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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'The pink jumper was practically glowing in my grey bedroom. It was like a tiny bit of Dorothy's Oz in boring old black-and-white Kansas. Pink was for girls.
'Ava Simpson is trying on a whole new image. Stripping the black dye from her hair, she heads off to the Billy Hughes School for Academic Excellence, leaving her uber-cool girlfriend, Chloe, behind.
'Ava is quickly taken under the wing of perky, popular Alexis who insists that: a) she's a perfect match for handsome Ethan; and b) she absolutely must audition for the school musical.
'But while she's busy trying to fit in - with Chloe, with Alexis and her Pastel friends, even with the misfits in the stage crew - Ava fails to notice that her shiny reinvented life is far more fragile than she imagined.' (From the publisher's website.)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Neither Very Bi Nor Particularly Sexual : The Essence of the Bisexual in Young Adult Literature
2015
single work
— Appears in: Children's Literature in Education , December vol. 46 no. 4 2015; (p. 359-377) 'This article examines four prominent young adult novels about bisexual protagonists: Julie Anne Peters’s It’s Our Prom (So Deal With It) (2012), Brent Hartinger’s Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies (2007), Lili Wilkinson’s Pink (2009), and Sara Ryan’s Empress of the World (2001). Defining bisexuality in terms of gender-plural sexual desire, it argues that narratives about bisexuals may impose essentializing identities, which resignify and redefine bisexuality through the use of stereotypes and the evasion of the sexuality and plurality of bisexual desire. By doing this, Peters and Hartinger, who represent the ideological middle ground in such narratives, ironically sustain the invisibility of bisexuality that they ostensibly resist. Of the novels by Wilkinson and Ryan, Wilkinson’s Pink is the most stereotypical and evasive example, while Ryan’s Empress of the World, at the other extreme, manages to avoid essentializing bisexuality, seeing it in terms of plural desires. If narratives of bisexuality are to help bisexual teenagers interpret their plural desires and fill the bisexual spaces or gaps in their worlds, it is argued that this necessitates a shift towards approaches, like Ryan’s, that recognize the variety and individuality of these teenagers.' (Publication abstract) -
Belles, Angels and Love
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 14 February 2010; (p. 13)
— Review of Pink 2009 single work novel -
Under Age
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 10 January 2010; (p. 17)
— Review of Pink 2009 single work novel ; Cicada Summer 2009 single work children's fiction -
[Review] Pink
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 23 no. 3 2009; (p. 50)
— Review of Pink 2009 single work novel -
Untitled
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of The Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 53 no. 3 2009; (p. 39)
— Review of Pink 2009 single work novel
-
Fiction
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 1 August 2009; (p. 20)
— Review of Pink 2009 single work novel -
Compelling Attractions Despite All the Disturbing Twists
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 12 September 2009; (p. 18)
— Review of Stolen : A Letter to My Captor 2009 single work novel ; Pink 2009 single work novel -
Untitled
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , July vol. 88 no. 9 2009; (p. 45)
— Review of Pink 2009 single work novel -
[Untitled]
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Spring vol. 17 no. 3 2009; (p. 48)
— Review of Pink 2009 single work novel -
[Untitled]
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 24 no. 3 2009; (p. 44)
— Review of Pink 2009 single work novel -
Neither Very Bi Nor Particularly Sexual : The Essence of the Bisexual in Young Adult Literature
2015
single work
— Appears in: Children's Literature in Education , December vol. 46 no. 4 2015; (p. 359-377) 'This article examines four prominent young adult novels about bisexual protagonists: Julie Anne Peters’s It’s Our Prom (So Deal With It) (2012), Brent Hartinger’s Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies (2007), Lili Wilkinson’s Pink (2009), and Sara Ryan’s Empress of the World (2001). Defining bisexuality in terms of gender-plural sexual desire, it argues that narratives about bisexuals may impose essentializing identities, which resignify and redefine bisexuality through the use of stereotypes and the evasion of the sexuality and plurality of bisexual desire. By doing this, Peters and Hartinger, who represent the ideological middle ground in such narratives, ironically sustain the invisibility of bisexuality that they ostensibly resist. Of the novels by Wilkinson and Ryan, Wilkinson’s Pink is the most stereotypical and evasive example, while Ryan’s Empress of the World, at the other extreme, manages to avoid essentializing bisexuality, seeing it in terms of plural desires. If narratives of bisexuality are to help bisexual teenagers interpret their plural desires and fill the bisexual spaces or gaps in their worlds, it is argued that this necessitates a shift towards approaches, like Ryan’s, that recognize the variety and individuality of these teenagers.' (Publication abstract)
Awards
- 2012 honour book Stonewall Book Award
- 2010 highly commended Barbara Jefferis Award
Last amended 28 May 2021 09:13:03
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