Kate De Goldi (3) (1959–)

The book cover said, "A novel which defies all age categories".

I disagree entirely .

The main characters are all teenagers and the adults are larger than life and not credible. So that makes it a teen novel in my book.I thought the mother, who was a central figure, was just not credible given the role she has in the book. It was all just so bloody perfect how all the flaws never really got in the way.

How his father wandered around "without his underpants" in front of his teenage daughter, show more made to sound funny but can you imagine that really being funny? Having raised one daughter I can't. And don't get me started on the Aunties!

Don't get me wrong though. For a teen novel that deals with mental illness and dysfunctional parents it's actually pretty good and well written as long as you accept it for what it is and it isn't an adults novel. show less

What a stunning, incredible book. I love kids with elaborate projects, close-knit urban communities, child-adult friendships, clever writing, and unexpected plot rhythms. Oh, and New Zealand. This book hit an abundance of my story-kinks, brilliantly. I gave it to a student I was pretty sure would love it and she said "meh," so I'm not sure who the audience is besides me. I'm glad it exists for me, though. This will be a keep-forever-and-reread.

Some of my tags hint at this, but it's entirely show more possible to read the whole book without knowing that it ends with the devastating Christchurch earthquake of 2010. The author lists a website in the back, an elegy for the real High Street: http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/splash. I got kind of obsessed with looking through it, especially this story about the rebuilding of a cafe: http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/c1-the-best-cafe-in-the-world, thinking about the ways a disaster can be the inspiration to rebuild more sustainably and beautifully. We're going to have a lot more disasters. I hope stories like this can provide road maps for how to think about the aftermath. show less

This started off gently and quirkily, but became something more than lightweight by the end. I had tears pricking my eyes in the final chapters, which must surely be a sign of writing that means something ... also loved the 'New Zealandness' of the book, it was there and I could pick up on it, but it wasn't too over-powering or try hard to put off a non-NZ audience.

I started out wondering why any YA reader would want to read this novel, and I still am kind of wondering this. It's more of a regular novel about a 13 year old than a novel for 13 year olds. In fact, I might actually be wrong. I really don't think this a book for a YA audience. It touches on so many issues surrounding anxiety and growing up in a really nuanced way that's so rare, I really enjoyed it.