Rose and Windy seek a distraction from the drama, they find themselves with a whole new set of problems. It's a summer of secrets and sorrow and growing up, and it's a good thing Rose and Windy have each other.

In This One Summer two stellar creators redefine the teen graphic novel. Cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, the team behind Skim, have collaborated on this gorgeous, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful story about a girl on the cusp of her teen age—a story of renewal and revelation.

Rose and her family are going for their yearly trek to the holiday cottage in Awago Beach. They’ve been coming here since Rose was five, and every inch of the sleepy little town is filled with happy memories. But this year it’s different – Rose’s parents are fighting more than ever after they decided to stop trying for a second baby. Rose’s mum would rather lock herself in her room, and even though her dad tells her not to worry about “adult junk”, their fights are getting louder and louder.

Perhaps the one good thing about Awago Beach is the ever unchanged Windy – a fellow weekender whose cottage is not far from Rose’s. Windy is one-and-a-half years younger than Rose, and while she initially enjoys her friends unchanging familiarity, their age difference starts to become clear when the girls get caught up in the local drama of Awago Beach teens.

Duncan is the lanky, floppy-haired teenage boy who works at the convenience store. Windy nicknames him “the dud”, but Rose is quietly curious about him. Even more so when she and Windy are witness to Duncan’s blossoming relationship with local girl, Jenny. 

As Rose’s mum retreats more into herself, and Windy’s childish behaviour starts to grate, Rose gets caught up in the local love story drama and is unnerved when Duncan and Jenny’s story hits close to home.

‘This One Summer’ is a young adult graphic novel drawn by Jillian Tamaki and written by Mariko Tamaki from First Second Books. 

I loved this novel. Jillian and Mariko Tamaki so perfectly capture a salt-sweet story of a young girl’s summer teetering on the edge of young adulthood. The story begins simply enough, with only the barest hint of a storm brewing in Rose’s family. The monotony of a lazy summer is beautifully drawn out in the tick-tick-tick time passing panels showing Windy and Rose enjoying their holiday by keeping a schedule they seem to know by heart. 

It’s not until the girls get caught up vicariously in the drama of a local boy who works at their convenience store that cracks come unbidden into their friendship. Rose’s fascination with Duncan “the dud” is at odds with Windy’s complete and utter disinterest (verging on disgust) for him; highlighting the girl’s age-gap that will probably turn into a chasm by next summer.

Jillian and Mariko Tamaki beautifully translate the girl’s friendship on the page – particularly in gorgeous double-page spreads that shows the girls being completely joyous and carefree, versus Rose’s hunched form when she finds herself in the company of teenage boys. 

Windy was really the star of the novel for me. She’s raised by a single, vegan mother and is very proud of the fact that she attends a New Age school back home in the city, with classmates who are mostly raised by lesbian parents. She’s hilarious, and right at that age where she’s fascinated by growing older (and getting boobs!) versus Rose, whose going uncomfortably into darker adult territory. 

The illustrations are lush and drawn in blue-hues that emphasise the whimsy of these Awago Beach days. And Mariko Tamaki’s dialogue and story starts out as loose and poignant as the first days of a perfect summer, and then coils tighter and tighter towards the end – I particularly liked the many panels when Rose took over narration and reflected on her past memories of Awago Beach, often coloured by happier times with her mother who’s increasingly drawing away from her in the present. 

This is a beautiful coming-of-age-story about being on the cusp of everything. I've no doubt that next summer at Awago Beach, Rose will more than ever feel the differences between her and Windy and they’ll never again enjoy a summer like this one. ‘This One Summer’ feels all the more special because, as readers, we probably know that it will be looked back on by both girls as they grow older as the last memories they have of a truly carefree friendship. 

There's also a beautiful mother-daughter story in here, as Rose learns more hard truths about growing up. It's so subtly drawn out, the story between Rose and her mother, but once it's all out in the open the enormity of the summer settles over the reader in a very profound way. 

Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki have created a truly gorgeous graphic novel. I hope everyone finds their way to this one in 2014.

5/5

This One Summer will be available in May 2014 

'Quincy Jordan' Crystal Bay Girls #1 by Jen Storer

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

Quincy Jordan doesn't want to meet her hippie cousins and go to school in Crystal Bay. Her life in Sydney is perfect. She's going to save her parents' marriage, score perfect marks at school and become a surgeon. Her only regret is that she'll never be a fashion designer. But sacrifices must be made!

There's no way that Quincy is going to be 'Crystallised' – that is until her cousin Esme, the school musical and a cute boy called Harris change everything…

When Quincy Jordan’s life falls apart – her dad walks out, and her fiercely independent mother suddenly can’t get out of bed or wash her hair – Quincy is plucked out of her private Sydney girl’s school and sent to the seaside town of Crystal Bay. Quincy’s mum thinks this will be a good move for them, staying with the aunt and cousins Quincy has never met let alone heard much about.

‘Quincy Jordan’ is the first book in the new tween ‘Crystal Bay Girls’ series by Australian author Jen Storer.

Crystal Bay is the Byron Bay-esque town setting of this new series for readers aged 10+. The series is appealing to that “tween” market – who are often described as being ‘too old for toys, but too young for boys.’ It’s a hard readership to appeal to, particularly when they’re still too young for the gut-wrenching dramas found in John Green and Melina Marchetta novels, but swooning over Harry Styles and fascinated with what their teen-years will have in store for them. Jen Storer on her website promises the series will be filled with, "family, friends and fashion, romance, tears and laughter. That's Crystal Bay." 

On the one hand, Jen Storer and Penguin Australia have pitched the ‘Crystal Bay Girls’ series and this first book beautifully. The ‘Quincy Jordan’ cover looks older-YA sophisticate (something young girls will appreciate) but at the back of the book there’s a cartoon rendition of protagonist Quincy (drawn by Viet-My Bui), as well as a French-vocab list and some stylist tips.

 

The story is also full of those melodramas and tangled webs that most young people think (and hope) their teen lives will be filled with. Quincy has a mean-girl nemesis at school, has just discovered a shocking truth about her father, bears witness to the breakdown of her parent’s marriage and is whisked away by her mother to the remote hippie town of Crystal Bay to stay with relatives she’s never met before.

On top of this, Quincy is battling inner-turmoil over her wish to become a surgeon (like her successful father … despite having an aversion to blood) while harbouring a secret flare for fashion and design. When she learns the reason behind her parent’s divorce, Quincy also has to come to terms with the idea that her father is not as perfect as she envisioned, and might actually be due some of her wrath. 

There’s a lot going on and many threads woven throughout the story, but this is not quite Young Adult, so most of it’s surface tension. Like the interesting back-story set up about a former friend turned pretty mean girl – Satin St Clair. There’s clearly history between Satin, Quincy and best friend Jules (the three of whom used to be friends, until Satin got too pretty for Quincy and Jules, and moved on to the popular group). But once Quincy leaves for Crystal Bay that storyline is dropped off – the same way that the big, explosive storyline about her father leaving is only ever briefly touched on later in the book and never satisfyingly resolved (or, at least, on the way to some sort of détente). In place of real heart-to-hearts with her mother, or the dawning realisation that she is allowed (and has every right) to be angry with her father, the second-half focus of the book once Quincy and her mum move to Crystal Bay is on a cute (somewhat delinquent) boy called Harris.

And, that’s fine. Again, this is for female readers 10+ who will delight in the light flirtations of Quincy and surfer-boy Harris. But I wish that didn’t mean that the bigger storylines didn’t fall by the wayside – especially because second book in the ‘Crystal Bay Girls’ series is called ‘Romy Bright’ and focuses on a new girl. Will I ever know why Satin St. Clair (great name!) turned so viciously on her former besties? Will I ever get to read about Quincy confronting her father for the first time since he walked out?

I did enjoy this book, particularly Quincy as a private schoolgirl/fish out of water when she enters into the fray at Crystal Bay High. I can relate, having once been a wide-eyed private girl’s school student who was equally disturbed to go into University and have boys sitting in my classroom. I got a chuckle out of Quincy’s wry humour;

I never imagined there would be boys. There are boys everywhere. Little ones, big ones, dopey ones. Loud, crass, swaggering ones. It’s like every boy on the entire planet goes to Crystal Bay High. I so did not see this coming.‘Quincy?’ 

Esme is tugging at my sleeve. For a moment I have forgotten what we’re doing. I’m watching one boy with another boy in a headlock and a third boy is pouring bottled water down the headlocked boy’s back. No one in the entire school is blinking an eye. They don’t even glance their way, despite all the yelling. I am transfixed. I am studying them like a BBC nature expert: Only in an Australian school ground do we find this rare and only partially evolved species. Fera-simia. Feral ape. Approach with caution …

The ‘Crystal Bay Girls’ series will be a win for young female readers who aren’t quite ready to slow-dance with boys at the disco, but are already envisioning their teen horizons to be full of; boys, melodrama, parental suffering and grand adventures. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good start to the ‘Crystal Bay Girls.’

3.5/5

'Quincy Jordan' is available from all good bookshops from January 29. 

Second book 'Romy Bright' will be published August 2014. 

'Dairy Queen' Dairy Queen #1 by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

From the BLURB:

When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said. 

Harsh words indeed, from Brian Nelson of all people. But, D. J. can’t help admitting, maybe he’s right.

When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said. 

Stuff like why her best friend, Amber, isn’t so friendly anymore. Or why her little brother, Curtis, never opens his mouth. Why her mom has two jobs and a big secret. Why her college-football-star brothers won’t even call home. Why her dad would go ballistic if she tried out for the high school football team herself. And why Brian is so, so out of her league.

When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said. 

Welcome to the summer that fifteen-year-old D. J. Schwenk of Red Bend, Wisconsin, learns to talk, and ends up having an awful lot of stuff to say.

D.J. Schwenk is the younger sister of famous Red Bend brothers Bill and Win – the two most beloved football players that Red Bend High School has ever seen. But it’s been a while since Bill and Win graduated, and went off to make the most of their football scholarships. Since their departure, rival football team Hawley are in a good position to clean up this season – but their one weakness is quarterback, Brian Nelson. He’s a popular rich boy whose dad owns a local car dealership, and even though he has a good arm he also has a tendency to blame everyone but himself when his team is down.

Now, normally D.J. wouldn’t think twice about awful Brian Nelson – between her dad’s hip replacement surgery and her needing to quit basketball to take care of their dairy farm, not to mention her flunking English class and her brothers abandoning the family since graduating high school … Brian Nelson should be the last thing on D.J.’s mind. But then family friend and Hawley coach, Jimmy Ott, sends Brian to the Schwenk Family Farm to help out with haying, milking and odd jobs.

Except Brian Nelson is no farmer, and he’s a whinger. No matter how handsome he is, or how good his throwing arm, D.J. sees right away that Brian needs to stick his head down and work his butt off if he has any hope of getting ready for football season, and she tells as much to Jimmy Ott. Funny thing happens though, when Jimmy suggests D.J. coach Brian in the weeks before school starts. Even funnier? – Brian agrees, and D.J. finds herself  coaching her town’s rival QB and discovering he’s not such a bad guy after all, especially when he gets her thinking about how she can turn her life around and not be such a cow…

‘The Dairy Queen’ was published in 2006, the first book in Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s contemporary young adult series.

I have been meaning to read this book for the longest time – pretty much since I started getting into book reviewing and talking to fellow YA bloggers. Adele Walsh (of PersnicketySnark fame) has been particularly vocal in my need to read this book – especially since I’m a ‘Friday Night Lights’ fan. Finally I stumbled across a copy at my local (independent!) bookstore and snatched it up … and after about 30 pages I jumped online and ordered books #1 and #2 because I very quickly realised I had been missing out on a damn good thing.

I was immediately drawn into this book because of D.J. Schwenk – she’s our narrator, recounting the story of her crazy summer for the benefit of an unknown audience and her voice is utterly charming and almost hypnotic. Gilbert Murdock has pitched D.J.’s narration so beautifully – she’s completely earnest, sweet and bluntly funny. I loved her straight away. I also started rooting for her straight away when she slowly explains that her father has had hip surgery, her two older brothers have had a falling-out with the family since leaving for college and her youngest brother, Curtis, has a busy baseball schedule while her mum has recently taken on the job of acting principal at the school where she works. So it’s fallen to D.J. to take care of the Schwenk Family Farm – she’s up at the crack of dawn milking, haying and general maintenance around the falling-down dairy farm. As a result of all this responsibility, D.J. has flunked English and had to quit playing basketball (even though she was attracting scout attention). I also loved that D.J. is not a girly-girl – she’s a big, tall girl who loves sport and is never happier than when she’s running at full-speed.

Something Gilbert Murdock does so well in this book is to drip-feed readers with her tangled family webs. D.J. alludes a few times to a big family fight that saw her brothers, Win and Bill, stop speaking to their dad. She also speaks briefly about the fact that her father was a promising footballer and played for the army team, but had to come home and take over the dairy farm when his own father got sick. Then there’s D.J.’s little brother, Curtis, who doesn’t talk much and no one knows why (or asks – which is the Schwenk family way.) I loved that all of these dramas were simmering beneath the surface throughout the book, and made these secondary characters (who really didn’t have a lot of page-time) all the more robust and made D.J.’ s family life that much more interesting and complicated.

Of course, when family friend Jimmy Ott sends Hawley QB, Brian Nelson, to the Schwenk farm to help out, everything changes for D.J. She starts seeing her run-down farm through Brian’s eyes, starts listening when he questions her families’ dynamics and even her own role in the hierarchy. Admittedly, Brian is also very cute and popular (plus, QB!) but I loved that he’s more interesting to D.J. for how he makes her question the norm and her role as a cog in the wheel.

I felt like he understood everything I’d been through that night but we would probably never speak again. Not because I was a bad person, or because he was, but because, well, that’s just the way the world worked. 

And let me say this: of everything that’s happened to me this crazy, stupid summer, in that one second that we looked at each other, that’s when I grew up the most. And I’ll just tell you now, it’s not … it’s not a particularly pleasant emotion.

I also have big admiration for Gilbert Murdoch for throwing in so many sensitive “issues” without ever treating them with kid-gloves or like she was ticking “serious teen issues” boxes in the writing. She examines gender inequality, homosexuality and challenging gender stereotypes – and all of them thread so beautifully through the main storyline.

This book is AMAZING (I know, I know – I’m only about seven years behind the times). D.J.’s voice rings so genuine and believable that by the end of the book, I really felt like I’d just spent a few days with a great, new friend. Cathering Gilbert Murdock really beautifully sets up a long-haul story for D.J. in her little town of Red Bend, Wisconsin, and I absolutely can’t wait to read ‘The Off Season’ and ‘Front and Centre’.

5/5

'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me' by Sarra Manning

From the BLURB:

Sweet, bookish Neve Slater always plays by the rules. And the number one rule is that good-natured fat girls like her don’t get guys like gorgeous, handsome William, heir to Neve’s heart since university. But William’s been in LA for three years, and Neve’s been slimming down and re-inventing herself so that when he returns, he’ll fall head over heels in love with the new, improved her.

So she’s not that interested in other men. Until her sister Celia points out that if Neve wants William to think she’s an experienced love-goddess and not the fumbling, awkward girl he left behind, then she’d better get some, well, experience.

What Neve needs is someone to show her the ropes, someone like Celia’s colleague Max. Wicked, shallow, sexy Max. And since he’s such a man-slut, and so not Neve’s

type, she certainly won’t fall for him. Because William is the man for her… right?

Somewhere between losing weight and losing her inhibitions, Neve’s lost her heart – but to who?

Neve Slater has a mission and life-plan. She’s on her way to becoming her fittest, healthiest self after a wake-up call about her obesity pushed her into hiring a personal trainer two years ago and getting her weight under control. And even though she’s dropped dress sizes and exercises every day, she’s still not her ideal size-10 self. She needs to get down to the tiny 1-0 in order to impress her old college crush, William, when he gets back from three years teaching abroad in California (where, no doubt, all the women he’s been with are size-0). Because William is Neve’s one-true-love, and mostly likely the man she’ll marry.

There’s just one problem that can’t be fixed with the treadmill and celery sticks – something Neve’s little sister, Celia, has pointed out to her on many occasions. Neve doesn’t actually have much experience in the men department, and is in fact a 25-year-old virgin. She won’t win William’s heart if she’s woefully inexperienced, so Celia is helping her to try out some light-flirting on the gentlemen of London.

One man who is certainly no gentleman (more ‘cad’) is Celia’s colleague and major editor at the magazine where she works – Max. Max is a ladies’ man through and through, and where Neve is concerned he’s the out-of-bounds big leagues and certainly not the right person to tentatively attempt her flirting with. Except one night at a post-Christmas party for magazine ‘Skirt’ Neve and Max have a moment. Granted, a moment that wavers between disastrous and outrageous, but a moment nonetheless;

He was still trying to drum up business as Neve kissed Celia on the cheek, and she was just about to turn round and head off to the tube when she felt a hand land squarely on her bottom. ‘Or what about you? You’ve got plenty of cushion for the pushing. I like that in a woman.’

Then Neve has an idea – what if Max was to be her ‘pancake boyfriend’ in the months before William’s return? ‘Pancake’ after the first pancake in the batch that’s inevitably botched and thrown away. Max is clearly emotional unavailable and if Neve is fine with him seeking his carnal pleasures elsewhere (they’ll be purely platonic, no sex) then this could be the best way for Neve to practice having a boyfriend, and for Max to attempt to make a real human connection with someone (without sleeping with them). It’s a match made in a batch!

‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’ was the 2011 novel from Sarra Manning.

I've been meaning to read Sarra Manning for the longest time. She’s such a popular British YA author, with a fairly fairytale writing background – she was writer for (now defunct) teen mag J17 and has previously written for ELLE, The Guardian, ES Magazine, Seventeen, Details and Heat. No wonder her bio touts her as a “teen queen extraordinaire.” And of all her books ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’ is undoubtedly the one that’s come most highly recommended to me. So, I finally got round to reading it and NOW I GET IT. She’s amazing, and I need to read more Manning, pronto.

This book is probably one of the best examples of ‘New Adult’ I've encountered thus far (though I’m sure it wasn’t marketed as such). Neve is twenty-five, fitting her comfortably into that somewhat awkward grey-area age-group of New Adult readers, but more importantly she’s a character who’s plagued by her teenage past and finds it’s still defining her life and fears.

Neve was tormented for her weight throughout high school – it sent her into a spiral where she’d be teased for being “fat” and then eat to numb the pain of the bullying. Now in her 20s, Neve is still plagued by the fat-shaming of her childhood since her older brother married her high school tormentor – who now lives in the flat above hers and takes every opportunity she can to dredge up Neve’s biggest pressure-point insecurities.

Even now, when Neve has shrunk down to a size 14-16, she’s still insecure and constantly paranoid about her “problem areas”. Not to mention she’s fixated on getting down to the perfect size-10 to really impress William (whom she’s been corresponding with via letters and phone-calls, hell-bent on not letting him see her transformation until he returns to London to be awed in person).

The focus on Neve’s body insecurities is a big part of the book, and definitely a wound that Manning keeps prying open. But she does it in such a way as to let readers know that Neve’s perception of herself is distorted – granting us a wider look at society’s dictates on ‘perfection’ and ‘beauty’ versus personal happiness and health. For this reason, all that uncomfortable body-shaming and Neve’s berating works without being insensitive or needlessly cruel. I really tip my hat to Manning for this; other authors could have just let Neve have a Cinderella-esque story where she loses weight and gets the fabulous life as a bonus prize. But Manning actually prises this misconception open bit-by-bit throughout the story, and actually turns Neve’s body-image into a journey in itself.

The other reason I loved this book was Max. Hands-down, one of the best “bad boys” I've ever read. A smarmy editor at equally smarmy-sounding ‘Skirt’ magazine, he was set-up in a very conventional way, but by the end of the book became a very unconventional hero. 

In the glow of the streetlamps and the glare of neon signs, Neve could see that his hair wasn’t dirty but a glossy dark brown, and his skin had an olive tinge that suggested he’d tan at the first sight of the sun. Which wasn’t important right then. It didn’t matter how pretty he was when he had such an ugly soul.

Where Neve’s issues were very psychological and body-based, Max has emotional wounds that run deep. But I was glad that Manning didn’t write him as a through-and-through jerk – she lets Neve’s sister-in-law be the fat-shaming bully (with her own issues), not Max. Max is always appreciative of Neve’s body, as a lover of the female form (in all shapes and sizes). I loved this. Yes, he’s a ‘bad-boy’ in that he’s a real Lothario and plays on his good looks to be God’s gift to women, but he’s not cruel. He’s the epitome of charming, and I adored him.

Sarra Manning also has a wicked sense of humour. From the obligatory spanx-related jokes, to a WAGs mega wedding party and Neve’s pre-coitus nerves, Manning is a laugh-riot;

There was a part of Neve that was slowly liquefying on her Cath Kidston duvet cover even though she felt as if she should be running around the room, arms and legs flailing wildly as she emitted high-pitched shrieks of terror. 

I loved this book, absolutely. True, towards the end it got a bit waffling and lost in the ‘will-they-or-won’t-they?’ portion of the story, but this was a thoroughly enjoyable read that took me one afternoon to finish. I’ll definitely be reading more Manning.

5/5

‘Friends with Boys’ by Faith Erin Hicks

 From the BLURB: 

After years of homeschooling, Maggie is starting high school. It's pretty terrifying.

Maggie's big brothers are there to watch her back, but ever since Mom left it just hasn't been the same. 

Besides her brothers, Maggie's never had any real friends before. Lucy and Alistair don't have lots of friends either. But they eat lunch with her at school and bring her along on their small-town adventures.

Missing mothers...distant brothers...high school...new friends... It's a lot to deal with. But there's just one more thing.

MAGGIE IS HAUNTED.

It’s Maggie’s first day of high school. After being home-schooled by her mum, in a class with her older brothers, Maggie is now going out into the big, wide public school system for the first time. It’s one of just many upheavals in Maggie’s life lately – from her mum bailing on the family a few months ago, to her dad becoming chief of police, her twin brothers Lloyd and Zander constantly fighting (more than usual) lately and her oldest brother, Daniel, being cast as lead in the school play. 

But this is just the beginning of strange changes and coincidences in Maggie’s life. When she starts school she befriends punk-pixie Lucy, and her mohawked brother Alistair – both of whom seem to still be reeling from some unspoken event that happened not so long ago. 

And then there’s the fact that Maggie’s ghost is back – a spirit from the churchyard has upped the ante and started following Maggie home, but to what purpose?

‘Friends with Boys’ is a graphic novel by Faith Erin Hicks.

I heard about this graphic novel through the Centre for Youth Literature, it came as recommended reading from Jordi for those who are just starting their love-affair with graphic novels. And I've got to say, as someone who has long loved young adult literature; this particular graphic novel makes for superb reading. It’s got a little bit of everything – from coming-of-age to school bullying, a little haunting and family saga. 

When we meet them, Maggie’s family have settled into a new routine without their mother, who up and left the family a few months ago. We get the impression, from the family’s new (if, slightly chaotic) routine and the awkwardness that ensues when their absent mother is mentioned, that they’re all just starting to settle into the new normal. Everyone really, except Maggie who is carrying around an anvil of guilt over her mother’s departure. Maggie is also having difficulty adjusting to life after home-schooling. As the youngest sibling, she was last to leave the comfort of her mother’s teaching, and she has missed having her beloved older brothers as classmates. In the public school environment she feels lost and invisible, maybe even a little bit abandoned by her busy and popular brothers.

Erin Hicks beautifully draws the chaos of high school as seen through Maggie’s eyes, and her customized maps. Especially in contrast to the lovable chaos at home, the painful monotony of high school is perfectly communicated in repetitive panels and we really understand why Maggie misses spending time with her brothers when they absolutely steal the limelight and the laughs in their appearances.

Lucy and Alistair are a welcome relief from the painful tribes and cliques of the school environment. Maggie perhaps doesn’t find it terribly odd that siblings Lucy and Alistair spend so much time together, when Maggie herself wishes her brothers would pay her more attention at school. But Lucy and Alistair have bad blood between them, and while their story isn’t terribly explosive, it is very raw and emotional, and very well paced by Erin Hicks.

What didn’t work so well for me was the ‘haunting’ storyline. Certainly it made for some interesting imagery, but I spent majority of the novel wondering what the purpose was … and at the end Erin Hicks has to have Maggie all but spell out the correlation between her haunting and her mum’s leaving. To me, it was an odd thread left dangling and never really satisfying. But that’s my only complaint in an otherwise flawless graphic novel about growing up, growing apart and fighting for your family. Beautiful.

4/5