The Current: Rebellion

Warrior girl unearthed

Angeline Boulley

There is nothing like a bit of injustice to get Perry Firekeeper-Birch fired up. When she is shown the remains of a young Native American woman languishing in a box in the local college, she realises that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of human remains and precious artefacts that should have been returned to their communities are being hoarded by collectors and institutions. Burning with righteous anger, she decides to act, even if it means taking some big risks.

Set on Sugar Island and featuring characters from the author’s hugely successful previous novel, this is a mystery thriller set in an Indigenous community with a gutsy but flawed central character.

You could be so pretty

Holly Bourne

Prepare to feel uncomfortable. This dystopian novel focuses on a future in which The Doctrine says that women should feel empowered when they are catcalled, and girls are pressured into wearing a constant ‘Mask’ and starving themselves to look ‘Just Right.’ Meet Joni - an “Objectionable”- and Belle - the prettiest girl in school as they are thrown together after Belle is sexually harassed on the street. The pair are in competition for their place at “The Education,” a university-like school that could be the answer to all their problems.

Disturbing in so many ways, but mostly because it’s all a little too real. Perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale.

Boy like me

Simon James Green

To Jamie Hamilton, struggling to understand his own sexuality, the innocuous-looking book in the school library is a revelation. The writer seems to understand exactly what he is going through, and from the scribbled notes in the margin it is clear that another pupil feels the same. As Jamie tries to track down the mystery note-writer he finds himself falling foul of a law that still bans books ‘promoting homosexuality’ from schools and has to make a decision: is he going to keep his head down and avoid trouble or is he going to be true to who he is, even if this means that he will have to face abuse and worse from the bigots around him? Luckily, Jamie is not alone.

Set in Britain in 1994, this sweet romance with a quirky narrator at its heart also shows the many hurdles that gay men had to face to live their lives as they wanted until relatively recently.

The sharp edge of silence

Cameron Kelly Rosenblum

Three students at the exclusive Lycroft Phelps Boarding School are forced to confront the dark realities that come with extreme wealth and inherited privilege in this rage-filled examination of toxic masculinity. Charlotte, Max and Quinn have all struggled to navigate the social dynamics at this brick-and-ivy institution but, after Quinn’s assault by a fellow student, the delicately formed social hierarchies of Lycroft Phelps are poised to implode, with potentially devastating consequences.

Though a thoughtful and sensitive read, this book does contain descriptions of sexual violence and its aftermath that may be distressing for readers. 

Happyhead

Josh Silver

A wellness retreat aimed at troubled teens quickly reveals itself to be an exploitative experiment in this fast-paced dystopian thriller from debut author Josh Silver. When Seb arrives at HappyHead he is determined to be a success story and tries to embrace the program that claims to eradicate depression, even as the tests and challenges, often pitting the 100 teens against each other, become ever more sinister.

As the days pass, a burgeoning friendship with the rebellious Finn and his own growing misgivings cause Seb to begin questioning what HappyHead’s true motives are, and how far it will go to achieve them.