Description
Seventeen-year-old Delilah's crazy life is about to get crazier. Ever since her father took off overseas, she's been struggling to run the family's cafe -- The Flywheel -- without him and survive high school.
But after a misjudged crush on one of the cool girls, she's become the school punchline as well. With all that's on her plate she barely has time for her favourite distraction - spying on the beautiful Rosa, who dances flamenco at the tapas bar across the road.
Only her best friend Charlie knows how she feels about Rosa, but he has romantic problems of his own. When his plan to win an older woman's heart goes horribly wrong, Del is the only one who can help Charlie stay out of jail.
All this leaves Del grappling with some seriously curly questions. Is it okay to break the law to help a friend? How can a girl tell another girl she likes her without it ending in humiliation and heartbreak? And - the big one - is it ever truly possible to dance in public without falling over?
Review
The Ampersand project is publisher Hardie Grant’s idea to get a new Australian author published each year.
They had immediate success with their first selection, Melissa Keil’s CBCA short listed Life in Outer Space, Flywheel is their second Ampersand winner and a great read it is.
Erin Gough is a great new voice in Australian teen fiction.
This book follows the journey of seventeen year old Delilah’s (Del’s) crazy life after her father took off overseas and she is left to manage the family café, The Flywheel. This may have been possible if their head chef had not departed in the first days. So Del’s life is in turmoil. She drops out of school, she isn't sure how to handle her feelings for the beautiful flamenco dancer, Rosa, and when her best friend
Charlie gets onto the wrong side of the law, she doesn’t know how far to go to help him.
Del has experienced humiliation and heartbreak before and is not sure she wants to face this again.
Strong themes and characters warm the mood of this book as you dream of a happy outcome.
It is a coming of age, find your true place novel that will appeal to those 15 and older.
Reviewed by Rob
