Clancy of the Undertow

Gr 9 Up—This novel begins with a crisis: Clancy's father has been involved in a horrific car accident in which two local teens have been killed. Readers are immediately thrust into the center of a family and community drama that results in Clancy feeling even more ostracized and detached from her peers than she evidently already was. With an older brother who is a conspiracy theorist, a father with an undesirable past, an active membership in the nerdy Nature Club, and a major crush on the local bad girl, Clancy is a bit of a misfit. When the opportunity appears to make an unexpected friend, newcomer Nancy, in Nature Club, Clancy nearly blows it for the chance to connect with her crush, Sasha. After then being rejected by Sasha, Clancy spirals into despair and confusion, but her brother and a few other reliable friends bring her back from the brink thanks to their acceptance of who she really is. A near-death experience, plus the unexpected reversals of fortune, makes for a high-impact ending. Some American students may be initially thrown off by the Australian cultural references and slang. In addition, a few of the secondary characters are not fully developed, and even Clancy's identity feels hard to grasp at times (perhaps deliberately so).