Out of Tune

A teenager spinning out of control is anchored by her great grandmother in this vivid young adult novel by an award-winning writer.

Jasmine is out to shock. Electric clothes, electric hair, wired behaviour: anything to get approval from the cool kids at school - and, admit it, Jas - to force her parents to notice. Only what would they care? They can't see how Jas's desire to fit in is spinning her out over the edge.

Sometimes - hard to confess to her new friends - the only real support Jas gets is from Gi-Gi, her great grandmother. You might say Gi-Gi has a kind of sixth sense. She's given Jas the diary of their ancester Maggie, to read aloud during their weekly visits. Maggie, at the same age as Jas, had to migrate from the Shetland Islands with her family. Where to? Nineteenth-century Stewart Island - a wild, lonely, brutal place, that tested Maggie's spirit sorely. Her diary seems to speak directly to Jas with dazzling clarity.

In her latest novel, award-winning writer Joanna Orwin links the past and present beautifully. Her writing is as clean and brisk as the salt spray and fresh winds.