From Australia comes another great piece of YA literature with wit, zing and depth. Sixteen-year-old Calma lives for literature and finally has a good English teacher, but problems with love, family and friends tear her away from her passion. She instantly falls for handsome Jason, but her best friend is clearly suffering from some hidden anxiety, her despised, long-gone father has suddenly returned and her always-working mom seems to be involved with a mysterious man. Even as Calma constantly missteps, she remains confident in her superior intelligence, sure she can ferret out what’s really going on. Jonsberg inserts a leitmotif about literature, with poetry and Calma’s warning about the unreliable narrator. Plenty of on-the-spot humor mingles with looming tragedy, as Calma simply can’t imagine that she might be making some mistakes. Readers will laugh, cry and, without trying, learn. (Fiction. YA)
