Head of the River (Pip Harry, UQP)

Leni and Cristian, the twin children of Olympic champions, were born to row. The end of high school is looming and, with it, the Head of the River, a prestigious interschool rowing race that Leni is determined to win and Cristian is determined to finish—at any cost. In her second novel, Pip Harry explores the issues of love, family and pressure within the scope of competitive sport. Cristian and Leni are interesting characters: as twins with successful, driven parents and both on sports scholarships, there’s a lot of pressure on them to succeed. For Leni, this pressure is a fire that pushes her to win. In many ways she’s the classic overachiever, but this is tempered by her flawed relationships with the other girls on her rowing team, as well as her failed romances. In Cristian, the pressure to win, to stay in shape and to make his idealistic father proud breaks him, and he turns to drugs to enhance his abilities. There’s a predictable grimness to parts of this book, but it’s some of the smaller moments that add an unexpected depth to the characters. The struggles these two teenagers face will speak volumes to readers, regardless of their interest in competitive rowing.

Bec Kavanagh is a Melbourne-based writer and reviewer

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