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Fish Out of Water

Fish Out of Water 1

by Kate Hendrick
Paperback
Publication Date: 01/02/2022
5/5 Rating 1 Review

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Beloved Australian YA author Kate Hendrick's new novel deftly examines Australian ideas of masculinity for a teenage audience

Finn the Swimmer. Finn the Winner. Finn who works hard and pushes through and never gives up.

Or just Finn. And whatever Finn could be.

Life is pretty simple for fifteen-year-old Finn- just keep following the black line in the pool. But in a moment it all changes- distracted by a familiar face in the crowd, he falters on the blocks and loses not just the race, but the single-minded focus that has driven him this far.

Did he really see what he thinks he saw? It doesn't seem possible-not after what happened-but now Finn can't stop wondering, and everything is starting to unravel. For the first time, he's got no idea what he's supposed to do or who he's supposed to listen to. His bossy older sister, Connie, who wants to know the truth? The whip-smart and unforgiving Aaliyah? Or the unflappable Loki, who gets Finn like no one else ever has?

It turns out that in life there's no such thing as a simple choice. And sometimes there's no choice at all.

ISBN:
9781922458346
9781922458346
Category:
General fiction (Children's / Teenage)
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
01-02-2022
Language:
English
Publisher:
Text Publishing Company
Country of origin:
Australia
Pages:
288
Dimensions (mm):
198x130x19mm
Weight:
0.21kg
Kate Hendrick

Kate Hendrick is a high school Visual Arts and Photography teacher whose novels The Accident and The Finder are published by Text. She lives in Sydney with her husband and two children.

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1 Review

Fish Out Of Water is the third novel by Australian author, Kate Hendrick. Fifteen-year-old Finn is smart, good-looking and a race-winning swimmer, like his father. He trains with an almost religious fervour, driven to the pool by his older sister Connie.

But then, one day something makes him falter, lose a race. Finn impulsively decides to quit. Misses two training sessions. Realises nothing else quite works to focus his energy: he feels like a fish out of water. He swims again. Connie pinpoints the problem: he’s thinking of his father, his coach, who disappeared without explanation three years ago.

During that short dry interval, two important things occur that have some impact: an interaction with the class swot, Aaliyah Osman and, when he returns to training, a new guy, Loki, who outswims him.

Aaliyah repeatedly engages him in intelligent and reasoned discussions: about his choices and the impact they have on others, about his attitude, about his academic abilities. When she criticises his mindset, pointing out his advantage by genetic lottery, he reacts poorly. She challenges his arrogance and calls him out for gaslighting her. Finn doesn’t even know what that is, but when he finds out, he vaguely recalls witnessing it at close quarters.

Loki ought to be a rival, but they connect so effortlessly, he becomes a friend instead, perhaps Finn’s first real friend. Everything they do together: training, working out, climbing, just hanging out, it’s all stress -free, so easy. Loki is a valued sounding board for whatever bothers him. And lately, things are bothering him, about his dad, his hero. About his mother and her lame boyfriend. About girlfriends. And about himself.

Hendrick’s ability to put the reader inside the head of a fifteen-year-old boy is nothing short of remarkable. While this is a coming-of-age story, it has a strong mystery element, some dark humour and a slow reveal to an excellent twist. Some aspects of the story are quite dark, as Hendrick focusses on the psychological damage to children who witness domestic abuse in the form of physical and mental cruelty and coercive control. A thought-provoking, insightful and powerful read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Text Publishing.

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