#LoveOzYABloggers is hosted by #LoveOzYA, a community led organisation dedicated to promoting Australian young adult literature.
The theme for this fortnight is ‘Coastal’.
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When I saw the Coastal prompt, I thought “U’beauty, I’ll do books set in Newie”. Newie being my teenage stomping grounds. I already had two YA books sitting on my shelf that are set in Newie and I assumed considering Newcastle is the second oldest city in Australia, beaten out only by Sydney, and that it is still one of Australia’s biggest shipping ports, it wouldn’t be hard to find a third.
I Googled and found quite a few non-fiction books. I consulted the Newcastle Writers Festival Facebook group and ended up with recommendations for some fantastic sounding Aussie adult contemporaries and thrillers, which have been added to my TBR list, but no YA!
I decided to stick with #loveozya books based in Newie for this week’s prompt anyway, in the hope that somebody out there can prove me wrong and give me a third!
Surf Ache by Gerry Bobsien
This is a story about a family who embark on a sea-change moving from Melbourne to the coastal city of Newcastle. It’s about the crazy impact this move has on the kids in the family, Ella and Creaky, and the resilience of young people to handle change. Ella is fifteen and finds herself in a new town having to start all over again leaving behind a full and happy life complete with best friend and boyfriend. In Newcastle, Ella doesn’t know who to be or what to do but she slowly starts to make new friends. A dancer for most of her young life, Ella is thrown into a new world where surfing is the city’s obsession and she takes it on with all the joy of a new challenge. Through Ella’s newfound love of the sea, we learn a few secrets about her mum’s controversial past as a gun surfer. Above all, this is a story about family and love and the secrets we keep. It’s a book about girls doing things. Through Ella, we are infected with a passion for dance and surfing. This complete immersion in doing something you love is an important part of this book.
Losing It by Lizzie Wilcock
Once you’ve lied about something, lying becomes easy. You keep lying to cover your tracks. The lie grows. It becomes huge. Savage. Hungry.’
Gabbie likes her life just the way it is. She has a cool best friend and parents she can tell anything, and she’s just met the perfect guy.
But there are some things you can’t control. When her best friend starts to go off the rails, Gabbie finds it harder and harder to share the truth with her parents. Her family is changing, and that may become the biggest problem of all . . .
“Losing It” was shortlisted for the Young Adult Fiction Prize in the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, 2006.
My posts for the previous prompts:
RIOT’S REDEMPTION 
I can’t actually think of any that I’ve read that have been set in Newcastle Sarah, which is really odd considering. I hadn’t even heard of these two but will definitely try to track copies down. Great choices Sarah and thanks for the recommendation ❤
I know! I was shocked. I met Lizzie Wilcock at a Hunter Writers Centre course (she was a presenter/teacher) and purchased ‘Losing it’ off her at the time. Actually now that I think about it She was the one who told me about ‘Surf Ache’.