I met Amra when I first started writing and we were in the same critique group so I was thrilled to read her first YA novel.
Here's the blurb from Text Publishing:
Fifteen-year-old Sabiha has a lot to deal with: her mother’s mental health issues, her interfering aunt, her mother’s new boyfriend, her live-in grandfather and his chess buddy, not to mention her arrogant cousin Adnan. They all want to marry her off, have her become a strict Muslim and speak Bosnian. And Sabiha’s friends are not always friendly. She gets bullied by girlfriends and is anxious about boyfriends, when she just wants to fit in. But two boys, Brian and Jesse, become the allies of this fierce and funny girl.
The Good Daughter is a coming-of-age novel written with sensitivity and humour. It confronts head-on the problems of cultural identity in the day-to-day lives of teenagers. Amra Pajalic has a wonderful ear for idiomatic dialogue and the dramatic moment.
This book isn't flowery. It's refreshingly honest and you can empathise as you see Sammie battle adolesence while handling her mother's bi-polar.
Also loved the twist on a classic love triangle.
And I'm always a sucker for a book set in my home city of Melbourne.
Thoroughly enjoyed.
What are you reading this weekend?
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