Ella and I have been best friends since grade one. We can spend hours talking about everything and nothing. We know each other’s greatest fears, things that irrationally annoy us, and ideal career if money and skill weren’t an issue. If there was only one Hartford Bakery brownie left in the whole world and it was somehow in my possession, Ella is the only person I’d consider sharing it with.
Life is pretty good for 16-year-old Abby. Okay, her grandma doesn’t remember things anymore, her relationship with her mum is increasingly strained and she accidentally kissed her cousin’s cousin on the weekend, so things aren’t exactly perfect. But everything is manageable with her best friend, Ella, by her side.
And with Ella’s brother, Will, interesting and attentive, on the sidelines.
When new girl Chloe arrives, Abby is pleased to be the one to show her around, to welcome her to the group. But Abby doesn’t imagine Chloe fitting in so well or quite so quickly. And before long Abby is feeling just a little left out, a little unsure of Ella’s friendship. In a moment of anger and confusion she wishes something bad would happen.
When it does—with tragic consequences—everything shifts again. And Abby has to face her own feelings and work out what friendship really means.
Megan Williams’ brilliant debut Let’s Never Speak of This Again is a tender, moving story laced with humour, about friendship, about the things that test it, and about what matters most.
The CBCA judges say…
A highly readable coming-of-age debut novel that captures some of the traditional hardships teens experience. The narrative follows the central character Abby, over a year as she navigates change and her own insecurities. Told in a modern diary-esque style, the novel explores the challenges of relationships and dealing with tragedy and loss. The themes of friendship and growing up are conveyed in a realistic and relatable manner through the character’s relationships; and family plays a central part of the story, exploring intergenerational connections and sibling dynamics. The use of humour to balance out some of the serious themes, makes it a compelling read with a lot of warmth that will resonate with a broad young adult readership.
A Reading Time reviewer says…
Let’s never speak of this again is beautifully real. From the moment we meet Abby, trapped listening to her Aunty Joanna at a family wedding, with the band playing Eagle Rock, and the blokes dropping their pants at the chorus, it is obvious that this voice is authentic and true. Although this is Megan Williams’ first novel, the tone and tenor of the text is spot on, capturing the betwixt and between of being 16; the moments of childlike happiness and contentment and snatches adult insight blending with the trepidation, anxiety and questioning that seem to dominate every waking moment…
Teaching Notes for this book…
Text Publishing, the publisher, has generously made teaching notes available for this book on their webiste.