How did he see the video?
Who showed him?
Why did he watch it?
Does he see me differently now?
Can we ever be friends again?
Nate has moved from Singapore to Sydney. His mum has a serious issue with her spine and can no longer work. She talks about her days in terms of spoons and often by the end of the day she has no spoons left. Dad is back in Singapore but he will join them soon. Nate has to adjust to helping his mum and fitting in at a new school. He also misses the hustle and bustle of Singapore.
In the house next door there is a girl named Luna. She lives with her mum, dad and older brother. Very recently something dreadful has happened. She has been filmed and this has been shared with 'everyone'. Luna has to endure cruel comments at school and she has now lost her closest friend.
The stage is set for Nate and Luna to find each other and yes they do. Even better this story is also filled with bees and honey and first love and kindness and a glorious seaside Sydney setting.
There are text fragments in this book that show Pip Harry 'really gets' teenagers:
After class,
the DKs invite me to sit
with their friend group for recess ...
This is the ultimate act of social rescue
and I accept immediately ...
It's Annalise
the most popular
of the popular girls.
We used to laugh when she and her mates
walked past with their
ponytails worn ridiculously
high.
Their skirts ridiculously
short.
We called them
the Ponytail Gang.
This quote really resonates with me because I call adults who clearly succeeded at High School and who were the queens of their peer group - ponytail girls.
There is a tiny 'throwaway line' on page 243. Luna has been absent from school for two weeks. She has been refusing to go to school refuser:
I miss face-to-face classes,
new books in the library,
the smell of the art room ...
Thank you, Pip Harry, for having a character mention the school library!
I also love the way Pip Harry makes this story unashamedly about the Northern Beaches of Sydney. She has references to the pool at Curl Curl; a market a Freshwater; Narrabeen Lagoon; Manly Dam; Avalon; Palm Beach; our beautiful flannel flowers (photo below); the Manly Corso; the local rehab hospitals at Dee Why and Warriewood; and she even adds in an echidna and a kookaburra. (I talked about this same use of the setting in
The Little Wave).
My photo of a flannel flower at Dobroyd, Sydney NSW
Also thank you for the tears I shed over this story - this reflects the beautiful honesty of the storytelling the genuine emotions of these two kids - Luna and Nate - kids I have to come to really care about. And there is also honesty in the way so many parts of this story relate Pip Harry's own real life - which is something I discovered from her talk at the library. Like Amber, Pip had major spinal surgery; like Nate and Amber, a swarm of bees did move into the walls of their home; and Pip lives in the same part of Sydney where her story is set. Oh, and Pip is a keen swimmer. In her talk she used the word authentic and that certainly applies to the tone and story she is telling in Drift.
Luna's dad is a minor character but I love the way he is allowed express his confusion:
He comes from
The School of Hard Knocks.
My generation Didn't Get Any Handouts.
Get on with it,
don't be a sook. ...
Why are kids so bloody anxious these days, Steph?
I don't remember anyone seeing a shrink
when I was a teenager ...
Life is hard,
out kids need to get tougher.
Am I wrong?
I bought Drift at the literary festival (see below) and came home and read the whole book in one sitting.
Pip Harry shared the advance copy of her book with Megan Daley and her husband who is a beekeeper. They were able to check her bee keeping facts were accurate. Megan loves bees.
Here is her book list for World Bee Day. Megan will
launch Drift in Brisbane in mid-August. Her endorsement on the cover says:
"Buzzes with warmth and the undeniable magic of bees!" Speaking of the cover - it is fabulous. Well done Astred Hicks. Pip Harry will also be presenting at events over the coming weeks in Bendigo and Adelaide. And she mentioned she is speaking on a panel about allowing children's books to deal with deep and complex issues - I would love to know more about that event.
Publisher blurb: Fourteen-year-old Nate has just moved back to Australia and is finding it hard to navigate a new city, school and changed home life. His next-door neighbour, Luna, is dealing with her own issues: a viral video, friends who have dropped her, and a subsequent anxiety disorder. When a swarm of 20,000 bees unexpectedly settle in the walls of Nate's family's house, Nate and Luna come together to save the hive, befriending local beekeeper Tyler. Over the course of one summer, their loyalties will be tested and their lives will be forever changed.
Here is a review comment from Instagram. The themes this reviewer identifies (check my post labels) are why I think this book is better suited to mature readers aged 13+:
Companion books:
I am sure we will see Drift on the 2026 CBCA Older Readers Notables List along with another splendid YA Verse Novel I read this year - The Foal in the Wire by Robbie Coburn.
Yesterday I attended the first Willoughby Literary Festival. My discovery of this event, hosted by the Willoughby Library in Chatswood, held over two weekends, was entirely an accident. This is where I heard Pip Harry talk about her new YA Verse Novel Dift - for ages 12+. It will be released on Wednesday this week. Pip shared her book with fifteen kids in the session today. They were fairly quiet and reticent to participate but she kept up her energy and enthusiasm for the whole hour. If you have the opportunity to have Pip Harry visit your school or library grab it with both hands - your kids will experience a brilliant and insightful session.
I have previously talked about several books by Pip Harry and I penned
a detailed profile post after her presentation at a local Teacher-Librarian conference. I have added the view count beside each title:
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