AustLit

'Aliki Says, which is aimed at older teenage readers, follows the story of two cousins, Aliki and Liza, who are heading into their final year of school. Inseparable, the girls are suddenly pulled apart by a family secret and adults who keep making decisions without consulting them.

The novel opens with Liza heading to Greece with her mother to collect her grandmother, Ara, and bring her back to live with them in Australia. However, Ara is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, a fact which Liza's mother wishes to keep secret.

Meanwhile, back in Australia, Liza's cousin Aliki is having troubles of her own. Her father accepts a job out of Sydney and insists that Aliki has to go with them. Not only is she about to be ripped apart from Liza, her friends, and everything she knows in her final year of school, Aliki is growing tired of her father's coldness to her and his refusal to talk about her mum, who died in a car accident.

The novel's third main character is the gutsy but broken Yiayia Ara. Trying to remain whole, both age and a guilty conscience are sneaking up on her. It isn't until Yiayia Ara and Aliki disappear that anyone starts to listen to what they have to say.

Set mainly in Sydney the novel moves from airport lounges to beach side theatres, from Leichardt's famous gelato bars to moonlight picnics in cemeteries. It involves trips to Greece, both in the present and in the past. It shows us that out past is sometimes repeated in the present.' (From publisher's website)