Description
Zee is a loner. She likes to read Oscar Wilde and watch documentaries all day which, according to her parents, is not normal for 13 year olds. So they decide to send her on afive-day holiday camp, hoping she'll make 'at least one friend'. Now, Zee would rather take a bath in Tabasco sauce than attend a camp called Youth Fusion. But with influencer Tiffanee and super-nerds Jonah and Moses, she soon finds herself in the middle of a hair-rising mystery, hurling her into some fierce detective work and bringing her face to face with the notorious Old Bat Viv.
Review
Thirteen-year-old Ziba, known as Zee, enjoys her own company and likes reading and poetry, and especially likes Oscar Wilde. She is smart and independent and doesn’t have an issue with not having any friends. Unfortunately, her parents do though... After only recently moving to a new school, her Mum has now enrolled her in a five-day camp, hoping she will connect with others her own age.
Zee is not looking forward to it all, and when she somehow finds herself teamed up with the beautiful social influencer, Tiffanee, and nerdy twins Jonah and Moses, she holds little hope of this camp being a success. But not everything is as it seems, and the group soon find themselves in the middle of mystery, trying to find a kid who has gone missing.
However, it is the decision to go investigating at the house on the hill, owned and occupied by Old Bat Viv, who has had scary rumours swirling about her for years, that will be the start of a true adventure and life changing experience for all of them.
Dame Viv turns out to be a surprising and intriguing character, and Zee and her form a bond and understanding from the start. Dame Viv just seems to get Zee and she has never felt so understood. She is wise, blunt and has a wicked sense of humour. Can she teach this group of unlikely friends some important life lessons?
This is a fabulous story about friendship and finding it in the most unusual of circumstances and places, finding your place in the world and embracing your individuality. Zee and Viv are fabulous characters, and their friendship and connection, even though are decades apart in age, is beautiful and one to be savoured. This book will be thoroughly enjoyed by all those in lower secondary.
