Where Love, Ghosts and Nose Hair explored first love and the throes of leaving school, A Place Like This takes us deep into the scary territory of working towards personal independence and everything that goes with it.
Not only are Jack and Annabel trying to make their own way in the world, everything possible goes wrong within days of their departure.
Then there's the pregnant teenage daughter of their new boss. And the unexplained case of the runaway mother.
Issues abound in this easy-to-read verse novel. Think underage party-sex – or is it rape? Or parental abandonment and what it's like for the parent who stays.
Steven Herrick, with his gift for nailing emotional situations with a minimum of words, outdoes himself with this classic sequel.
But be warned, there are graphic almost-sex scenes that might make you hot under the collar.
And young characters face deeply distressing issues – whether they want to or not.
There are also life teasers like the question: when is it right to stay and when is it better for everyone concerned if you walk away?
If you enjoyed Love, Ghosts and Nose Hair, you won't be able to put down A Place Like This.
Title: A Place Like This
Author: Steven Herrick
Publisher: UQP, $19.95
Publication Date: 2 February1998,
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780702229848
For ages: 14 years +
Type: Young Adult
