The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl

The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil (Hardie Grant Egmont)

ISBN 978-1-7429-7830-7

PB $18.95 RRP

Reviewed by Nean McKenzie

The comic book cover draws the reader into the world in which the main character, Sarah Albany (known as Alba) is firmly entrenched. Pencil in her hand, her mind wanders between reality and the fiction she draws in her cartoon frames. As the book starts, Alba and her quirky bunch of friends have all just finished secondary school in a town called Eden Valley and face the decision, what next? But the story is not just about this interesting and transient time of young adulthood. It's also about the end of the world, where Eden Valley has been named as the only place to be spared.

Alba lives with her mum in a bakery. Her father is dead and she has grown up with her friend Grady, a boy she is extraordinarily close to, but there is now one big problem between them. Grady is keen to become a lawyer and wants to go to the city to study. Alba doesn't want to make a decision to stay or go, quite happy if time could stand still. Then Ned Zebadiah ('prognosticator, seer and diviner of ancient mysteries') makes a prediction on the internet and it goes viral. Hippies stream into Eden Valley to escape the end of the world and the countdown begins. With the influx of outsiders comes Daniel, a former school mate of Alba's and now soapie star, who looks rather good with his shirt off.  

Written in first person, Alba's voice is strong, distinctive and funny. She gets off the track a bit sometimes, finds it a bit hard to focus on what is going on in front of her, but then cleverly gets back in time to move the story along. The camaraderie between the friends who have grown up together is well described and their reaction to the strangers that flock into their formerly sleepy town. Particularly skillful are the descriptions of Alba's drawing. 'I draw Cinnamon Girl close up and in profile here, her waves of hair billowing behind her and bleeding over the edges of the frames,' and 'I spend some time pencilling her solid legs, one foot in front of the other, resolutely marching through her unfilled frame.' Cinnamon Girl has a mind of her own, and is a good mirror for what Alba is going through in her life.

Melissa Keil's first novel, Life in Outer Space recently was awarded the Ena Noel award and was shortlisted for several other awards including a CBCA book of the year. The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl is Melissa's second young adult book and she has produced another humorous, warm-hearted novel. The story flows well and has characters the reader can be fond of as they struggle with coming of age problems. A bit of a love triangle and a ride on a motor bike and there's a resolution that is both apt and satisfying.

Life in Outer Space

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil (Hardie Grant Egmont)
PB RRP $18.95
ISBN 9781742973951
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

This is the first published novel from the Ampersand Project of Hardie Grant Egmont. It’s a delicious read; humorous, well written, with strong and interesting characters and a fantastic storyline set in Melbourne.

Sam is a nerdy geek; a self-deprecating loner that hates his life. His friend Mike, who is struggling with his sexuality, describes him as being ‘dead inside’.  Sam uses all life outside his own as ‘fodder for future screenplays’, and as practice for his chosen career as screenwriter which he works towards with consuming passion. His favourite pastime is repeatedly watching his stash of Star Wars and horror movies with his mum or small group of downtrodden friends. Each can quote almost every line word-for-word.

When Camilla Carter walks into Sam’s English class his world shifts. Her blue tattoo, 1950s-look yellow dress and English accent appear too much. Sam’s first impression is that Camilla is ‘another minion for the army of suck’ led by Justin Zigoni that has made his and his friends’ lives a misery during school hours.

But Camilla’s encompassing smile and ability to remain unfazed by the politics of another new school environment, impresses Sam. That Camilla prefers his group’s company to that of the A-group is a mystery to him.  But Camilla sees all the good things in Sam and slowly helps him to see them too. Their friendship grows and strengthens and Sam’s life changes drastically. But his home life still sucks. His father finally leaves and it happens when Camilla sets off to visit to her mother overseas.

To keep Sam’s mind off the tragedy, Camilla sets him a series of challenges that take him out of his comfort zone and enable him to expand his interests away from Star Wars and horror movies. His self-esteem increases and he evolves further during her short absence.

But life is never easy for Sam. He is plagued by confusion, doubt, and misunderstanding. He must clear these clouds before he can step into the truth.

This is an outstanding and highly entertaining debut novel about love. Melissa Keil has grasped the angst, confusion and doubt of teenagers perfectly and presented it with insight, intelligence and humour.