This novel is so tuned in to the teenage psyche - sharp, full of humour and a touch subversive - that it's hard to believe it's not written by one. In fact it comes from the pen of Simmone Howell whose Notes from the Teenage Underground was published in 2008 and garnered impressive reviews. Everything Beautiful tells the story of Riley, atheist and all-round rebel who has been tricked by her father and his irritating new girlfriend into spending her summer at a spiritual holiday camp. Here she meets recent paraplegic Dylan who like Riley is hell-bent on turning the camp upside, until that is she has a life-changing experience.
When Riley's Dad gets a new girlfriend, life turns upside down for Riley. She doesn't like Norma and Norma doesn't like her. But it is not until Riley finds herself shipped off to 'camp' that she realises just how bad things have become.
Determined to continue on her path of bad behaviour and general obnoxiousness, Riley Rose is sure that she can turn this 'spiritual camp' upside down. And when she meets Dylan Luck, recent paraplegic, she thinks she has found a fellow troublemaker. What follows is a very surprising week for Riley.
Truths are told and secrets revealed, and sex, cigarettes and booze prove to be a potent cocktail, but in the end Riley has learnt quite a lot about herself, Dylan and exactly why she appeared hell-bent on self-destruction.
Simmone Howell is an award-winning short story writer and screenwriter. Her short film Pity24 was awarded the 2004 AWGIE for Short Film Screenplay by the Australian Writers’ Guild. The film has played festivals all over the world. Simmone's fiction has been published in journals and anthologies including the Barcelona Review and 3am Magazine. Notes From the Teenage Underground is Simmone’s debut novel.
