Kate’s mother is a politician: successful, passionate and as far as Kate is concerned, totally distracted from family. After a really bad family moment, Kate is sent as a boarder to her (rather recognisable) inner-city private school while tensions simmer down. For Kate the sudden shock of shared bedrooms, doing your own laundry and boarding school food is matched by the difficulty of being a weirdo Goth and trying to fit in.

I think a lot of girls will love this book. It is so honest, so fraught, and ultimately satisfying, partly because it is not only Kate but also her parents who have to change. A great realistic novel for 13+. Not a vampire or paranormal experience in sight!

Kathy Kozlowski is from Readings Carlton