Drift by Pip Harry

Nate migrates to Australia with his mum, Amber, leaving his dad 6,000kms away working in Singapore.  They’ve come on ahead to settle Nate into a new high school, and for Amber to prepare for a procedure to relieve her chronic pain.  Moving into the bungalow his parents purchased online, they see a swarm of bees disappearing into a wall in need of repair. Thus begins a new friendship when Tyler the local apiculturist is called to move the bees. Readers discover much about keeping bees and their precarious but crucial role in the environment.

Next door lives a friendly, athletic girl about his own age. Luna is returning to school herself after a long absence.  Nate struggles to make new friends, but can’t understand why his neighbour is already an outcast.

“Drift”,  is an expressively crafted title in the Australian YA verse novel tradition. Predictably, alternating chapters are narrated by the two main characters to express their respective backstories with rhythmic breaks rather than blank spaces. If new to unique lineation in lyrical storytelling, a rapid appreciation follows Pip Harry’s creative choices.

While Nate’s themes concern family and the biosecurity threat to Australia’s bees, Luna is a gifted distance runner dealing with the protracted nature of cyberbullying trauma. Drawn together in newfound isolation and the beehive which Nate is keen to protect, can Luna forgive Nate when she feels he too has betrayed her trust?

A coming of age story that will appeal to youths and young women, who will identify with these self-discovery journeys via the concise but imaginary writing, distinctive of the poetry genre.  309p.

Themes: Coming of age, Bildungsroman, Friendship, Family, Beekeeping, School, Cyber bullying, Environment.

Deborah Robins