Girl V the World: Waiting for it

 Girl V the World: Waiting For It by Chrissie Keighery (hardie Grant EGMONT)

PB RRP $12.95

ISBN 978-1742971810

Reviewed by Lillian Rodrigues-Pang

www.thestoryline.com.au

Girl V the World is a new series of books launched by HGE. Four titles will be released in 2012 and more to follow in 2013. This series is targeted at the “forgotten girls – the girls who have been pushed up from early fiction straight to paranormal romance.”

In Waiting for it we met Hazel, a very likeable and thoughtful teenager just starting high school. At thirteen years old she is young in some ways – she loves teddies, is a daddy’s girl and is upset by change within her household. She is also half way to growing up. She wants to be treated like an adult, wants to get her period and longs to feel comfortable amongst boys and her new friendship circle.

In this story, Hazel has made it into the cool group but is unsure of her position there. She is the last of her friendship circle to get her period and she spends agonizing girl talks hearing about the others and how much more advanced they are. Boys and their developing body is the topic of the moment and this story navigates it all with humour and tenderness. Hazel discovers that staying true to herself brings the best results.

Waiting for it is written in a straightforward honest manner. This is a welcome series covering real life topics. The series is written by a collection of authors already well known within the field, having penned Go Girl and Girlfriend Fiction. In 2012 there are two books by Chrissie Keighery, followed by one by Thalia Kalkipsakis and one by Meredith Badger.

Whisper

 Whisper by Chrissie Keighery (hardie grant Egmont)
PB RRP $16.95

ISBN:

9781921759321

Reviewed by Vicki Stanton

Whisper has been short-listed for the 2012 Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Older Readers. It is easy to see why. Chrissie Keighery has penned a wonderful book about Demi, a girl who has become totally deaf following a vicious bout of meningitis. The whole way Demi experiences life and how she reacts to the world, and how the world reacts to her, has changed.

Keighery's  meticulous research is apparent. She opened up a whole new world to me in her portrayal of the deaf community and its interactions within and with the hearing world. All this is handled perfectly through a range of sympathetic and unsympathetic three-dimensional characters, in both the deaf and hearing worlds.

The strength of the story lies in its depth. It is not merely a story about a girl who goes deaf and how she deals with it. Whisper explores aspects of everyday life for an Australian teenage girl: changing schools, making friends, blossoming love, family friction. These issues are exacerbated by Demi's deafness but her enduring spirit and strength guide her through. Demi also learns that sometimes those that may seem the most privileged may also have their own cross to bear.