Wildlife

In this Australian import, Sibylla is dreading her high school's nine-week-long outdoor education program. So is Lou, a transfer student who's mourning the death of her soulmate, Fred (from Six Impossible Things, in which Lou and Fred fell in love). The girls are drawn together when Sib's geeky friend Michael befriends Lou. The alternating narrators' honesty and humor will keep readers engrossed.

Sibylla is dreading the nine-week-long outdoor education program run by her private high school. So is Lou, who, after a year in therapy, is transferring to the same school, where no one will know her, which is just fine by her. The two girls' alternating narratives initially highlight their differences: Sib is navigating her first relationship, with popular boy Ben, while Lou is mourning her first relationship, with soulmate Fred, who was killed in an accident nearly a year ago. Sib is curious about the new girl, whose "expression ranges from generalized boredom to specific boredom." And Lou wants to know why Sib puts up with seriously mean best friend Holly (who receives a first-rate comeuppance at the end, courtesy of clever Lou). The two are drawn together when Sib's geeky friend Michael (who has secretly loved Sib since kindergarten) befriends Lou, who is slowly starting to join the world again. The mounting interpersonal tension will keep readers deeply engrossed, as will the narrators' honesty and humor (Sib compares being a virgin to "sitting at the little kids' table on Christmas Day, while other girls my age are over there sipping from champagne flutes and using the good cutlery"; Lou describes the ride to camp: "Sat with quiet girl called don't remember don't care. Drove past a vast lake in which trees were drowning, not waving"). This exceptional novel is Australian author Wood's American debut, but readers will want to get their hands on her first book, Six Impossible Things, in which Lou and Fred fell in love. jennifer m. brabander