Riley Rose is a rebel and an atheist, but thanks to her dad's new girlfriend she finds herself spending a week at Spirit Ranch holiday camp. She arrives determined to behave badly, and drag others down with her if possible. She also has an exit plan, thanks to her best friend Chloe. But nothing about camp, and no one there, is quite as bad (or as good) as they seem at first. And over the course of the week, things change for Riley - especially when she gets to know Dylan Luck, who is a paraplegic, a fellow misfit... and maybe even a friend.
The characters in this book are fascinating. Riley herself is attention-seeking and often larger than life but, in their own ways, so are most of the other people at this bizarre holiday camp. Roommates Sarita and Fleur are brilliantly drawn (especially Sarita). Riley's anger and its consequences come across realistically and are often funny and disturbing at the same time. And the way she copes with the loss of her mother is touching without once resorting to even the tiniest hint of sentimentality.
This is a book of grey areas: it focuses on the overlap between faith and scepticism, rebellion and conformity, self-affirmation and self-destruction. I've been a fan of Simmone Howell's rich, film-reference-filled writing since reading Notes From a Teenage Underground (reviewed here) and this book delivered everything I hoped for and more. I thoroughly recommend this book to open-minded readers everywhere, and it's probably best suited to older teens and adults.
Read an excellent interview with Australian author Simmone Howell on Persnickety Snark.
And check out Simmone Howell's website for more information, including why there's an extra 'm' in her name.
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