A Straight Line to My Heart
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Description
HONOUR BOOK: CBCA Book of the Year, Older Readers, 2012
School is over, not just for the year, but forever. Tiff and Kayla are free, which is what they've always wanted, but now summer is nearly at and end and that means life decisions. Tiff is hoping her job at the local paper will lead to something more. But 'The Shark' soon puts her straight on what it takes to become a hard-nosed reporter like him. At home, Reggie - the only grandad Tiff's ever known - has quit the smokes and diagnosed himself as cactus. Then Kayla hits her with some big news. And into all this stumbles Davey, the first boy who has ever really wanted to know her.
Tiff is smart with words and rarely does tears, but in one short week she discovers that words don't always get you there; they don't let you say all the stuff from deep in your heart.
Praise for Bill Condon: 'Condon presents readers with confronting and emotive issues . Yet he still manages to weave humour, tenderness, love and mateship into the framework of the novel.' - Sun Herald
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School is over, not just for the year, but forever. Tiff and Kayla are free, which is what they've always wanted, but now summer is nearly at and end and that means life decisions. Tiff is hoping her job at the local paper will lead to something more. But 'The Shark' soon puts her straight on what it takes to become a hard-nosed reporter like him. At home, Reggie - the only grandad Tiff's ever known - has quit the smokes and diagnosed himself as cactus. Then Kayla hits her with some big news. And into all this stumbles Davey, the first boy who has ever really wanted to know her.
Tiff is smart with words and rarely does tears, but in one short week she discovers that words don't always get you there; they don't let you say all the stuff from deep in your heart.
Praise for Bill Condon: 'Condon presents readers with confronting and emotive issues . Yet he still manages to weave humour, tenderness, love and mateship into the framework of the novel.' - Sun Herald
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Product details
- 12-17
- Paperback | 228 pages
- 128 x 198 x 20.32mm | 200g
- 01 Aug 2012
- Allen & Unwin
- Allen & Unwin Children's Books
- Sydney, Australia
- English
- 1742377300
- 9781742377308
- 149,218
Review quote
"This book is for anyone who is a fan of slice-of-life stories full of heart and a bit of humor." --The Readventurer "[Protagonist] Tiff's believable insecurities hooks the reader from the first page, and the everyday problems of her life, so uniquely Australian yet so universally young adult, keeps one turning pages." --Booklist Online
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About Bill Condon
Bill Condon was born in 1949 and lives with his wife Dianne (Di) Bates, also a children's author, in the seaside town of Woonona, on the south coast of New South Wales. He left school at the first chance he got and worked in an assortment of jobs before a chance meeting with Larry Rivera, the editor of a local weekly newspaper, led Bill into a career as a journalist. He left journalism to devote himself full-time to writing for children, and in 2010 Bill was the winner of the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction for his book Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God. When not writing, Bill plays tennis, snooker, and Scrabble, but hardly ever at the same time. His dream is to receive a wildcard invitation to play tennis at Wimbledon - if nothing else, his knees would provide great comic relief for the spectators.
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Our customer reviews
But..but wait hold on..you're just going to end THERE? This book should have gone on for another 30 pages. My heart needed it to-it was thoroughly enjoying itself. A Straight Line to My Heart was wholesome, that's the word I'm going to use: wholesome. It fed my heart and my mind some warm, and nourishing things. I'm so glad I randomly came across this one.
Living in the tiny town of Gungee Creek, Tiffany has just finished high school, and is on the verge of taking the next step in her life: getting a job at the local newspaper. When not spending time with her quirky adopted family, she's sharing equally charming dialogue with her best friend Kayla. The book plays out as Tiffany navigates her way through some huge changes in her life, but as banal as that sounds, author Bill Condon made it so that A Straight Line to My Heart was one of THE most heartwarming novels I've had the pleasure of reading.
I've been racking up some pretty amazing female leads lately, and Tiffany quickly added herself to it. Witty, humorously self-conscious, and a certified bookworm, she was such a refreshing character to read. Add to that the group that made up her family and friends, and I think I have officially found my favourite fictional family. The most wondrous knowledge was knowing that Reggie, Bull and Zoe were not even her own blood, which somehow made my connection to them even stronger. In it's own way, it restored my faith in humanity, in the fact that kindness exists in the form of people thrown together after a tragedy, and choosing love as their defense against pain.
Reggie, Tiffany's grandfather figure, stole my entire heart. Take a conversation on his funeral demands:
"If anyone feels he urge to get up and say what a good fella I was, they can put a sock in it. If they haven't told me when I'm alive, then it's too late when I've carked it"
Like..c'mon..RIGHT!? Preciously hilarious.
This book wasn't long, or deep, or anything it didn't have to be. It touched on moments in life, for just the right amount of time each. Tiffany found her way through loss, boys, family-life, friends, and work, all the while keeping her attitude and mental state in a place that really kept my connected to her. There are scenes in this book that were so charming, and fantastically written, that my heart actually ACHED with happiness-yes, I realize how dramatic that is, but I wish I could explain even further how happy it made me.
*Happy sigh*...I'm going to end on this extremely warm note. If you enjoy YA contemporary, this is one of the best I've read, and it would be a shame for you to miss out on it.show more
by Reeka