Leaving Jetty Road

Leaving Jetty Road is a compelling coming-of-age story about three friends, Nat, Lise and Sofia. When the three girls make a joint New Year’s resolution to ‘go vegetarian for a year’ none of them foresees the changes that will occur in their lives during that year. While Nat and Sofia meet boys and fall in love, Lise immerses herself in long hours of study. She hopes this preparation will help her overcome the panic attacks she experienced in Year 11. She also discovers – to her delight – that the vegetarianism that they have pledged has resulted in something she has always longed for: weight loss.

As the year progresses and the end-of-year exams loom, the three girls experience various ups and downs: Nat’s relationship show more breaks down, while Sofia’s thrives, and Lise struggles with an eating disorder that could threaten her life. It is during the aftermath of these events that Nat and Lise must come to terms with their lives. Although their experiences are different, they discover a new optimism for life. show less

Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com

Leaving Jetty Road was a good read. I enjoyed the book and the different characters. Nat, the main narrator, is a calm B personality, Lise is the intense, very shy A personality, and Sofia just walks to another drummer.

In their twelfth grade year in Australia they make a New Year's resolution to become vegetarians. This leads the three of them on different life paths. Sofia finds her true love, Nat finds her first love, and, for Lise, being a vegetarian is the magic bullet for weight loss. Unfortunately, that same magic bullet also leads Lise to intense exercise and makes her panic attacks become wickedly more frequent.

I liked the way the author got into the heads of Lise and Nat and gave show more them a very realistic voice. The reasons that Lise has for becoming anorexic are valid and real. She feels inferior within her family, school, and tight social circle. Nat, going through the throes of first love, made me think of that time in my life as well. The way that the relationships changed throughout the course of the book was amazing and also very realistic. I had to laugh, though, because periodically throughout the book I had to remind myself that the setting is in Australia. Summer heat in December? School beginning in January? Being cold in June? Oh yeah, Australia!

All in all, LEAVING JETTY ROAD is a memorable book and one that I think most girls will identify with. show less

Told through two different perspectives, this is a story of three friends in their senior years and how their lives change. Nat finds first love while her best friend Lise develops an eating disorder, and their friend Sofe finally settles down and figures out what she wants to do with her life.