A spotlight on Untidy Towns by Kate O’Donnell
Untidy Towns is one of the six books shortlisted for this year’s Readings Young Adult Book Prize.
It was my decision, one I was determined not to regret. Just a few hours earlier this had been the easiest decision to make, the only option. But now I started to feel I needed reassurance that it wasn’t the stupidest mistake I had ever made.
– Kate O’Donnell, Untidy Towns
Here’s what the judges said…
‘Addie has quit her final year at boarding school in the city to move back home to her small country town. She has a lot to figure out: how to live with her mum and little sister again, how to revive old friendships, and most of all, what to do with the rest of her life.
Untidy Towns is a thoughtful, deeply immersive novel – reading it is like slipping into a warm bath. The family dynamics are beautifully written, and the stresses in seventeen-year-old Addie’s life feel true. Kate O’Donnell writes with the lightest touch, and this is a tender coming-of-age story about the pressure of expectation, the fear of figuring out what to do next, and the thrill of first love.’
–
Nina Kenwood, Chair of the judging panel
Meet the author…
Kate O’Donnell is a writer, editor and bookseller specialising in children’s and young adult literature. She has a BA in History and French from the University of Melbourne and studied Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT. Untidy Towns is her first novel.
