Walker Books

ISBN: 9781406366150

1 Aug 2017

RRP $16.99

 

Readers of The Moonlight Dreamers will be delighted to receive this second book in the series – I know I was!

 

The four girls who formed the Moonlight Dreamers club because none of them felt like they fitted in anywhere else are back and we follow their progress through another year of their teens as they continue to face challenges and support each other.

 

Amber who lives with her two dads, dresses in vintage men’s clothes and is the Oscar Wilde devotee, is troubled by her feelings of lack of self-awareness. She founded the club because she felt so alone in her ‘unique-ness’ and the bullying from the OMG girls at school. The fellow dreamers helped her to realise that she’s not entirely alone but her writer’s block and the rejection from her surrogate birth mother have plummeted her into an identity crisis.

 

Sky’s dad needs to earn more money from his yoga teaching and can no longer afford to home school his daughter, so she is going to secondary school for the first time ever. The regimentation, the pressure, the bullying and the overload of pointless homework weighs down on her. It’s only through her poetry and meeting fellow poet Leon that she begins to see a way to ‘be free’ and help other students.

 

Rose has spent a week in New York with her famous father and his surfer-chick new girlfriend which wasn’t quite as bad as it could have been but created ructions back home with her super-model mother when she came out to them first. She’s been holding back on revealing her sexuality but now comes to terms with it especially when her mother starts to realise how much she has neglected her daughter in favour of her diminishing career. Her dreams of becoming the best patissier in the world are beginning to take shape but her crush on her boss is completely taking over.

 

Maali, the sweetest and kindest girl, faces a crisis of faith in her beloved Lakshimi and her Hindi belief when her father becomes seriously ill and the family is plunged into turmoil.

 

This, like the first, is beautifully written and the issues of sexuality, bullying, racism, trust and anxiety are handled sensitively and without coming across as heavy-handed.

 

The girls’ example of creating their own version of the ‘circle of women’ is one that many teens could well take on as inspiration as they embrace each other’s problems and give each other the loving support each needs.

 

Depending on the ethos of your library due to the issues and a little bit of swearing this would be a superb addition to your collection.

 

Highly recommended for girls from around 13 upwards.