We are HUGE Nova Weetman fans in this family. She is such a terrific author, especially for tween girls. And Elsewhere Girls is up there with her best work. Elsewhere Girls is a moving and funny story of two girls with a deep connection, one based on the Olympic champion, Fanny Durack.
Another of Nova Weetman’s books I frequently recommend for this age group is Sick Bay. If you don’t have it yet, read this review and you’ll quickly add it to your daughter’s bookshelf. But for now, let’s chat about the clever and awesome story of Elsewhere Girls.
Elsewhere Girls review
By: Emily Gale, Nova Weetman
Elsewhere Girls is the story of Cat and Fan. Cat has recently started at a new school on a sports scholarship, and she’s feeling the pressure of training sessions and the need for total commitment. Fan loves to swim and she lives for racing, but family chores and low expectations for girls make it hard for her to fit in even the occasional training session.
Cat and Fan have never met. They both live in the same suburb, but in different worlds, or at least different times: Cat lives in the present, and Fan in 1908. But one day, time slips and they swap places. As each girl lives the other’s life, with all the challenges and confusion it presents, she comes to appreciate and understand herself and the role of swimming in her own life.
Narrated in alternating chapters, Elsewhere Girls is a moving and clever story about growing up in vastly different circumstances yet learning to appreciate your lifestyle. Here’s what my 11-year-old daughter thought of it.
“Elsewhere Girls is a brilliant book that has a mysterious storyline and leaves you at the end of every chapter wondering what will happen next. While it is funny, it is also very unpredictable, which is great because you never want to know 100% what is going to happen. Even when you think everything is going to be ok, there are twists in places you wouldn’t have thought of.
The plot is so clever the way it captures the past and present, and makes you really grateful for all the things we have today. Elsewhere Girls is an amazing book and I definitely encourage other people my age to read it too.” Miss 11
Elsewhere Girls is a fresh and engaging exploration of the challenges and pressures for young women growing up in the past and today.
5 stars, once again from the brilliant Nova Weetman.
You can purchase it from Book Depository
You can purchase it from Booktopia
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