Fly on the Wall

 

Recently I was very lucky to have my latest book, The January Stars, short-listed for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Even though I didn't win, I did get a few days fabulous holiday in Sydney, a lovely breakfast on a sunny morning at the Opera House, a free copy of Jaclyn Moriarty's The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst, a tote bag, certificate and medal, and I also got to meet some fantastic people (not including the Prime Minister, who was "too busy" to come to the ceremony): Annabel Crabb, and all the authors (and illustrator) listed in our category -- Meg McKinley, Matt Ottley, Jaclyn herself, and Danielle Binks. The only author I didn't get to meet was one of the eventual winners, Remy Lai.*

I'm so sad about that, not only because Remy couldn't be there in person to accept her award, but because now I've read Fly on the Wall and it's absolutely delightful, and I would have loved to have met Remy in person. It's a thicker book than I was expecting, written in the form of an illustrated diary, generously punctuated with clever, quirky cartoons drawn by our hero, Henry. 

Henry Khoo is so sick of his family hovering over him and treating him like a baby that he decides to take matters into his own hands and book a flight to Singapore on his own to stay with his father. Over the space of a single day and night, the diary traces all the mishaps you'd expect along the way, as well as the history of his fractured relationship with his former best friend, Chinese words of wisdom from his soap-opera loving grandmother, Henry's hopes and fears, and contributions from the mysterious online gossip monger, the Fly on the Wall.

Fly on the Wall is fresh and funny and sweet and touching -- a worthy winner indeed.

*The prize was split between Remy, and Meg and Matt for their superb How to Make a Bird.