Teen reads
AN ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE THING
by Hank Green (Dutton Books, $29)
When your brother is John Green, the genius behind this generation’s most popular teen novels, writing your own can be a risky move. However, the less famous yet equally talented Hank Green is giving his sibling a run for his money with the New York Times
bestseller An Absolutely Remarkable Thing.
The tale follows 23-year-old April May, a New Yorker working at a second-rate startup after graduating art school. Life takes a turn after a video she posts online flings her into infamy. April knows this is her one shot to change her life. What she doesn’t know is just how burdensome life in the digital spotlight can be. Unpacking the consequences of social media on relationships, safety and identity, Green’s novel isn’t just a gripping narrative featuring a genuine protagonist but one full of online anxiety with which young readers can relate.
THE CHAOS OF NOW
by Erin Lange (Faber, $19) As a high schooler, you don’t really have much privacy. But when your classmate commits suicide because of online bullying, increased school surveillance makes life even more challenging for some, including Eli. A computer pro, who wants nothing more than to graduate, escape his dad and his new fiance, and get a top-tier coding job, he ends up using his skills sooner than anticipated after joining an underground website that is on the hunt for the high school bullies. Sneaking behind the school’s cybersecurity and seeking vengeance for his friend feels harmless until Eli realises the lines between online and real life may not be so solid. Fast-moving and unpredictable, Lange’s gripping adventure of bullying, justice, friendship and digital media will be familiar territory for plugged-in teens.
OCEAN’S KISS
by Lani Wendt Young (One Tree Press, $29) After capturing young hearts with her Telesa series, Samoan journalist, editor and writer Lani Wendt Young returns to the world of Pasifika mythology and fantasy in her latest novel, Ocean’s Kiss. Two lovers are kept apart by the forces of fate; one is a marine biologist, the other a warrior goddess of Oceania. However, when the island of Nuia is threatened and an ancient mythological weapon released, they have a decision to make: stand with their ancestry or with one another. Proving just how well-deserved her title of 2018 ACP Pacific Laureate is, Young’s romantic tale strikes the perfect balance of fantastical mythology and cold reality as it unpacks love, loyalty and the threat many Pasifika people face from rising sea levels.
LENNY’S BOOK OF EVERYTHING
by Karen Foxlee (Allen & Unwin, $23) Award-winning Australian author Karen Foxlee returns with a heartfelt book about loving, living and letting go. Lenny was 5 when, with one Greyhound bus and no explanation, her family of four went down to three. But it’s okay; her younger brother is twice the man her father was. Literally. With a rare form of gigantism, Davey may be 7 years old but he is already as tall as a man and shows no signs of slowing down. Having a single mother with two jobs and a gigantic brother isn’t easy but Lenny gets along okay, especially after winning a competition for a weekly subscription to Burrell’s Build-it-at-Home Encyclopaedia. From tiny ladybirds to horizons of faraway places, Lenny and Davey see the world from those encyclopaedias. But, as Davey gets taller and sicker, Lenny worries it might be the only way he’ll see it. Suggested for readers aged 10 and older, this heartbreaking story of learning to find the good when times are tough is a lesson for adults and teens alike.