'The Summer I Learned to Fly' by Dana Reinhardt

From the BLURB:

Drew's a bit of a loner. She has a pet rat, her dead dad's Book of Lists, an encyclopedic knowledge of cheese from working at her mom's cheese shop, and a crush on Nick, the surf bum who works behind the counter. It's the summer before eighth grade and Drew's days seem like business as usual, until one night after closing time, when she meets a strange boy in the alley named Emmett Crane. Who he is, why he's there, where the cut on his cheek came from, and his bottomless knowledge of rats are all mysteries Drew will untangle as they are drawn closer together, and Drew enters into the first true friendship, and adventure, of her life.

Drew Robin ‘Birdie’ Solo is reflecting on the summer that changed everything, at least, to her young mind.

In 1986, Drew was 13. She and her mother lived in a small Californian coastal town and her mother had just opened a boutique cheese shop on Euclid Avenue (which will one day prosper, but for now is a little run-down). It was just Drew and her mum for years, because Drew’s dad (for whom she is named) died when she was little, after his body ‘gave up living’. 

It was school holidays when the cheese shop opened, and her mother employed handsome nineteen-year-old surfer, Nick Drummond, to help make pasta and be a general handyman. Nick became the object of Drew’s young, unrequited affections throughout that summer. And then there was Swoozie, a divorcée who stopped by the little town on the way to someplace else but decided to stay.

And, of course, there’s His Excellency the Lord High Rat Humboldt Fog – otherwise known as ‘Hum’, Drew’s pet rat. 

The summer was already shaping up to be different from any other – what with Drew having a steady (if, unpaying) job at the cheese shop with the handsome Nick, and her mother weighted down with all the worry of a new business owner. And Drew’s distant friends were even more distant – all three being overseas on an acting camp. She was all alone, save for Hum.

And then she discovered a book of lists from her dad, who she never knew. Drew Solo amassed a collection of lists, presumably for his young daughter to one day find. He listed; worst mistakes, most embarrassing moments, worst traits and many, many more for Drew to slowly pick through and wonder over.

But the real butterfly-flapping of the summer didn’t begin until Drew met Emmett Crane in the alley behind the cheese shop one night. About her age, Emmett seemed to be a rat-whisperer with a penchant for exotic cheese. He was beautiful, but mysterious, and claimed to have moved into his father’s bachelor pad somewhere in town (though he won’t say more than that).

As the summer unfolded, so too did Emmett’s story and all the little flaps and acts that turned the Summer of 1986 into Drew’s most life-changing and memorable.

‘The Summer I Learned to Fly’ was a 2011 young adult novel by Dana Reinhardt.

What immediately struck me with ‘The Summer I Learned to Fly’ was Drew’s unwavering belief that these were the moments and times that set her on the path she’s currently treading. She is recounting the tale of Summer 86’ from somewhere in the future (and we don’t learn how far until the very end). Her narrative voice has matured, but she still remembers all the hopes, loves, fears and lonesomeness of her 13-year-old self. 

There wasn’t anything I could have done to prevent what happened, short of some random act that changed all the random acts that would follow. 

I knew the theory about the butterfly flapping its wings in the jungle. How everything happens because of the flapping. But I didn’t live in the jungle. I lived in the middle of California on a jagged edge of continent. I was smaller than a butterfly. I was a speck. 

What happened had nothing at all to do with me, with what I did or didn’t do, but that wasn’t how it felt at the time. 

In most ways, the little events that changed Drew’s life ended up being monumental. But some remained small and significant only to her; exploded and expanded by young eyes. What I loved was that Reinhardt treated the big and little things with the same importance, because they mattered to Drew and clearly imprinted on her young heart. 

This may be an older Drew narrating, but she slips back into her younger self very easily. And young Drew was quite a lonely child, reliant on a team of two with her mother and having few friends at school. It’s actually a kindly older town lady who gifts Hum to Drew, upon noticing that she could use a friend. And then Drew’s equilibrium is thrown when her mother starts drowning in cheese shop work, and maybe even dusting off her social life after missing her dead husband for so many years. Drew’s world is thrown entirely off kilter, and one of the few changes she appreciates is lovely Nick Drummond – a kind surfer boy who wastes his potential, has blinkers to Drew’s affections but is a worthy outlet for her first young crush. 

And then there’s Emmett Crane; the boy who appears in the alleyway one night and becomes Drew’s first real (human) friend, despite the fact that she knows nothing about him. Readers will know this is no ordinary teenage boy pretty quickly, for his quiet seriousness and gentle nature so at odds with his age. I loved him, and I loved how Reinhardt masterfully wrote him with both a wonderful sense of hope and sinking suspicion of foreboding. It’s easy to see why Emmett Crane has such a starring-role in Drew’s hindsight highlights. 

I also loved that while the book is set in 1986, Reinhardt doesn’t get bogged down in era-setting. There’s no lengthy descriptions of 80s shoulder-pads dressing, synth-pop ruling the radio or anything else to detract from Drew’s quiet and beautiful life-changing summer. You actually forget that this is set in the 80s because Reinhardt has, I think, chosen this time-period so as to avoid modern technological distractions like the internet and mobile phones.

I also adored the ending, mostly because it allowed me to have my own theories about butterfly-flapping and the characters in the book. For instance, when I read the epilogue I remembered a previous scene in which a busker Emmett introduces to Drew explains that he’s been playing songs for enough money to get him halfway round the world to find a girl (the girl).

‘The Summer I Learned to Fly’ is glorious. I loved the duality of Drew’s 13-year-old worries and life changes, coupled with the wisdom of her first-person narration, gained from looking back through the years. The ending is wide open and full of possibilities, which is just what I hoped for Drew ‘Birdie’ Solo. 

5/5

Interview with Kirsty Murray, author of 'The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie'

Kirsty Murray is a beloved Australian children’s and young adult author. Her new novel is The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie, and later this month she will be appearing at the Melbourne Writers Festival. But before her schedule got too hectic, I fired some questions off to her about time travel, workshopping Melbourne and the seeds of an idea . . .  

☼ ☁ ☃ ❀

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

Neither agent or slushpile. I don’t’ think there are two stories the same about getting started as a writer but mine is particularly convoluted. I was living in Wales with my family and attended a weekend writing workshop at a local library. That led to me being invited to attend the 1993 Hay-on-Wye Writers’ festival which kick started my writing career. I came back to Melbourne and began studying at RMIT, which led to doing work experience with Allen & Unwin, who published my first non-fiction book for children. It was through seeing how publishing worked that I understood what opportunities were there for me and it helped me to find my writer’s voice. My first novel (and fourth published book) was Zarconi’s Magic Flying Fish. It was actually commissioned by Rosalind Price, the children’s and YA publisher at Allen & Unwin, on the strength of a synopsis. She encouraged me to have the confidence to cross over from non-fiction to fiction (which I secretly longed to write). I will always be grateful to her for opening that door.

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 started as a ‘pantser’ and became a plotter over time. Stories that evolve can be lovely but they can also turn into monsters or fizzle out and lose momentum. I don’t always work in a linear fashion these days – I often write the last scene before the first.

 

Q: How long did it take you to write ‘The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie’, from first idea to final manuscript?

 The idea for ‘Lucy McKenzie’ had been sitting in the back of my mind for a long time but the event that triggered the writing and brought it to life was the bushfires of February 2009. My great-grandparents had lived at Yarra Glen in the Yarra Valley in an old house overlooking a river. My great-grandmother painted the four seasons on a frieze that decorated the dining room and I’d always wanted to go and see the paintings, though the house went out of our family nearly 100 years ago. My cousin (who is called Lucy and to whom the book is dedicated) suggested we go and knock on the door of the house but we never got around to it. When the house burnt to the ground, I realised I could only ever visit it in my imagination.

I began making notes in March 2009 but the book had a lot of false starts. There were originally two old aunties and the story kept stalling while they argued. I worked on it for several months in 2010 but it really came together while I was on an artist’s residency at Bundanon in 2011. I finished the second draft while on a residency in Western Australia in October 2012. It needed one more draft to make it shine but I pulled the very first chapter out at the proofing stage, after the ARC copies had already been sent out. It’s always a relief when a book goes to the printer and you have to stop fiddling with it.

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?

I find about five ideas for stories on any given day of the week. Sometimes an incident or a snippet of gossip sews the seed. Sometimes a character emerges out of nowhere and asks for a narrative. I’ll never get around to writing them all down but it’s only in the writing that you find out whether your idea/character or theme has legs.

Q: You were first published in 1998, and have become a prominent children’s and YA author in that time. What is it about writing for younger people that so appeals? And would you ever consider writing an adult book? 

I’ve always been drawn to narratives that include young people. I love the child protagonist in fiction. I love their optimism and their fierce will to live, grow and explore so inevitably, when I have an idea for a story, I attach it to a child protagonist. I love the company of children too. I had three children of my own by the time I was 27 years old and through them, I maintained a strong connection to children’s literature into my adulthood. I later added three stepchildren to my family and a bevy of god-children so I’ve always been surrounded by young people. I wouldn’t rule out writing a novel for adults but it’s not high on my list of priorities. A spunky kid hero will always win out over a depressed middle-aged character. 

Q: ‘The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie’ is a time-travel novel with a real emphasis on nature and the wilderness: it sees 11-year-old Lucy battling bushfires and swimming against floodwaters. It reminded me of Ruth Park, and I loved that duality of magic time-travel, grounded with a connection to the land and Mother Nature.  Which idea came first to you; the time-travel or the battling elements? And how hard was it to write a time-slip? 

Time-slip can be insidiously hard to do well. After I wrote my last time-slip novel, Market Blues, in 2001 I swore I’d never write another.  Essentially, you have to have two parallel narratives that knit perfectly so it’s almost like writing a conjoined-twin novel. 

The thing that came first with The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie was the setting – which is an unusual first for me. More often, the character or idea leads but in time-slip, setting is central as there has to be a portal to the other time. The old house in the novel, Avendale, is based on three houses but most specifically on a house called Riversdale that I visited in my teens. Because I knew and loved the landscapes intimately, the book almost wrote itself in some ways. The characters of Big and Lucy are very close to people I’ve known so they, too, facilitated the writing. 

 

Q: You’re part of this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival School’s Day program – with a session called ‘Melbourne Day Tour & Workshop.’ I’m curious what sorts of things you get up to in your workshops, and some of the best experiences you’ve had working with budding young writers? 

Every workshop is different and I always try and make each one fresh, even if I’m doing an activity that I’ve done before. The Melbourne Day workshops are about writing place and we use the setting and history of Federation Square to kickstart a story. I’ve literally conducted thousands of writing workshops over the last fifteen years. The best thing about working with young writers is their excitement when they discover something new about themselves or their strength as writers. They can also be less inhibited than adult writers. When a young writer reads out a piece of work that they’ve poured their heart into, you can’t help but feel very humbled and privileged to work with them.

Q: What are you currently working on, and when can we expect it to his shelves? 

Small groan. I’m working on a YA historical fiction set in 1919. I’ve been working on it for years and it’s still presenting lots of difficult challenges, partly because much of the subject matter is tragic. It’s about four sisters in their late teens and what happens to them in the wake of WW1. Fortunately, I’ve grown to love the main character, Tiney Flynn, and she’s helping me soldier on through a vortex of grief. I’ve got a solid draft of the novel but I’m not happy with it yet so am holding off on submitting it to my editor. It’s listed for release by Allen & Unwin in August 2014.

Q: Favourite author(s) of all time?

This is a very long roll call and not in order of preference: Honore de Balzac, Ursula Le Guin, Rosemary Sutcliffe, Hesba Brinsmead, Ford Madox Ford, Collette, Edgar Eager, Robertson Davies, Martin Boyd, Margaret Atwood, Norman McCaig, Maureen McCarthy, Ruskin Bond, Amy Tan, Henning Mankell, Diana Wynne-Jones, Catherine Bateson.
Ask me tomorrow and you’ll get a different list.

Q: Favourite book(s)?

Sorry. This is the hardest question to answer. The list is simply too long so I simply going to offer up one. There was almost no YA when I was teenager so I read Collette’s ‘Claudine’ books and I still go back to them for fun, especially ‘Claudine at School’. She’s deliciously wicked, sharp, funny and wild. A perfect YA protagonist. 

Q: What advice do you have for budding young writers?

Read. The only way you can understand how good writing works is to read. Read every day. Read outside your comfort zone. Read different genres, fiction and non-fiction, poetry and journalism. There is no better teacher than a great novel, a beautiful poem and a perfectly crafted sentence. 

Kirsty’s new book, The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie, is published by Allen & Unwin and is now available at all good bookshops and online. 

'Magic Rises' Kate Daniels #6 by Ilona Andrews

From the BLURB:

Atlanta is a city plagued by magical problems. Kate Daniels will fight to solve them—no matter the cost.

Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shapeshifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta.

Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shapeshifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute—and they’ll pay him in medicine. With the young people’s survival and the Pack’s future at stake, Kate and Curran know they must accept the offer—but they have little doubt that they’re heading straight into a trap…

Most shapeshifter children die in their teens, succumbing to loup and having to be put down. There is an herbal remedy that drastically limits the probability of loupism, called panacea. But the miracle drug is a closely guarded medicinal recipe controlled by the European shapeshifter clans, who will not share.

So when Beast Lord, Curran and his Consort, Kate, are faced with a heartbreaking case of loupism in their Atlanta pack, it is chillingly fortuitous that the European clans reach out to Curran and invite him to be bodyguard and intermediary in a rival pack political clash concerning a pregnant woman and the twins (by two different fathers) she is about to give birth to . . . 

Curran knows it is a trap. He has previously dealt with the European clans and knows they are manipulative and brutal – and when the entire Atlanta pack has been forewarned that Curran has a chance to save a generation of their children who are approaching dangerous their teen years . . .  both Curran and Kate know they are stepping into something deadly. They just don’t know what. And panacea is, unfortunately, too tempting a tease that’s being dangled before them. They must go, no matter the risk.

So they set sail for Europe (with Saiman’s help) along with Derek, Raphael, Andrea, Doolittle, Mahon, George, Barabas, Keira and Aunt B. All of them stepping into a trap, for the sake of the pack. 

“The invitation is for the Beast Lord and the Consort. I understand if you choose not to go.” 

I just looked at him. Really? He meant everything to me. If I had to die so he could live, I would put my life on the line in an instant, and he would do the same for me. 

“I’m sorry, run that by me again?” 

“We’ll have to cross the ocean in the middle of hurricane season, go to a foreign country filled with hostile shapeshifters, and babysit a pregnant woman, while everyone plots and waits for an opportunity to stab us in the back.” 

I shrugged. “Well, it sounds bad if you put it that way . . . ”

‘Magic Rises’ is the sixth book in Ilona Andrews’s ridiculously addictive Kate Daniels urban fantasy series.

It’s been two years since we last had a book from the ‘Kate Daniels’ world. The last time we caught up with Kate and Curran was 2011’s ‘Magic Slays’, and since then we’ve had some wonderful short stories set in the world and a spin-off for beloved secondary couple, Raphael and Andrea in 2012 book ‘Gunmetal Magic’. But fans have been chomping at the bit for Kate and Curran – but, turns out, it was well worth the agonizing wait.

Ilona Andrews not only gives us this explosive new instalment, but in this sixth book the husband/wife writing-duo start laying the groundwork for the long-game ending . . .  It looks as though ‘Kate Daniels’ will finish with 10 books in the series, and steady releases are set for books 7—10 from 2014—2017 (no more two-year waits). I won’t spoil anything when I say that fans are aware of a big over-arching ticking time-bomb of the series in Kate’s paternity – her father being Roland; leader of The People, of indeterminate old age and immense power, who would be hell-bent on finding and destroying Kate (a potential threat to his kingdom) if he ever discovered her whereabouts. So fans shouldn’t be surprised that a lot of groundwork laid in ‘Magic Rises’ concerns Roland. And there are many possible outcomes from here on in and the next few books taking us to 10 . . .  and I can’t wait. 

But, ‘Magic Rises’ is a very clever book because while fans will be thrilled/terrified by what lays in store for Kate concerning her dear old dad, Ilona Andrews never forget that this is a series driven by the characters. Kate and Curran absolutely shine in this book, that’s a given. But the secondary characters have fleshed out and risen in cast importance, in conjunction with Kate’s caring for them. In first book ‘Magic Bites’, Kate was a lone killer with a terrible secret who was guarding her life by trusting no one but herself. By ‘Magic Rises’ she has a man she loves and would die for, and by extension his pack of shapeshifters who have become her joint responsibility and a child ward she loves like a daughter. In ‘Magic Rises’ the old loner is sailing into deadly territory with ten people she cares very deeply for, and would defend to her last breath. So, the secondary characters in this book have become ever more important to the story, as they’ve also become more important to Kate. So Ilona Andrews, while teasing us with an over-arching BIG BAD plot to come, has also given us hints as to what’s in store for some of the beloved minor characters.

Many times it’s mentioned that wolf Derek, once a handsome head-turner, now a scarred and angry man, is inching ever closer to a darkness of no return. Kate muses that Aunt B is bugging Raphael and Andrea (now engaged) for grandbabies, and barring her terror about loup and stigmatism over her being beastkin, Andrea is not averse to the idea. Then there’s Julie, Kate’s 14-year-old ward who was saved from death in ‘Magic Slays’ by Kate’s blood magic, which also partly robbed her of her free-will. Julie is let in on some of Kate’s secrets in this book, and the fallout will no doubt be felt in future books (if at all). 
Fans will not expect these character developments to be dealt with, or even addressed, in this book – but Ilona Andrews throws them out there to show that, much as Roland will be a focus in the coming ender books, other beloved characters have their own story arcs coming too. And I love this, particularly for Julie. Ever since short story ‘Magic Tests’, I've been quietly optimistic for a Julie spin-off series (and I even asked Ilona Andrews about the possibility). She’s 14 in this book, and if the series timeline holds, she’ll maybe be 18 by book #10. I think this would work as quite a nice hand-off once ‘Kate Daniels’ ends. And, hey, if Julie’s story intersects with Derek’s story, more the better (and if Ascanio is thrown in for good measure) . . . but I get ahead of myself, back to ‘Magic Rises’ . . .  

Any ‘Kate Daniels’ fan wants and expects great things from Kate and Curran in any new book. ‘Magic Rises’ may surprise, but not disappoint. It’s probably tough on Ilona Andrews that much of the couple’s original charm lay in their antagonism towards each other, and that will-they-or-won’t-they friction. It’s hard to keep that going now that they’re definitely loved up, but Ilona Andrews manages it, and in doing so manage to also plumb new depths of their feelings and future. 

There’s a delicious villain presented in ‘Magic Rises’, who’s so brilliant for being such a tease. I, at least, had moments of hoping he could prove redeemable or have slivers of potential . . . and it’s in that trickery that Ilona Andrews excel with this baddie. 

There were many gasps and A-HA! moments throughout ‘Magic Rises’. There was also sadness and death (but not as much as I'd braced for, surprisingly) but what losses there are in this sixth book cut bone deep, make no mistake. It has been a long time since we last caught up with Kate Daniels in a book of her own, and in reading this sixth I realized how very much I missed her. She’s one of the best heroines for being tough as her Slayer sword and weakened by her growing love and loyalty for the people she now calls family. I look forward to more in this series as much because Ilona Andrews finally sets up a long-game for the bad guy we’ve all know was lurking around the corner, but also because they’ve made so many minor characters vital to the series. I can’t wait for all the journeys to come, and hope that after 2017 there’s more to still to come. 

5/5 

Digital Reporting for Melbourne Writers Festival 2013

Hello Darling Readers!

So the cat is now officially out of the bag and I can share the happy news that I'm going to be a Digital Reporter at the 2013 Melbourne Writers Festival! 

Yay! *Happy Dance*  

This was made possible by both the Emerging Writers Festival and MWF, and I owe them both many, many thanks! 

I had such a fantastic time at last year's Festival, and I can't believe that this year I get an all-access pass and the chance to interview some of the extraordinary talent they've bought out for the 2013 Festival.  

As many of you know, I'm a big supporter & lover of Children's and Young Adult fiction - and it should surprise none of you that I presented myself for this gig with the intention of shining a spotlight on the wonderful School's Program.  

I'm going to have an introductory blog up on the MWF website in the next few weeks, where I'll be sharing my Festival picks and just generally gushing about how fabulous the School's Day is (for young and old!). 

But I will be busy throughout the month of August, so don't be surprised if there's some tumbleweeds blowing through this blog, while I (temporarily) frolic over at the Festival. 

xoxo

Danielle 

'The Alphabet Sisters' by Monica McInerney

From the BLURB:

As girls growing up in Clare Valley, Australia, Anna, Bett, and Carrie Quinlan were childhood singing stars known as The Alphabet Sisters. The unbridled enthusiasm of their flamboyant grandmother Lola was the glue that held them together. As adults, though, the women haven’t spoken in years–ever since Bett’s fiancé deserted her to marry the younger Carrie. Now Lola is turning eighty and she is determined to reunite the girls for a blowout bash. And no one ever says no to Lola.

Bett, who fled to London after the scandal of losing her fiancé, is hesitant to face her sisters and her hometown–especially since she has yet to find another man. Sophisticated Anna, the eldest sister, isn’t too keen on the prospect either, though she’s secretly grateful for any excuse to leave her crumbling marriage behind in Sydney. And Carrie, who remained in Clare Valley, is perhaps the most apprehensive. Her marriage–the nominal cause of the sisters’ estrangement–is also on the rocks. Was she wrong to have followed her heart and run off with Bett’s fiancé?

When Lola shares her special request, that the girls stage a musical she has written, their short visit becomes a much longer commitment. As they are forced to spend more time together, the sisters must confront the pain that lingers between them. Preconceptions and misunderstandings are slowly put aside and the three find themselves gradually, irresistibly enveloping one another once again–until an unexpected turn of events changes everything in ways none of them could have ever imagined. . . .

Layering the lighthearted antics of small-town life with a heartbreaking story of loyalty lost and found, The Alphabet Sisters is an unforgettable story of two generations of women who learn that being true to themselves means being true to one another.

‘The Alphabet Sisters’ is the 2005 fiction novel by Australian author, Monica McInerney.

It was the opening line that hooked me enough to purchase this ebook and give it a go;

‘Your sister is married to your ex-fiancé?’

Yep. I had to know more.

Sadly, the explosive premise promised in the opening chapter is never really delivered.

The book is told from various perspectives, but mainly that of Bett; the somewhat tubby middle child, who grew up watching boys fall for her sisters and felt the last straw was her beautiful blonde little sister stealing her fiancé. Bett has spent the past two years in a London dream-job-gone-bust, and is called home upon threat of ex-communication by her grandma Lola. Carrie is that beautiful blonde little sister who fell in mad love with Bett’s then fiancé, now Carrie’s husband, Matthew. Carrie has remained in their home town to help run the family motel, but her marriage (the one she fought so hard for, and resulted in radio-silence from her sisters for years) is on the rocks ever since grandma Lola announced Bett was coming home. Anna is the elegant and poised eldest sister, who dreamed of becoming an actress and is now a voice-over specialist. She lives in a loveless marriage with her adulterous husband, and is still reeling from her daughter’s dog-attack which left her scarred and bullied at school.

All three sisters are being called home to Clare Valley for their beloved grandma’s birthday. But the three of them haven’t spoken to one another in years – ever since the night Carrie and Matthew sat Bett down and revealed their love for one another. Bett flung words at both Carrie and Anna, and then fled in the middle of the night, and has not returned home since. Anna told her little sister exactly what she thought of her latest cruelty in stealing Bett’s beloved, and Carrie likewise threw back hard truths about Anna’s obviously crumbling marriage. The sisters have been at a silent impasse ever since. And it’s a shame, because in their youth they were inseparable – they even toured the country as young singing group ‘The Alphabet Sisters’ managed by Lola. 

The premise of McInerney’s book is clearly inspired somewhat by the infamous Andrews Sisters; an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The Andrews Sisters were huge during WWII, but they had a rather infamous falling-out midway through their careers. Patty Andrews once told Merv Griffin, “The Andrews Sisters only had one big fight. Really. It started in 1937 and it’s still going!” While ‘The Alphabet Sisters’ is set in modern times, the singing group and sister rift is clearly inspired by the real-life Andrews sisters.

It was the sister’s rift (and the reason behind it!) that really intrigued me with this book. But when the sisters all return home for Lola’s birthday there are no explosions for a long time – they’re all walking on eggshells around one another. And when we get each sister’s perspective, McInerney allows the sisters to tease out the feud and the parts they played in it internally – so readers are made privy to the fact that Carrie is haunted by her betrayal of Bett, and thinks maybe her and Matthew’s relationship was doomed from the start because of it. Anna admits the depth of her hurt over her husband’s ongoing affair with a woman and his recent moving out of home. And Bett is able to reason with the fact that she’s always hated playing second-fiddle to both her beautiful sisters, and even if she knew Matthew wasn’t ‘The One’ when he proposed to her, his betrayal with Carrie still stung. All these revelations aren’t uncovered through explosive fights and physical confrontations between the sisters – most of these revelations come in the most hum-drum of internal monologue ways. Yawn. 

I actually think the multiple-narratives from each sister is the real detriment to this book, especially since I only liked Bett. She’s the underdog; the bookish, mousy one who never felt adoration from a man, and when she finally did he was snatched away by her blonde little sister. How can you not root for an underdog like that? Even more so when Bett thinks back to her childhood and teenage years, and pinpoints the moment she really started to drift away from her sisters; 

It had been the start of a horrible period of her life. From that moment on it seemed as though Anna and Carrie had been set adrift from her, into a world of romance, dates, boys and confidence. Bett had felt like Cinderella and Bessie Bunter rolled into one – overweight, unhappy, finding pleasure only in food and books and her piano. 

By comparison, Anna and Carrie were cold and uncaring characters. I couldn’t even rouse a whole lot of sympathy for Anna with her cheating husband and scarred daughter because she was just so cold, and it frustrated me that in flashbacks it’s revealed that she didn’t really side with Bett enough when Carrie revealed her affair.

And, on the topic of Carrie, I hated her. McInerney certainly set her up with the longest distance to fall and be redeemed, but she didn’t even come close to being tolerable. It didn’t help that in flashbacks to her budding love affair with Matthew, Bett hardly figured into Carrie’s wayward heart. And even in present day she apologizes for hurting Bett, but not the affair. I’m sorry; but you steal your sister’s fiancé (regardless of the fact that Bett and Matthew were a poor match) and you’d better have some redemption up your sleeve. Sadly, no. McInerney has kept Carrie as a selfish little brat who hates that everyone blames her for the sister’s feud and silence, but seems reluctant to take that blame on board in any meaningful way. All her scenes just made my skin crawl; 

‘Are you still sleeping with her?’ 

Matthew looked uncomfortable. ‘I can’t. I want it to be you. It wouldn’t be fair.’ 

It made her feel better, for herself, even while she felt sorry for Bett. But it just seemed out of her control, out of their control, as though it was fated, and destined and all the magical things.

For me, Bett should have been the one-and-only narrative star of this book. She was all I cared about, and I'd have loved if this was about her coming home to confront her sister, her ex-fiancé (now brother-in-law!) and move on to her own happiness. As it is, McInerney gives so much page-time to all the sisters that even when Bett is given a romance it’s rushed and reliant on what happened with a young man some years ago. Especially underwhelming when Bett is the underdog all readers will be rooting for, and her happily-ever-after is underplayed and under-developed. 

The plot of the book goes into wacky-wonky territory when Grandma Lola tries to play peace-keeper and bring the sisters back together by way of a town play she insists they put on for her. And, yes, it’s as crazy and contrived as it sounds.

But in the last 50 or so pages McInerney must have sensed that the weighty plot points promised in the first chapter hadn’t really been delivered (especially after they were so easily resolved) so she throws out a curveball climax in the last few chapters that is such a blatant plea to pull on reader’s heartstrings that it’s embarrassing. Even more so when it comes too little too late and probably would have worked better as the premise or not at all. 

Any rating I give this book is for Bett – who I did like throughout and wish I'd been able to spend more (/all) time with. Otherwise, this was a book with big emotional promises that should have been a family saga/drama but quickly devolved into internal-monologue hell, wacky town melodrama and a ridiculous last-minute climax. Yikes.

2/5

Interview with A.J. Betts, plus 'Zac and Mia' book giveaway!

•••

I was lucky to receive an ARC of the 2012 Text Prize-winning book, Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts. 

As I (and many Aussie YA fans!) have come to expect; Zac and Mia was another triumph for the prestigious Prize, and it's another book I'll be passing on to many friends and family ... and you! Text has kindly offered one copy of Zac and Mia to give away, so do check out the competition details at the bottom of this post. 

And you can check out more interviews with A.J. Betts tomorrow and right up until August 1st, as she's doing a blog tour for the book - see a list of all her stops here.

In the mean time, I give you the author herself - A.J. Betts discussing 'sick lit', Perth talent and the OHMYGOD moment she won the Text Prize.

•••

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

I sent my first manuscript (ShutterSpeed) directly to Fremantle Press’s slush pile. Luckily, they took me on.

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?

Both. I spend a lot of time planning, brainstorming, graphing, scribbling, tabling, etc, but then when I'm writing, I allow the characters and story to take over, if they want to. I’m becoming more trusting in the process, and doing more of the plotting in my head (which sometimes means I’m not paying much attention to the real world…).

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

Almost four-and-a-half years. The idea formed in February of 2009. I worked on the manuscript until May, 2012, then with my publisher, Text, for another year. It’s released on July 24, 2013.

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?

My novels begin with a moment - a snapshot of someone, somewhere. It’s very sensory. This moment is the precursor to whatever happens next. I have a sense of the story which may unfold, but not many specifics. Character and narrative develop in the first few chapters, by which time I usually know the ending. Theme evolves somewhere along the way.

Q: First up: last year’s Text Prize winner was Perth-born Myke Bartlett. You are the 2012 winner, and you’re Perth-based … is there a YA author conspiracy we should know about? Something in the water, perhaps?

Sheer talent ;-)  It's great to know that Perth writers, although so far from the eastern coast, are being represented nationally. Myke has since moved to Melbourne, so I may need another WA Text winner to keep me company.

Q: At what point did you decide to enter ‘Zac and Mia’ in the prestigious Text Prize?

I decided fourteen months prior, in 2011. I was teaching a creative writing unit at Curtin University and was raving about the Text Prize to my students. They responded: Well if it’s that good, why don't you enter it? And the challenge was on! How could I not? The manuscript was already drafted then, but I knew it needed more work if it was to have a real shot. I'm glad I took that extra year.

Q: And on that note: what was running through your head when it was announced that you’d WON the Text Prize?

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. I was shopping with my Mum in Cairns when I got the call. I sat in a flower bed and had a little cry. As soon as we got home, I jumped in the pool.

Q: You are a secondary school English teacher. I wonder if you were inspired by the kids you teach while writing ‘Zac and Mia’? – do you pick up on their dialogue and use fragments of their overheard conversations? Have any of your pupils read the book? If so, what was their reaction?

None of my students have read this book...yet. I prefer to keep the manuscript under wraps as I'm working on it. I hope they enjoy it when it’s released, and I hope they can identify with the characters, as they have with my previous novels. I definitely draw on teenagers’ dialogue, more so conversations I overhear, rather than from those teenagers I know. I love eavesdropping.

Q: ‘Zac and Mia’ is a sad, but hopeful story about hope, fear, love, friendship and cancer. Not too long ago there was a media outcry about ‘sicklit’ and the abundance of depressing stories in YA. What do you have to say to those people who think teenagers shouldn’t be reading such doom and gloom?

I think teenagers, like adults, can read what they want, when they want, how they want. I was reading a lot of fantasy - historical and comedic - when I was a teen. If they want doom and gloom, however, Zac and Mia probably isn't for them. It's not a book that will depress readers. Cancer is the catalyst that brings my characters together, but isn’t a main focus of the book. The book doesn’t have melodrama, but it does have heart.

Q: What’s the appeal in writing for young adults? 

I'm writing as younger versions of myself, which is liberating and fun. Also, I probably haven’t grown up a lot...

Q: What are you working on right now, and when can we expect it to hit shelves!?

Right now I'm having a timely break (I'm actually answering these questions while on a cycling tour of France) but I have begun work on a novel set 300 years in the future...near Tasmania. It won't see daylight for a few years, I expect!

Q: Favourite author(s) of all time?

Still my childhood obsessions: Roald Dahl, Robin Klein, Douglas Adams. 

Q: Favourite book(s)? 

Impossible!!

Q: What advice do you have for budding young writers?

Keep reading. Write every day. Write a journal. Remember: not everything is supposed to be published. Maybe 0.5% of my writing makes it to print. Publication is not the only goal. Travel. Live with a curious mind and an open heart. Be vulnerable, but fearless.

•••

I have one copy of Zac and Mia to give away, kindly provided by Text Publishing.

How to enter:
☼ Become a follower of my blog (if you aren't already)

☼ Leave a comment on this blog post

☼ Include a way to contact you (e-mail addy is fine)

☼ One post per entrant

☼ This is a giveaway for AUSTRALIAN resident’s only!

☼ Contest closes August 15
I will announce the lucky winner on August 17

'Zac and Mia' by A.J. Betts

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

The last person Zac expects in the room next door is a girl like Mia, angry and feisty with questionable taste in music. In the real world, he wouldn’t—couldn’t—be friends with her. In hospital different rules apply, and what begins as a knock on the wall leads to a note—then a friendship neither of them sees coming.

You need courage to be in hospital; different courage to be back in the real world. In one of these worlds Zac needs Mia. And in the other Mia needs Zac. Or maybe they both need each other, always.

Zac Meier tracks his fight with leukaemia by NASA’s Curiosity rover. When he was first admitted he watched a documentary about the construction of the rover; when he first relapsed the launch was making headlines and the night before his bone marrow transfer he watched footage of the rover being shot into space. Now he’s stuck in isolation from November 18 to December 22 while the graft from a German donor (his friends have since nicknamed him ‘Helga’) safely heals. They can shoot a robot into outer space to explore a new planet but haven’t yet found a cure for cancer . . . and that’s just the way it goes.

So, Zac waits. He waits with his mum who plays Call of Duty with him and does word puzzles. She welcomes all the new patients that are frequently in and out of this floor and she always has a detailed answer ready when the nurses ask Zac; “have you opened your bowels?” 

And then one day a newbie arrives next door. Zac suspects it’s someone his own age (around about seventeen; the unlucky cut-off which means he just missed out on being admitted to the ‘fun’ and colourful children’s ward) – the real clue is when the new patient starts blaring Lady Gaga. 

Over the next few days Zac finds out his next-door-neighbour is a young girl called Mia Phillips, who has localised cancer in her lower leg. She’s lucky. Her chances of survival kick Zac’s leukaemia stats in the butt.

Zac and Mia strike up a tentative neighbourly friendship.

It starts with tapping.

Notes are passed.

A Facebook friend request is accepted.

And all the while Zac learns of Mia’s anger and secrecy; she has screaming matches with her mother and according to Facebook, none of her friends know that she’s seriously sick. 

When Zac’s isolation comes to an end and it’s time for him to re-enter the real world and await the all-clear, he thinks he’s seen the last of angry Mia and her good-chances.

Little does he know, their story is just beginning. 

‘Zac and Mia’ by A.J. Betts was the winner of the 2012 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s writing. Betts now joins the long list of beloved Australian children’s and young adult authors who found their start with the prestigious Prize.

Can we just get something out of the way quickly? . . . ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ by John Green. Yeah. So ‘Zac and Mia’ is only similar to Green’s juggernaut in that it deals with young people who have cancer. That’s it. And I’m going to make a big call and say that Green’s book is fantasy compared to Betts’s raw tale of surviving the shitty hand that fate deals.  There’s certainly no Phalanxifor miracle drug in Betts’s book. 

For communicating the day-to-day mundane madness of cancer, Betts deserves high praise. I've read a few cancer YA books now where it’s all about what comes after – whether that be after you know the battle is lost or remission won – and there’s often a bucket list involved either way (and a prerequisite romance for a real robust life experience.) And, that’s fine. But in the first half of ‘Zac and Mia’, Betts tackles what happens in the thick of fighting. She presents Zac a few days into his isolation after a bone marrow transfer. She writes about him being waylaid by a common cold, and how he looks like Jabba the Hutt – bald and bloated from medication. When we first meet him, Zac is bored and sick of himself – he’s counted the tiles on the roof and eavesdrops on his neighbours as they go through the routines he has come to know by heart. Everyone probably knows someone or of someone who has/had cancer – I certainly do. And I can attest to the waiting lunacy and monotony there is in ‘fighting’ for your life. So I love that Betts presented that side of Zac and Mia’s story – it’s certainly not pretty, and it does mean that the book has a slow beginning . . .  but I think it was so important that Betts show that side of cancer; the truth and the tedium. 

It’s also in this slow but important beginning that we learn the most about Zac. That he was a healthy football player before fatigue and slight sores made way for much worse. And that while he tries to remain strong for his ever-present mum and Facebook friends, Zac has his reservations and fears. Especially since he knows what it’s like to not be cured, for treatment not to work the first time round;

I’m told I’m now 99.9 per cent someone else. I’m told this is a good thing, but how can I know for sure? There’s nothing in this room to test myself with. What if I now kick a footy with the skill of a German beer wench? What if I've forgotten how to drive a ute or ride a quad bike? What if my body doesn’t remember how to run? What if these things aren’t stored in my head or muscles, but down deeper, in my marrow? What if . . . what if all of this is just a waste of time and the leukaemia comes back anyway?

Betts also looks at cancer through a modernist gaze, and rather beautifully. Zac has this to say about the social media benefits of cancer;

Cancer is a Facebook friend magnet. According to my home page, I’m more popular than ever. In the old days, people would have prayed for each other, now they Like and Comment as if they’re going for a world record. 

And at one point Mia wonders what happens to all the Facebook pages of dead people (and their iTunes music? To which Zac profoundly replies “in the cloud?”). It might date the book if Facebook goes by way of MySpace, but I loved that Betts asked these profound questions of death and grieving in the digital age. 
   
Part one of the book was ‘Zac’ and all from his perspective, part two is ‘and’ and part three is ‘Mia’. Between ‘and’ and ‘Mia’ the story shifts rather monumentally to the outside world and especially onto Mia; who copes very differently than Zac with her cancer. Mia has issues at home and amongst her popular friendship group. She’s used to being desired and desirable, parties and boys are her normal so when cancer interrupts her life she tries to maintain her status quo, with disastrous results. Mia is angry, and for that reason she may not be terribly likeable, initially. But readers will probably find her prickly, mostly because Mia is the antithesis to all those phony portrayals of what cancer ‘survivors’ and strugglers should act like. Zac actually tows the line in many ways; he’s scared but battling and hopeful. Mia is just angry – angry at her mum and the nurses, her stupid leg and the way her seemingly perfect life has been interrupted. She cannot stand the thought of attending her school formal on crutches or in a wig, and she’s going to do all she can to get as far away from reminders of her illness as she can. I liked her. I liked that she ranted and railed to the point of annoyance because she bloody well should be mad at everyone. It’s not fucking fair, and good on her for letting them know it. Of course, Mia can’t run away from herself and what her body is doing, any more than she can try to put distance between her and the problems she’s created.

What didn’t work for me so much was the ‘and’ middle part of the story. I was quite happy for Zac’s beginning to be slow, and I actually quite liked that Betts mirrored the mundane hospital life to introduce us to these characters and set their stage. But I did think the middle dragged a bit; and while I liked Zac and Mia individually, together I was never so sure or entirely sold or quite certain what I was meant to be feeling about the two of them. There was just a bit of a disconnect for me in the middle, and mostly (ironically?) when it was Zac and Mia together the story didn’t work so much for me. 

I will say I have a small beef with the cover of ‘Zac and Mia.’ When I saw it, my first thought was “not YA.” Now, having come from Reading Matters and the many legitimate and important discussions surrounding gender-flipped covers, I’m not saying that I think a twee cover featuring a guy and girl in Nicholas Sparks-esque almost-kissing pose would be better. Far from it. But the ‘Zac and Mia’ cover does not work for me and doesn’t lend itself to the incredible and heartfelt story within. Initially I thought maybe the weird Evil-Eye petals would make story-sense . . . but if it was ever explained then it went over my head. Look, someone like John Green can get away with a sparse Rodrigo Corral clouds cover because it’s John Green and his name is the cover (at this point, he could probably even get away with a black cover, Spinal Tap style). But for this really beautiful book about two kids finding each other under the worst of circumstances; I just wanted something more. And something that would let teen readers know this is a book with a lot of heart and heartache. I normally love Text covers and I actually don’t normally comment on book covers at all (unless they’re offensive); but I think ‘Zac and Mia’ has missed out on a lot by going for an unemotional literary look over more accessible and appealing YA, and it pains me to point that out. 

‘Zac and Mia’ pulls no punches and offers no easy outs for readers. This is a young adult book about two teenagers in the thick of their cancer battle; examining their boredom and fear, grieving Facebook friends and the infuriating hell of living in a modern age where we can send a robot to Mars but have no cure for what kills close to seven million people every year. Another triumph for the Text Prize, A.J. Betts is in good company and ‘Zac and Mia’ is another great read.

4/5