Starfish Sisters (22 page)

The author would like to thank Carlie Thornton from
Surfing NSW for her expertise and generosity with
her time and knowledge; Victoria Shehadie for giving
it the first 'test' read; Tara Wynne from Curtis Brown,
who does the tough stuff; and last but not least, Zoe
Walton, editor extraordinaire!

Reading Guides with more information on
Starfish Sisters
and other J.C. Burke books are
available on the Random House Australia
website.

Random House Australia Reading Guides are
designed to facilitate reading group or classroom
discussion and further exploration of the themes
and issues, writing style, characterisation and
plot of the book, as well as providing further
information on the author's inspiration and the
writing process.

Please visit our website for more information.

www.randomhouse.com.au/readingguides

J.C. Burke was born in Sydney in 1965, the fourth of
five daughters. With writers for parents, she grew up in
a world full of noise, drama and books, and the many
colourful characters who came to visit provided her
with an endless supply of stories and impersonations.

Burke decided to become a nurse after her mother
lost a long battle with cancer. She specialised in the field
of Oncology, working in Haematology and Bone
Marrow Transplant Units in Australia and the UK.

A creative writing course at Sydney University led
to an ASA mentorship with Gary Crew and the publication
of Children's Book Council Notable book
White
Lies
(Lothian) in 2002. Burke has since written
The Red
Cardigan
, also a CBC Notable Book, and its sequel
Nine Letters Long
.
The Story of Tom Brennan
won the 2006
Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year:
Older Readers award and also the Family Therapists'
Award for Children's Literature 2006. J.C. Burke's latest
book is
Faking Sweet
.

J.C. Burke lives on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Her
teenage daughter now provides her with an endless
supply of stories and impersonations! J.C. Burke loves
writing for young adults, as they still have an optimistic
eye on the world.

Visit
www.jcburke.com.au
for more information
about J.C. Burke and her books.

In
Starfish Sisters
it is frightening for Micki, Georgie and
Ace to discover that Kia has been cutting herself in
secret. Self-harm is a difficult subject to talk about, but
it's important to know that if you are harming yourself
or you're worried about a friend, there is help available.

The information below is a shorter version of a
Reach Out! Fact Sheet called 'Worried about a friend
who is self-harming', and is provided with the permission
of
www.reachout.com.au
.

For more information on self-harming behaviour
and other topics, or to find help and support to
get through your own tough times, check out
www.reachout.com.au
.

Worried about a friend who is self-harming

What is self-harm?

Self-harm is when people deliberately hurt themselves. It
is not necessarily a suicide attempt and may not mean
the person wants to die. Self-harm includes deliberately
cutting, burning, biting and hitting your body. The
reasons why a person self-harms can differ, but they may
be doing so to alter their mood when they are depressed
or angry, because they are frustrated or do not know
what else to do.

When do I tell someone else?

If you are concerned about your friend's safety it is
important to let someone like a counsellor, teacher or
youth worker know what is going on. These people
should be able to help you make sure your friend stays
safe.

If possible, it is a good idea to be honest with your
friend, letting them know that you will have to let
someone know if they tell you that they are harming
themselves. If your friend chooses not to tell you things
on that basis then that is their call. This way you are not
being put in a situation where you feel like you are
breaking their trust or risking them harm.

How can you help?

Supporting a friend who is self-harming may be hard.
Often the reasons why someone self-harms are complex
and managing these reasons needs help from someone
like a psychologist, psychiatrist or a counsellor. You
may want to check out the Finding Help section of
www.reachout.com.au for more information about how
these people can help. The Help Near You database or
your local phone book should have details of these
services in your local area.

Kids Help Line 1800 55 1800
(free call) or
Lifeline
131 114
(cost of a local call) have counsellors who are
around 24 hours.

Sometimes we can get so concerned about our friend
that we may not look after ourselves. It is important that
you keep yourself safe. It may be helpful for you to talk
to someone you trust about what is going on and how
you feel.

What to do in an emergency

If someone has harmed themselves intentionally, it is
important to get medical help. If the person is hurt badly
call an ambulance (dial 000, if you live in Australia)
straight away.

Read on for an extract from
J.C. Burke's award-winning novel

At 4.30 am on Friday
the 23rd of January, my father, Joseph Brennan, closed
the front door of our home for the last time. Then gently,
as we now had to be, he led my mother step by step to
the car and helped her into the back seat. My sister Kylie
and I followed, carrying the left-over bags and suitcases.
No one spoke. Only the sounds of our feet shuffling
along the concrete and my groan as I dumped the last
of our belongings into the boot broke the near-dawn's
silence.

I waited by the bonnet for Dad to slip the handbrake
off and give me the signal. I pushed our Ford Falcon
station wagon out of the garage, past the ugly words
that told us we were no longer wanted, and along the
street.

When we reached the crest of 'Daniel's Whine' –
named after my brother, who hated climbing hills – I
jumped in the front seat and Dad lifted his foot off
the brake. Down, down we glided in silence.

The silhouettes of houses slipped past before I could
catch them and remember the people we were leaving
behind. In a couple of hours they would wake and find us
gone, far away, so as not to remind them of their pain and
what our family now meant to this town.

My name is Tom Brennan and this is my story.

Available now at all good retailers

'I marched through the gates of St Clementine's forty percent
excited, sixty percent terrified. At least here, at my sixteenth
school, I finally had a purpose. A mission to accomplish. And
more than that, I had been hand-picked for the job.'

Holly might be new, but she already knows who to
watch out for: Jess Flynn, the most popular girl in
Year 9. Holly's best friend back in Melbourne, Calypso,
says Jess is a liar, a shoplifter and a boyfriend-stealer.
Calypso wants revenge for her ex-friend's betrayal, and
Holly's only too happy to oblige.

But it's not proving easy to follow Calypso's plan and
catch Jess out. And then there's the fact that as Holly
gets to know her, Jess isn't fitting the terrible picture
Calypso has painted of her.

The question is, who's betraying who?

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Evie sees things that other people don't. She's wary of
the other kids at school, of what they might see in her
drawings, or of what they would say if they knew she
was different. Most of the time she blocks it all out and
pretends she's just like everyone else.

But a missing girl is trying to tell Evie something. A girl
who is very persistent, who will not give up until she is
found. A girl who once wore the red cardigan Evie now
wears. And Evie can no longer ignore the question that
needs an answer . . .

Who is the girl in the red cardigan?

Available now at all good retailers