Gracie Faltrain Gets It Right (Finally)

Gracie:
There are a few options open to a girl who needs to preserve her dignity when she sees her ex-boyfriend holding hands with her number one enemy. Personally, I wish I’d gone with the: ‘It’s lovely to see you, Martin. I’d like you to meet my date, Dan Woodbury’ option.

But I choose option number two.

Jane:
Liking someone who doesn’t like you sucks. Especially when they did like you but someone prettier came along. The only thing worse than liking someone who doesn’t like you is when that person you like finds out that you like them. Clearly, I am a girl on the edge. Of what, I’m just not sure.

Alyce:
I think about Andrew more than I should. I think about him more that I think about Colin Firth. Sometimes I think about Andrew Flemming dressed as Colin Firth. Sometimes I think about Colin Firth playing soccer. Then I stop myself.

As Gracie begins Year 12, she has only one thing on her mind, and it’s not schoolwork. It’s not even Martin, now that he’s dumped her for the third time. It’s soccer: a new season, a new team, a new league. This is the time, the state trials, and Gracie can’t wait. Except there’s one small problem. She’s no longer the biggest fish in the pond, and one of the other players is the cousin of her arch enemy, Annabelle Orion. Gracie wants to get it right this year, but everything seems to be going wrong – she hardly has time to see her friends, Martin won’t talk to her, and she’s falling even further behind at school.

Things are going wrong for her friends, too. Alyce is confused about Andrew Flemming and her future studies. Jane is confused about Declan Corelli and where she wants to live. Martin is confused about Annabelle Orion…

Honours

Children’s Book Council of Australia, Notable Book 2009: Older Readers

Praise

‘Gracie and her friends are genuine and the constant switching from one character’s viewpoint to another is fluid and engaging…The end leaves you wanting more.’ Katie Horner, Bookseller and Publisher

Links

Macmillan Publishers Australia
http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/

Teacher Notes
http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/display_title.asp?ISBN=9780330423939&Author=Crowley,%20Cath