AustLit

'Finn the Swimmer. Finn the Winner. Finn who works hard and pushes through and never gives up.

'Or just Finn. And whatever Finn could be.

'Life is pretty simple for fifteen-year-old Finn: just keep following the black line in the pool. But in a moment it all changes: distracted by a familiar face in the crowd, he falters on the blocks and loses not just the race, but the single-minded focus that has driven him this far.

'Did he really see what he thinks he saw? It doesn’t seem possible—not after what happened—but now Finn can’t stop wondering, and everything is starting to unravel. For the first time, he’s got no idea what he’s supposed to do or who he’s supposed to listen to. His bossy older sister, Connie, who wants to know the truth? The whip-smart and unforgiving Aaliyah? Or the unflappable Loki, who gets Finn like no one else ever has?

'It turns out that in life there’s no such thing as a simple choice. And sometimes there’s no choice at all.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. But maybe that’s because a book doesn’t get to choose its own cover. A person does get to choose what they look like. It says something about them, just like any other action they might do. And why would anybody act like a tool unless that’s exactly what they are?

'WHEN Lindsay meets Elias, the signs aren’t promising. She’s a grungy introvert who doesn’t want to talk to anyone. He’s a teen fashionista who can’t shut the hell up. But since Lindsay tracked down a young runaway, word has got around that she knows how to find people. Elias is looking for his birth mother and he thinks Lindsay can help.

'The thing is, Lindsay wasn’t actually trying to find anyone. It’s just how she looks at the world. Scanning every house, every face, every car. That’s because someone is missing in Lindsay’s life: her identical twin, Frankie, who disappeared when they were seven. Since then, her parents have kept themselves busy. And angry. And Lindsay has been...looking.

'In Elias, despite their differences, she might have found someone to look with.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

A rainy night.

A car crash.

After the accident Sarah moves to a new school. A new place where no one knows what happened to her or her brother—where she doesn't have to deal with the history that's pulling the rest of her family apart.

Will is keeping his head down at home, just trying to get by. Then his sister Lauren comes back—as caustic as always but somehow changed. Will doesn't know what upheaval brought her home. But it's sparking some serious change in his life too.

Eliat's got no mother of her own, and she's way too young to be one. Looking after a two-year-old, trying to finish school—sometimes all that keeps her sane is partying as hard and fast as she can. Now the pressure's building and Eliat just wants to get away.

Just get into a car and drive.

In this impressive and beautifully written debut, Kate Hendrick sets the butterfly effect in motion. The moving stories of three teenagers going through crucial changes—before, after and around the accident—show how random actions acquire significance. How one pivotal moment could transform your life and you might never know; how what you do matters. ' (Publisher's blurb)