Kirjahaku

Laurene Kelly’s first young adult novel introduces us to fourteen-year-old Julie, who is struggling with a terrible home life, but could never imagine the horror that is about to destroy her family forever. She dreams of a new life, away from her abusive father, but when her mother doesn’t arrive to meet Julie and her brother Toby after school as planned, her hopes are shattered. She is told there was an accident, but something more is wrong…

Julie is getting her life back together after the tragedy that destroyed her family. She has a passion for surfing, and is making new friends and finally starting to feel like she belongs. But when her brother Toby wants to leave Sydney and return to the bush to live, and Aunt Jean becomes unwell, Julie fears she is losing what’s left of her family, and wonders if she is being punished for being happy. While Julie continues to be besieged with dramas, she also finds an inner strength, and vows to stop crying and make this her laughing year.