I read a lot of YA and I love it. I love YA fantasy, some
sci-fi, and plenty of contemporary. Predictably in YA, however, there’s a whole
lot of the ‘Sk8r Boi’ point of view going on. Y’know, ‘He was a boy, she was a
girl, can I make it any more obvious?’ Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good
romance, but this scenario can get a little ‘tired,’ so imagine my delight when
I came across Clancy of the Undertow, which features a main character that… Isn’t straight? Amazing! I was
immediately drawn to this book, given that I’d had such a good experience with
Simon vs the Homosapien’s Agenda (if you don’t know SvsTHA, here’s
my review!) and I guess I was hoping for something of the same calibre, and
believe me when I say that I got it. This book was everything I could have
hoped for, it was short, sweet, and I loved it from top to tail. I loved it for
its similarities to other contemporary books I’ve read, but more importantly,
for its differences.
The story follows Clancy Underhill, an outsider viewed by
many as somewhat of a freak. She enjoys Nature Club, riding her ‘Lightning Lady’ bike, and arguing with
her older brother Angus. She’s isolated, and is dealing with some serious
issues she’s facing on her own, the biggest of which is coming to terms with
her sexuality, and her isolation and loneliness. Life is complex, and just when
things couldn’t get any worse, her dad is involved in a fatal car crash which
kills the town’s two ‘golden kids’. The town’s sentiment quickly moves from simply
seeing Clancy as a freak to hating her and her family. The family deals the
crash in their own private ways, and they begin to drift apart, leaving Clancy
feeling more isolated and depressed. It’s then that she meets Nancy, a new
member of the nature club whom she quickly becomes friends with. But don’t get
your hopes up, people. Nancy’s doesn’t turn out to be the love interest that
Clancy can ride off into the sunset with, magically solving all of her teenage
problems. Instead, Nancy becomes the friend who accepts Clancy as she is, and
stands by Clancy as she works her way through her problems. It’s a feisty and
realistic friendship, and I enjoyed watching it unfold.
Clancy of the Undertow is a sensitively written coming-of-age
story set in a tiny country town. Aussie author Christopher Currie put the
Australian outback to his advantage, contrasting the huge amounts of space in
the outback, and yet trapping Clancy in a small town that hates her. As a
reader, I felt her claustrophobia, and this is one of the things that I liked
about the book; how well the characters and scenery were written. The
characters were so carefully crafted that I was able to reflect on their
individual experiences and take a walk in each of their shoes, or in Clancy’s
case, her dusty old boots. Sometimes it was hard to be with Clancy, because her
depression became a constant and ever-present feature in the book, but I never
wanted to leave her side because of it, which I guess made me a bit like Nancy.
This was such a
different book to what I’m used to reading. I surprised myself with how much I
liked Clancy of the Undertow, given that I tend to avoid books set in the
Australian outback (I mean, I live in Australia, why would I want to read about
it?). Lately, however, I’ve been developing a taste for Australian author’s,
with Christopher Currie being my current favourite. The interesting thing about
Christopher is that he writes Clancy as insightfully and perceptively as John
Green writes Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars, which I find as impressive as I
do somewhat frightening. How do they do that? Anyway, I give this book 4/5
stars, and I recommend you give it a read!
