Review by Booklist Review
After a year of poor decisions, Melati Nelson is trying her best to keep her head down and be a good, quiet student at Chisholm School for Girls in Melbourne, Australia. When a bully named Libby pushes the wrong buttons, though, Melati snaps and finds herself in her counselor Mr. Stokes' office, facing serious trouble and jeopardizing an important upcoming trip to Indonesia. While snooping for info on Libby, Mel discovers a girl's diary written in Indonesian and can't resist the mystery it presents. As she works through translating it with new friend (maybe more) Michael while on her school trip, she discovers that the journal belongs to a missing Indonesian girl named Devi who may be in grave danger. Deep relationships, thoughtful cultural details, and dramatic reveals come together for a gritty, well-crafted, and suspenseful tale that takes a hard look at complicated issues without falling prey to predictability, told from the perspective of a prickly, yet endearing, Indonesian Australian girl struggling to decide where she fits.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A stolen journal launches two Australian teens on a quest for truth and justice. Melati Nelson is doing her utmost to stay out of trouble in Year Eleven at Chisholm School for Girls in Melbourne, leaving behind disastrous adventures at her previous school. She's especially keen to go on the class trip to Indonesia to explore her grandmother's home country and learn more about her heritage (the rest of Mel's background is white). But she loses her cool when the class bully, Libby Hartnett, physically attacks a fellow student; Mel avoids expulsion, but both girls must meet with the school counselor. In his office, Mel discovers an intriguing diary in Indonesian, written by a girl named Devi. She takes it on the class trip, not realizing the import of this decision. Once Mel and Michael, a new Australian friend she meets in Jogjakarta who's cued Indonesian and white, begin translating the entries, they realize that Devi is being held captive as a sex worker in Melbourne. They team up, hoping to locate and free Devi, a monumental task that proves to be more complicated--and dangerous--than they anticipate. This gripping page-turner sheds light on a modern-day horror in a non-preachy manner that will appeal to young readers. Mel is gritty, yet sensitive; fierce, yet flexible. Her personal growth as the story unfolds is admirable while remaining realistic. A thoughtful, nuanced work that explores justice, bullying, and finding one's place in a complicated world.(Thriller. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
