One of the things I recall about being an avid pre-teen reader was my love of Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High books, that widely criticised series – soap opera in book form – that nobody approved of apart from the millions of tweens who devoured them. What Melbourne writer Jen Storer does with her new series is to create the warm, easy feel of SVH but with lots of improvements: more realism, more attention to cultural diversity, rounded characters. I think she gets the balance right.

In the first book, Quincy’s life is ruined when her father walks out, and a new life on the coast is difficult to adjust to. Quincy is likeable but not perfect, and although romance is a theme it is only part of her journey, rather than the destination.

Quality escapism for ages 10 and up.

Emily Gale is a Children’s & YA Specialist at Readings Carlton, and a Children’s & YA writer the rest of the time.