Helen Vivienne Fletcher

Combining a coming of age story, with paranormal aspects, this YA novella sensitively incorporates the subjects of disability and same sex attraction.

The main character, Myra, is a circus kid, who once old enough, had joined her parent's aerial act. Then she fell, injuring herself badly, so she now lives with constant pain, and the differences that the disability in a circus environment have created in her life. Now working on other performers costumes, Myra has become an acute observer of the circus life, she spends her life shaking the sequins from her hair and clothes, wearing, but not able to perform, in the trappings of circus. She's particularly close to the only other person of a similar age to her in the travelling group - seventeen-year-old Luca, who definitely hopes there is more to the relationship than friendship.

When Giselle joins the circus Myra is fascinated. A teenager as well, Giselle is a blind fortune teller, although whether she is blind, or this is part of her act, Myra's not sure - but she's drawn to Giselle. Perhaps as her first ever female friend, perhaps more.

A novella in length, the title - WE ALL FALL has a double meaning. The circus has been plagued by falls and minor accidents recently, and Luca and Myra's personal feelings are definitely of the teenage falling variety, but is there more than coincidence to these accidents and the arrival of Giselle and her strange mother.

Addressing many challenges of young lives in such a short novel is quite an undertaking, and the way that sexuality, disability, and the difficulties of teenage friendship and family relationships are explored is beautifully executed. There are some paranormal aspects built in here as well and they don't clash with the rest of the narrative in any way. More of a supernatural styled thriller than an out and out crime novel, WE ALL FALL is well worth reading.

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The TRESPASSERS CLUB is a great little book for young kids - probably around the 10-13 age group (she says desperately trying to sound like she'd know). It's a combination of action and adventure, with a really strong lead female character in Laura, and an extremely believable plot about a teenage runaway and an old house. What starts out as a game for Laura turns into something more complicated for her and Jacob and everything about this lovely little novel works. Great fun, perfect reading for kids with that combination of action and a moral challenge that's nicely understated.

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BROKEN SILENCE is the story of seventeen-year-old Kelsey, a kid who has had a lot to deal with in life. Confused and very vulnerable, she cared for her gravely ill mother until she had to go into care. Her remarried father has disappeared from her life, and Kelsey finds herself living in a scruffy flat with her brother Pete and a couple of his mates. She feels rejected by her father, in her brother's road, and she's hiding the physical signs of abuse that her boyfriend regularly doles out. Her life is a mess, and she's hurting, physically and emotionally.

The character of Kelsey really is heart-breakingly real, and very cleverly constructed. She's vulnerable and confused, and up to the brim with teenage angst. She's sympathetic, sad, annoying, conflicted, unreliable and often borderline unlikeable. She and her brother resent the positions that they've been placed in and they rub each other up the wrong way. Sometimes the reader will need to remind themselves that this is a characterisation that comes from the impact of so much trauma at such a young age.

Then there's the matter of the stranger at the end of the phone. The stranger that comes to her aid after her boyfriend attacks her in public. The stranger that puts her boyfriend in hospital, comatose. The stranger that Kelsey may have asked to do exactly that. The quiet ramping up of tension that comes with those phone calls, as they start to increase the pressure on Kelsey, moving from offering a way out and possible salvation, to being part of the problem is elegantly done, shifting perceptions and expectations ever so slightly, undermining Kelsey's position as put upon, creating questions around unreliability and potential motives.

Issues based YA fiction like BROKEN SILENCE is a tricky undertaking. There are messages aplenty in this novel, carefully constructed to not be preachy, overly dramatic or even apparent as "messages". It tackles a lot of difficult subjects such as bullying, domestic violence, sexual harrassment and gaslighting. The messaging never takes away from a solid plot that keeps the reader guessing and working at likely resolutions.

All in all, BROKEN SILENCE is a gripping, page turner of a thriller, with a clever take on the unreliable and frequently unlikeable narrator that would work for adult readers as well as its target audience of older YA.

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