What They Told Me (Hayley Lawrence, Scholastic)

Fifteen-year-old Elliott Gillespie has always believed she and her family are the lucky ones. Their home by Crooked River has been in the Gillespie family for generations. Her best friend, Drake, is only a kayak ride downstream. It seems like everything is perfect until one ordinary day becomes not so ordinary, and Elliott’s parents sit her down to tell her something that turns her world on its head. After that, it’s as if the floodgates have opened, and Elliott feels like she might lose everything. She doesn’t want to accept these changes, because acceptance means letting go of everything she loves, and if she does that, she may lose herself, too. Hayley Lawrence’s What They Told Me is a deeply moving story about loss, heartbreak, and change. It does a wonderful job of exploring a young person’s helplessness when adult decisions change their world. At the heart of the story, a thread of hope persists for Elliott as she comes to understand that, despite all the things she may lose, there are things she will always get to keep. Readers aged 13 and up, as well as fans of Nova Weetman and Karen Comer, will enjoy this novel. While I recommend this book for any young mind to help expand their empathy, those experiencing upheaval in their life will likely relate to Elliott’s struggles—and they might find something in her story to help them cope with their own.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Anneliese Gates is a writer and works in a primary school library. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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