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'Here is Plum Coyle, on the threshold of adolescence, striving to be new. Her fourteenth birthday is approaching: her old life and her old body will fall away, and she will become graceful, powerful, at ease. The strength in the objects she stores in a briefcase under her bed - a crystal lamb, a yoyo, an antique watch, a penny - will make sure of it.
'Over the next couple of weeks, Plum's life will change. Her beautiful neighbour Maureen will begin to show her how she might fly. The older brothers she adores - the charismatic Justin, the enigmatic Cydar - will court catastrophe in worlds that she barely knows exist. And her friends - her worst enemies - will tease and test, smelling weakness. They will try to lead her on and take her down.
'Who ever forgets what happens when you're fourteen?' (Publisher's blurb)
Notes
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Starred Book in The Horn Book Magazine 86:4 (July/August 2010).
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
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Adolescent Occultism and the Philosophy of Things in Three Novels
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , November vol. 8 no. 1 2015; 'The association of adolescence with supernatural belief is not new. Many social research texts position paranormal belief within the liminality of adolescence – something tested and later outgrown. The particularly North American phenomena of ‘legend tripping,’ for instance, where ‘to test [a] legend, legend trippers will often mark their visits [to sites of urban legends] with specific activities designed to invoke supernatural powers,’ is practiced primarily by older teens and college-age youths as shown by Donald Holly and Casey Cordy in ‘What’s in a Coin?’ and confirmed by Sylvia Ann Grider in ‘Children’s Ghost Stories’.2 Alison Waller’s book Constructing Adolescence in Fantastic Realism similarly attests to the appeal of the supernatural in books written for and about young people. Criticism of these works, however, tends to sideline supernatural content as a site of inquiry and instead ‘prioritise a rational reading of the fantastic focussing on socio-physiological development of adolescents. Magic is explained away as a purely imaginative product of awakened sexuality, and ghosts are read as fabricated alter egos.' (Author's introduction) -
There's No Place Like Home
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 29 April 2012; (p. 18) -
[Review] Butterfly
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: School Library Journal : For Children's, Young Adult and School Librarians , August vol. 56 no. 8 2010; (p. 102)
— Review of Butterfly 2009 single work novel -
[Review] Butterfly
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Publishers Weekly , 16 August vol. 257 no. 32 2010; (p. 55)
— Review of Butterfly 2009 single work novel -
[Review] Butterfly
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Booklist , 1 May vol. 106 no. 17 2010; (p. 76)
— Review of Butterfly 2009 single work novel
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Puberty Blues
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 1 February 2009; (p. 18)
— Review of Butterfly 2009 single work novel -
Cruelty of an Adolescence with No Sense of Purpose
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 31 January - 1 February 2009; (p. 26-27)
— Review of Butterfly 2009 single work novel -
Darker Flights of Suburban Gothic
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 31 January 2009; (p. 12)
— Review of Butterfly 2009 single work novel -
Book of the Week
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 1 February 2009; (p. 28)
— Review of Butterfly 2009 single work novel -
Heart-Stopping Return to Form
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 7 February 2009; (p. 23)
— Review of Butterfly 2009 single work novel -
Rough Landing
2009
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 22 February 2009; (p. 12) -
Pick a Franklin Winner
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: The West Australian , 22 June 2010; (p. 6-7) -
Strange Beasts : Sonya Hartnett's Midnight Zoo
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Monthly , August no. 59 2010; (p. 62-65) -
Sometimes it Takes a Writer
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Spring no. 200 2010; (p. 36-40) Marion Rankine considers originality and place in Australian writing. -
There's No Place Like Home
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 29 April 2012; (p. 18)
Awards
- 2010 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
- 2009 shortlisted Colin Roderick Award
- 2009 highly commended The Fellowship of Australian Writers Victoria Inc. National Literary Awards — FAW Christina Stead Award
- 2009 shortlisted The Age Book of the Year Award — Fiction Prize
- 1980