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WORK TITLE: The Boundless Sublime
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 4/7/1981
WEBSITE: http://liliwilkinson.com.au/
CITY: Melbourne
STATE: VIC
COUNTRY: Australia
NATIONALITY: Australian
http://www.harperteen.com/authors/36273/Lili_Wilkinson/index.aspx http://www.smartpopbooks.com/3807 http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/interviews/q-a-lili-wilkinson
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2010022774
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2010022774
HEADING: Wilkinson, Lili, 1981-
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100 1_ |a Wilkinson, Lili, |d 1981-
670 __ |a Wilkinson, Lili. Pink, 2011: |b ECIP t.p. (Lili Wilkinson)
670 __ |a Wikepedia, April 14, 2010: |b (Australian author, b. April 7.1981 in Melbourne, writes primarily for young adults).
953 __ |a xc10
PERSONAL
Born April 7, 1981 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
EDUCATION:Melbourne University, Ph.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria, manages a website for teens about books and reading, founded insideadog.com.au, the Inky Awards and the Inkys Creative Reading Prize.
AVOCATIONS:Reading; spending time with friends; watching movies; fabric arts.
WRITINGS
Contributor to Voiceworks magazine.
SIDELIGHTS
Lili Wilkinson is an Australian writer. She was first published at age twelve, in Voiceworks magazine. Wilkinson studied creative writing in college and received a Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne. Following graduation, she began working for the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria. There she founded insideadog.com.au, a website for teens about books and reading, the Inky Awards, and the Inkys Creative Reading Prize.
Wilkinson writes primarily for a teen audience. When she is not reading or writing, she enjoys watching films, spending time with friends, and making fabric arts.
The (Not Quite) Perfect Boyfriend
The (Not Quite) Perfect Boyfriend tells the story of sixteen-year-old Midge, a nerdy book-lover, who gets herself into a sticky situation. Tired of hearing all about her friends’ boyfriends and dealing with their taunts that she will always be single, Midge hatches a plan. Since she cannot find a boyfriend, she will make one up. Ben, the faraway lover Midge thinks up, is British, handsome, romantic, and sadly, had to return to England.
As Midge shares the details of her relationship with Ben with her friends, she digs herself deeper and deeper into the lie. She creates a fake Myspace account for Ben, and writes herself romantic emails to show off to her friends. Things take a turn when a new boy comes to school, who happens to be British and named Ben. The real Ben quickly catches onto Midge’s lie, and agrees to save her from humiliation and assume the fake identity. While the two are keeping up the act, Midge fails to notice another new boy, George. George is not the dreamboat Midge had in mind for a boyfriend; he tucks in his shirt, doodles dragons, and has a strong interest in secrets. As it becomes more and more clear that Ben is not a good match for Midge, her fake boyfriend act begins to crack, and the only one who can help her out of humiliation may be the boy she did not notice.
Krista Hutley in Booklist wrote: “This breezy Australian import is standard but very entertaining chick lit with a positive message,” while a contributor to Dear Bibliophiles website noted: “It was not your typical high school love type of story.”
Pink
Teenaged Ava is in the midst of an identity shift. Much to the shock of her antiestablishment parents and cosmopolitan girlfriend, she decides to leave her public school to attend a private high school. Ava is ready to shed her former identity, that of an underachieving goth with few friends. Here, at the new school, she wants to create a new Ava; one who succeeds academically, who is friends with the popular girls, and who wears pink instead of black.
To gain clout with the popular crowd, Ava tries out for the school musical. After a less than stellar performance, she is not offered any role. However, still hoping to involve herself in theater, Ava volunteers to work for the stage crew, known as the ‘Screws.’ The Screws are loathed by the ‘Pastels,’ the name the popular group goes by. As Ava tries desperately to gain approval from the Pastels, she finds herself more and more drawn to the easygoing and accepting nature of the stage crew nerds, leading her to wonder where she really belongs.
Sara Martin and Raluca Topliceanu in Voice of Youth Advocates wrote: “Wilkinson takes a witty, refreshing look at high school and adolescence that obliterates stereotypes along the way,” while Karen Cruze in Booklist described the book as “a refreshing addition to the LGBT oeuvre.”
Love-shy
In Love-shy, protagonist Penny is a go-getter. She is ambitious, a star swimmer on the high school swim team, and the school newspaper’s leading reporter. She is at the top and she knows it, a fact that leads her to be lacking in friends. When she discovers an online forum called love-shy, designed for male students in her high school to express their inability to find romance, she sees a story.
She decides to narrow her focus to Nick, one of the young men who posts on the site. Based on his online persona, Nick seems pretty pitiful. Yet as Penny gets to know him better, she understands how complex he is. She learns of his emotionally abusive past and difficult home life, and comes to see how his history has made him who he is today. As Penny dives deeper into the story, she begins to reflect on her own life, and see that she shares the same feelings of loneliness and isolation that Nick expresses.
A contributor to Kirkus Reviews wrote: “Readers will root for these appealing, realistically flawed characters to find their respective happy futures.” A contributor to Ivy Book Bindings website described Love-shy as “a sweet, coming-of-age story of a girl discovering her place in her world all while helping another boy find his.”
The Boundless Sublime
Ruby Jane Gilbraith has a lot to deal with at seventeen-years-old. Following her younger brother’s accidental death, Ruby is filled with guilt, and her family is falling apart. Her mother can barely leave her bed, and, with such a devastating tragedy constantly on her mind, Ruby now sees her friend group as superficial and pretentious. She feels she has no one to connect with, and no solace from emotional pain.
That changes when she meets Fox, a young man she sees handing out water bottles to people on the city streets. Fox recognizes Ruby’s pain and offers to be a shoulder for her to lean on. As their friendship grows, Fox encourages Ruby to join his community, which he describes as united by love. The community, known as The Institute of the Boundless Sublime, is lead by a charismatic leader, who accepts Ruby into the family. While Ruby is happy to have a sense of belonging, she quickly comes to learn that the community is an emotionally and sexually abusive cult, and she must decide if this newfound ‘family’ is worth her losing herself. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews wrote, “Ruby’s transformations and suffering are depicted with a painful, unflinching focus and clarity.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, January 1, 2011, Karen Cruze, review of Pink, p. 97; March 15, 2012, Krista Hutley, review of The Not Quite Perfect Boyfriend, p. 59.
Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2014, review of Love-shy; February 1, 2018, review of The Boundless Sublime.
Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2011, Sara Martin and Raluca Topliceanu, review of Pink, p. 71; April, 2018, Mary Balog, review of The Boundless Sublime, p. 67.
ONLINE
Dear Bibliophiles, https://dearbibliophiles.wordpress.com/ (December 17, 2015), review of The Not Quite Perfect Boyfriend.
Ivy Book Bindings, http://ivybookbindings.blogspot.com/ (December 28, 2012), review of Love-shy.
Lili Wilkinson
Lili Wilkinson is the author of ten books, including Scatterheart and Pink. She established insideadog.com.au, the Inky Awards and the Inkys Creative Reading Prize at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria. Lili has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne, and now spends most of her time reading and writing books for teenagers. Her latest novel is The Boundless Sublime.
Lili Wilkinson
Bio
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Lili Wilkinson was first published when she was twelve, in Voiceworks magazine. After studying creative arts at Melbourne University, Ms. Wilkinson began working for the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria, where she manages a website for teens about books and reading. She spends most of her time reading and writing books for teens, but when she's not doing that, she's usually hanging out with friends, watching DVDs, and making monsters out of wool. pink is her U.S. debut.
Print Marked Items
Wilkinson, Lili. The Boundless Sublime
Mary Balog
Voice of Youth Advocates.
41.1 (Apr. 2018): p67+.
COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
3Q * 3P * S
Wilkinson, Lili. The Boundless Sublime. Switch/Capstone, March 2018. 352p. $17.95. 978-1-63079-100-1.
While dealing with guilt over the death of her brother and a family life that is falling apart, seventeen-year-old Ruby turns to Fox, an intriguing
young man who passes out bottled water to people in the city. Ruby is looking for love and acceptance, an escape from her pain; Fox makes her
feel special. He offers her peace and hope, inviting her to join his community. Following her strong attraction to Fox and her belief that his
"family" is united in love, she agrees to join them. The Institute of the Boundless Sublime is led by the charismatic Zosimon (a.k.a. Daddy), who
regularly invites different female followers into his inner sanctum at night. Once at the Institute, Ruby and the other new sublimates must endure
a decontamination process to rid themselves of the toxins from the outside world. As she learns the brutal secrets of the Institute, she is faced with
the decision stay close to Fox or flee the compound.
Australian author Wilkinson journeys into the cult whose leader brainwashes and manipulates the members. She paints disturbing scenes of
physical, mental, and sexual abuse that take place at the Institute. The last chapters are packed with suspense and excitement as Ruby plots her
escape and the rescue of others. Although occasionally slow, this thriller keeps the reader wondering what will happen to Ruby and the other
members of the family.--Mary Balog.
QUALITY
5Q Hard to imagine it being better written.
4Q Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses.
3Q Readable, without serious defects.
2Q Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q.
1Q Hard to understand how it got published, except in relation to its P rating (and not even then sometimes).
POPULARITY
5P Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday.
4P Broad general or genre YA appeal.
3P Will appeal with pushing.
2P For the YA reader with a special interest in the subject.
1P No YA will read unless forced to for assignments.
GRADE LEVEL INTEREST
M Middle School (defined as grades 6-8).
J Junior High (defined as grades 7-9).
S Senior High (defined as grades 10-12).
A/YA Adult-marketed book recommended for YAs.
NA New Adult (defined as college-age).
R Reluctant readers (defined as particularly suited for reluctant readers).
(a) Highlighted Reviews Graphic Novel Format
(G) Graphic Novel Format
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Balog, Mary. "Wilkinson, Lili. The Boundless Sublime." Voice of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2018, p. 67+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536746184/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=5abdd441. Accessed 26 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536746184
Wilkinson, Lili: THE BOUNDLESS SUBLIME
Kirkus Reviews.
(Feb. 1, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Wilkinson, Lili THE BOUNDLESS SUBLIME Switch/Capstone (Young Adult Fiction) $17.95 3, 1 ISBN: 978-1-63079-100-1
A lurid tale of running toward--not from--a cult.
Guilt-stricken over her little brother's accidental death, 17-year-old Ruby Jane Gilbraith is depressed and lonely, with a nearly comatose mother
and (unbearably) pretentious poseur friends. When the otherworldly and childlike Fox offers her a water bottle and potential inner peace, Ruby
follows him to the Institute. In this bleak commune/compound, the allegedly millennia-old leader, Zosimon, aka "Daddy," preaches "elutriation"
and exhorts the Boundless family to prepare for battle against the "toxicant" masses. Ruby, now "Heracleitus," recognizes it as a cult but
succumbs anyway. Once a doubting "sublimate," Ruby experiences a traumatic montage of physical and psychological abuse until she is a zealot,
unable to tell if she is a brainwashed follower or a fearful but conscious and conscientious criminal. An Australian romance/mystery writer,
Wilkinson keeps to the former genre's typical girl-redeems-boy trope but swerves into violent thriller/misery-lit territory to produce a grueling,
unsettling read combining the sensationalism of satanic-panic public-service announcements with a first-love romance, a journey through grief,
and repetitive, incoherent New Age/corporate-buzzword sermons. The setting and secondary characters are often vague, but Ruby's
transformations and suffering are depicted with a painful, unflinching focus and clarity. There is no author's note or list of resources for readers
who may find themselves stirred to action by any of the many issues raised by the book.
Come for the cute boy, stay for the apocalypse, beware the potential triggers. (Thriller/romance. 14-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Wilkinson, Lili: THE BOUNDLESS SUBLIME." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A525461602/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=ee638476. Accessed 26 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A525461602
The Not Quite Perfect Boyfriend
Krista Hutley
Booklist.
108.14 (Mar. 15, 2012): p59.
COPYRIGHT 2012 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
The Not Quite Perfect Boyfriend.
By Lilt Wilkinson.
2012. 179p. IPG/Allen & Unwin, paper, $8.99 (9781742377650). Gr. 8-11.
Sixteen-year-old Midge is tired of not having a boyfriend to shore up her spelling-obsessed, nerdy self-image, especially since her best friend,
Tahni, is always predicting she'll become a "lonely old lady with eleven cats in a caravan." So she invents a boy, spinning summer-romance tales
of perfect Ben, who, alas, had to return to England. Readers will recognize that the more Midge invests in her imaginary relationship--creating a
MySpace page for Ben and writing herself romantic e-mails--the harder her fall will be, and that doesn't change when a new, hot English transfer
student, coincidentally named Ben, appears and covers for her. Real Ben is hardly her perfect match, but Midge is so glad to have a boyfriend that
she doesn't care, even though a more appropriate guy is near. Midge's hilarious flights of fancy and her book smarts go a long way toward making
her social duelessness and self-absorption bearable (she somehow misses serious issues with her best friend and her parents). This breezy
Australian import is standard but very entertaining chick lit with a positive message.--Krista Hutley
Hutley, Krista
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Hutley, Krista. "The Not Quite Perfect Boyfriend." Booklist, 15 Mar. 2012, p. 59. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A284551861/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=234f3083. Accessed 26 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A284551861
Wilkinson, Lili. Pink
Sara Martin and Raluca Topliceanu
Voice of Youth Advocates.
34.1 (Apr. 2011): p71+.
COPYRIGHT 2011 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
5Q * 4P * J * S Wilkinson, Lili. Pink. HarperTeen, 2011. 320p. $16.99. 978-0-06-192653-2.
Much to the chagrin of her girlfriend and parents, Ava decides to transfer to a progressive private high school in the hopes of trying to be
"normal"--where she can care about doing well in school, try to fit in with the popular crowd (the Pastels), shed her goth persona, wear pink, and
maybe even kiss a boy. To jumpstart her new life, she decides to audition for the school musical, with less than stellar results. With her
spectacular audition flop behind her, Ava is still determined to get involved and decides to volunteer with the aptly named and self-proclaimed
"stage crew freaks" (aka the Screws). As she tries to mold herself to fit other people's expectations, she finds she does not fit anywhere. Although
the Screws are viewed with disdain by the Pastels, "none of them seemed exhausted from being themselves," which causes Ava to question
herself and her own preconceptions.
Australian author Lili Wilkinson takes a witty, refreshing look at high school and adolescence that obliterates stereotypes along the way. The
novel is in turn laugh-out-loud funny, endearing, and heartbreaking as Ava repeatedly steps into teenage social land mines--with unexpected
results. Because Wilkinson does not rely on stereotypes, the characters are well developed, and interactions between them feel genuine. Ava's
story will undoubtedly engage readers ... and maybe even cause them question their own assumptions. Give Pink to teens who like their humor
with a healthy dose of intelligence, such as fans of John Green.--Sara Martin.
Similar to the movie Mean Girls, Pink vividly explores Ava's quest to belong. She is torn between the perfect Pastels--shallow, gorgeous, and
powerful--and the Screws-outcasts who are not afraid to express who they are. Right from the start, her personality comes into focus through
clever, raw, and genuine dialogue. Each character becomes real and claims the reader's heart; it will be hard to forget this heart-warming tale of
forgiveness, belonging, and friendship. 4Q,5P.--Raluca Topliceanu, Teen Reviewer.
5Q Hard to imagine it being better written.
4P Broad general or genre YA appeal.
J Junior High (defined as grades 7-9).
S Senior High (defined as grades 10-12).
Highlighted Reviews
Martin, Sara^Topliceanu, Raluca
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Martin, Sara, and Raluca Topliceanu. "Wilkinson, Lili. Pink." Voice of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2011, p. 71+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A253626589/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6b971fb0. Accessed 26 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A253626589
Pink
Karen Cruze
Booklist.
107.9-10 (Jan. 1, 2011): p97+.
COPYRIGHT 2011 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Pink.
By Lili Wilkinson.
Feb. 2011. 320p. HarperTeen, $16.99 (9780061926532). Gr. 8-11.
"I never wore pink. Pink wasn't cool. Pink wasn't existential," explains Ava as her story of identity confusion begins. But clad in cotton-candy
cashmere, she starts life at a posh new private school where both academic success and a smooth conformity seem the norm. Too bad Ava has to
hide her desires from both her aggressively antiestablishment parents and her supersophisticated but desperately jaded girlfriend, Chloe, who's
been left behind in public school. Ava, despite coming out as a lesbian, especially feels the need to hide the thought that she might want to kiss a
boy. The change of environment creates its own perplexities, foremost among them Ava's encounters with a bunch of theater-crew misfits. How to
make the world of the "screws," Chloe, and the more conventional new school friends fit together (or not) powers Ava's narrative. Written with a
great deal of snarky wit, this Australian import never gets overly heavy despite all the hand-wringing. A refreshing addition to the LGBT oeuvre.-
-Karen Cruze
Cruze, Karen
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Cruze, Karen. "Pink." Booklist, 1 Jan. 2011, p. 97+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A246534322/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b315120b. Accessed 26 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A246534322
The Not Quite Perfect Boyfriend • Review
DECEMBER 17, 2015 DEARBIBLIOPHILESLEAVE A COMMENT
This review was written months ago.
the-not-quite-perfect-boyfriendTitle: The Not Quite Perfect Boyfriend
Author: Lili Wilkinson
Rating: ★★★
Format: E-book
Summary (from Goodreads):
I did meet a boy,’ Midge snaps. ‘He has wavy brown hair, and he’s English. I met him at the Library. We had romantic picnics by the river and we kissed. A lot.’
Midge has never had a boyfriend – so she makes one up. Then she is paired for the Major Project with George, the New Boy, who doodles dragons, tucks in his shirt, has a mysterious past and an unseemly interest in secrets. Soon Midge’s white lie turns into a web of deceit as she fabricates emails from her imaginary boyfriend, and even a MySpace page.
Then one day, Midge comes face-to-face with her imaginary boyfriend in the school corridor. Tall, brown wavy hair, English accent – he’s exactly as she’d described him – right down to his name. Ben catches on quickly and rescues her from certain humiliation – kissing her in front of all her friends. He seems the answer to her prayers. A dream come true. The Perfect Boyfriend! But he turns out to be not quite perfect after all, and before long Midge finds herself in all sorts of trouble.
header
This book is a light read. It is the first day of my “winter” break and I think it was a nice choice to read this book after my hiatus.
I, specifically, liked the plot because it was not your typical high school love type of story. Can you imaging making up someone so perfect and then he or she showed up the next day at your school? How cool is that?
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Midge is the protagonist of the story. She’s a fifteen year old girl who is in the stage of growing up. Well, we all are. But in this case, it’s the type of growing up where big changes occur, aka puberty. I can relate to her because in my group of friends, I am not even kidding when I say, all of their special someone and I have no one. I have consulted my friends, just like what Midge did in the story, if there’s something wrong. But they just said it’s not yet the “right” time.
why-am-i-single-gif
Then came Ben. The perfect English blue-eyed hottie. I knew he was too good to be true. Who would imaging that he would move to the school where a girl was unconsciously thinking about him.
Tell-me-how-GIF
But what I really like about the story was George. He wasn’t your typical prince charming. But he may be your knight in shining armor *wink*. What I like about him was he wasn’t perfect. He had good looks, yes. But he was not going to be on the top list of good looking people. He was average and normal. Although he had some weird habits, I liked that. Is it creepy that I liked him more when he drew dragons? I think it’s cute to see people not be embarrassed of who they truly are.
All in all, I think this was a great read. I liked it. But I think I would enjoy it more if I were aged 13-17. I guess.
LOVE-SHY
by Lili Wilkinson
Age Range: 14 - 17
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KIRKUS REVIEW
A timely exploration of the line between idiosyncrasies and mental illness featuring two Australian teenagers.
Penny thinks she’s got her entire life sorted: She’s a standout on her high school’s swim and debate teams and is the school newspaper’s ace reporter. She owns her considerable ambition proudly and likes to keep things simple, gliding through life as smoothly and cleanly—without any messy peer relationships to gum up the works—as she does through the water. When she discovers a fellow student’s anonymous posts on a forum for love-shy men (so anxious about interactions with women that they avoid relationships altogether), Penny senses a hot story, pursuing it with a doggedness verging on obsession. Hyperdreamy Nick’s love-shyness is rooted in emotional abuse, phobias and deep-seated anxieties that nearly cripple him socially, and Penny determines to help him, Henry Higgins–style. This goes fairly well, but Nick is also unwittingly misogynistic, simultaneously idolizing and hating girls. When Penny finally calls him out on it, it’s a triumphant moment. Along the way, Nick’s behavior forces Penny to see that she is more isolated and friendship-craving than she’d like to admit. There is much to love about this book besides its plot; Penny’s relationships with other characters add both dimension and humor.
Readers will root for these appealing, realistically flawed characters to find their respective happy futures. (Fiction. 14-17)
Ivy Book Bindings
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Friday, December 28, 2012
Review: Love-Shy by Lili Wilkinson
Title: Love-Shy
Author: Lili Wilkinson
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Once again, Lili Wilkinson has managed to take me by surprise. When I first read a Wilkinson novel, A Pocketful of Eyes, I didn't expect the depth I would receive with a book that had such a cutsie-type cover and yet again, I am utterly floored by Wilkinson. With her latest novel, Love-Shy, Wilkinson delivers not a romance, but a blooming friendship. Love-Shy, in my opinion at least, isn't as strong a novel as A Pocketful of Eyes. I found myself wishing this novel would just be over so many times, until I finally began to love it by the end. Nevertheless, although Love-Shy is nowhere close to one of my personal faves in Aussie Contemporary, it is a remarkable novel of its own that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to fans of Aussie YA.
One of the very first striking qualities about Wilkinson's novels are her protagonists. Penny is unlikable from the surface as she's bossy, a topper in just about everything, and one of those people who just knows she's better than everyone else. Yet, at the same time, she is achingly relate-able precisely because of all her flaws. As an ambitious teen yearning to become a journalist, she sets out to find a boy in her school who is love-shy, or so incredibly shy that he simply cannot talk to girls. Nick, the love-shy boy in question, first comes across as rather lame. Seriously, we read his blog posts and can't help but call him sissy, roll our eyes, and want him to just pull up his socks and at least try to talk to a girl already. Yet, as life so often tells us, first appearances can be deceiving.
As Penny delves deeper and deeper into Nick's story, witnessing his bizarre home arrangement, the string of childhood memories that have made him the way he is today, and his own quirks, she can't help but (a) fall for him and (b) learn a little bit about herself along the journey. With Love-Shy, Wilkinson hasn't created a piece about love-shy people, aiming to expose their condition to the majority of the world who has no idea how serious their shyness is. Instead, she has taken a rare dilemma and delved into it in such a manner that she somehow makes this condition that applies only to a rare few males accessible, understandable, and relate-able to all who read her novel. Seeing both Penny and Nick grow to be better people, challenge themselves, and really come to terms with their lives is a heart-warming journey.
Contrary to what you may first think, there is very little, if no, romance at all in this novel. It is alluded to and there are plenty of discussions about love to be sure, but at the core of everything is just a simple friendship. More than just Nick and Penny though, the secondary characters in this story, from Penny's gay father, to his boyfriend, to her Asian neighbor Rin, to her mother who she barely speaks to, all played an outstanding role in this novel. I was surprised by the depth they all provided and while I would have liked for a little more insight into some of their backstories, especially Penny's mom, I was overall rather pleased. If this novel has any faults, it is simply that it lacks the signature charm of Wilkinson. It is witty, funny, and keeps you flipping the pages for sure, but after a point, both Nick and Penny begin to grate on the reader. It takes a long time for them to grow even a little, which is frustrating to say the least. Furthermore, there were times when I found myself questioning the realisticness of certain situations. Were some parents really so germ-a-phobic that they coveredeverything in the house in plastic sheets? Were there really thatmany shy people in the world who wanted to kiss/touch girls sobadly?
Either way, Love-Shy achieved its purpose and is a novel I can look back upon fondly. It's a sweet, coming-of-age story of a girl discovering her place in her world all while helping another boy find his. Although I yearned for a romance similar to the absolutely ADORABLE love story in A Pocketful of Eyes,ultimately the friendship focus in this was refreshing. I always come away from a Wilkinson novel taking a deep look into my own life, re-evaluating, and feeling a lot wiser overall and Love-Shy was no different in that respect. Its ultimate impact on the reader is one that is worthwhile to experience and I am already anticipating Wilkinson's next novel, not to mention the novels I still haven't read of hers. If this is your first foray into Wilkinson's writing, I'd recommend A Pocketful of Eyes instead. It is, somehow, a much more fulfilling novel than this one and remains to be my favorite work of Wilkinson's yet. If, however, you're already a fan of Wilkinson or Aussie Contemporary in general, Love-Shy certainly doesn't disappoint.