Title: Friday Brown

Author: Vikki Wakefield (CBCA shortlist for 2013)

Michael’s pick

Two matters determine whether an account of young adulthood is interesting. Firstly, the management of expectations. A problem for YA, understood as genre, is that the narrative of self-discovery is fixed at either end. (How many examples could be unearthed where the protagonist ends up none the wiser for their choices.) Authors feel compelled to seed their tales with instructive force, then disguise the medicine with strong flavours. It sometimes descends to a display of street cred, copiously researched. Or too busily studded with eccentricities of character and event. Continue reading →