Sarah's Library

17/3 - Another book from my teenage years that I haven't read since. This will most likely be the last time I read it as I'm finally getting around to reviewing it and, if I remember rightly, I didn't LOVE it when I was in the target age. So, well past the target age, it's unlikely that I will be of the opinion that it's worth giving up precious shelf space for a not-to-be-read-again book. To be continued...

Later that night - Well, what do you know?! I'm enjoying and understanding this book as an adult much more than I did as a 14-year-old (the same age as the two main characters). I am really shocked! This is the first YA re-read from my teenage years that's improved with time. The Buffy/Angel/Charmed books that I've been re-reading in an attempt to clear out my shelves for the new books I've been buying has shown me that I was pretty oblivious to plot holes, dreadful grammar and terrible editing when I first read them 10 or more years ago. I have noticed a couple of missing words in the six chapters I've read so far, but the story is far improved from what I was expecting, from what I remember of the last time I read it. Bravo to Robin Klein for exceeding my expectations. To be continued...

18/3 - Why oh why can't the girls see Laurie for who he really is - an unashamed scam artist (if caught, he'll probably just give a wry grin, shrug his shoulders and go along quietly with the police)? Instead they just fawn over him and believe all the outlandish stories he tells them. I give him five years before he ends up the main star in an A Current Affair (Australian 'hard-hitting' current affairs program whose bread and butter stories include chasing love rats, scam artists and dodgy builders down suburban streets attempting to 'interview them') sting operation. Running down the streets or through an underground carpark with ACA's cameras doing a 'Blair Witch Project' impression as they chase after him. How could a reasonably intelligent (I mean, Julia earned a scholarship to Rossiter, she can't be that stupid) girl (pair of girls) believe all the different stories Laurie's been feeding them about his background? He's on the run from a gang, he's on the run from the police, he was in a Dickensian style workhouse/orphanage, he was fostered by a knife-wielding somnambulist, he was sent to a home for 'wayward boys'. How many more lies can he possibly come up with before they catch him out. And what's the amazing, fantastic, works-every-time line that he gives them, that keeps them from seeing the truth? "You've got great hair" (I might be paraphrasing a bit here because I can't be bothered going back through the last few chapters to find the exact sentence, but you get the gist)! That's all he needs to say and they'll believe anything that comes out of his mouth, without more than a token query! I've never done anything stupid for a guy (or even contemplated anything that could be considered stupid), so that kind of behaviour goes right over my head, I can't understand it at all. Do teenage girls really act this way when a guy notices them or is this an exaggeration of the way these things happen? To be continued...

21/3 -

[Bunty! What the hell kind of name is that?! Especially for a boy? I knew Laurie (Bunty *snigger*) would turn out to be a cheating conman, or should I say conboy, but I never expected (remembered) what a pissy little whiner he was, asking his 'mummy' when she's coming home so she can make him some biscuits. He's been out wandering the streets conning teenage girls with tales of danger and intrigue (snort), can't he manage to go to the shops to buy himself some biscuits? I now think it's even more likely he'll end up on A Current Affair with cameras and reporters chasing him and asking where all the money went. (hide spoiler)] I don't think Julia is doing Andre any favours by hiding Laurie's true nature from her. Andre needs to learn some hard truths about idiot boys who lie and taking her to meet

would be a good way to start the lesson. When Julia arrives at Emohruo to find Andre standing on a chair in the freezing cold and dark (terrified of mice, but even more terrified that the camping stove will explode in her face if she tried to light it) she is concerned about where her parents think she is. What about the next morning when she and Andre have spent the night at the cottage and her grandma has no idea where she is? Did it never occur to her that her grandma, being the conscientious and worrying-over-appearances type she is, might check on her before going to bed herself? Even if she didn't discover Julia's absence during the night she's sure to notice when there's no Julia coming down for breakfast the next morning. Very inconsiderate. If I was Julia I would probably choose to live with grandma. I could put up with proper manners, doilies, and keeping up appearances, but I could not put up with Liz's hippie way of life. I hate the thought of nothing being my own or clean. My clothes/stuffed animals/iPod/laptop/mobile phone (not that Julia had any of the last three items due to the 80s era) are mine. You are probably welcome to use them (as long as you don't have a track record of breaking stuff or neglecting to return borrowed items), but you have to ask first, you can't just take them.

3.5 stars really, and although this was better than the other 'teenage years' book I recently read, Fat Boy Saves World by Ian Bone, it's still going to a new home via the library book sale.