December 13, 2012
Sam Kinnison isn’t having the ideal high school experience. While he has good friends and gets good marks, he is also on the receiving end of many a practical joke. A horror film fanatic and World of Warcraft player, he is pretty happy with his geekdom. When Camilla Carter arrives at school—beautiful, cool and also a World of Warcraft player—Sam finds his life changing. Camilla seems to be possessed with strange powers that make the jocks more accepting of Sam and his nerdy friends. Unfortunately for both him and Camilla, Sam is a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to girls. It takes him a ludicrously long time to realise that he is totally in love with Camilla and even longer to figure out she might reciprocate his feelings. I couldn’t help but be reminded of John Green while reading Life in Outer Space with its nerdy boys, dream girl and lots of introspection. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I would give it to both teenage girls and boys who are looking for books with real-life drama. There is a bit of mild swearing but nothing too intense. Melissa Keil’s debut novel was the first book signed up to Hardie Grant Egmont’s Ampersand Project, an initiative to publish new YA books from unpublished writers.
Amelia Vahtrick is the children’s book buyer at Better Read Than Dead is Newtown