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October 2014


Girl Defective (Simmone Howell)

As a teenager, did you ever look longingly at other people’s apparent domestic bliss, and wonder just why your family was so damn weird?

Girl Defective’s protagonist, Skylark Martin, laments that her family are “like inverse superheroes, marked by our defects”.  As the daughter of an absent, artist mother, a borderline alcoholic father, and with a brother who is “on the spectrum”, Sky certainly has her share of domestic challenges.  Throw into the mix an older, unpredictable best friend, an intense teenage romance and a mysterious death (all against a St. Kilda backdrop) Girl Defective certainly delivers a colourful, engaging narrative.  A novel that tackles the issues of self-identity and familial relationships within romance and suspense, Girl Defective certainly offers the reader a little bit of everything!

Howell, S 2013, Girl defective, Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney.
Young Adult - Family
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