By Kerryn Golsdworthy
Living on Hope Street
Demet Divaroren
Allen & Unwin, $19.99
This is a lively, vivid and well-written tale of a street in a run-down suburb and its various inhabitants, a sort of multicultural Neighbours for young adults. Angry teenage Kane, his troubled younger brother Sam and their mother Angie are living in fear of their violent husband and father. Turkish Mrs Aslan next door is widowed and estranged from her daughter. There is a Middle Eastern family down the street and also some recent arrivals, a refugee family from Africa. It seems to have become a rule that young adult fiction must be about "issues" and this book despite its virtues feels like an exercise in box-ticking. While its main subject is domestic violence, it's also very much about racism and alcoholism, as well as featuring a bully, a bed-wetter, and a bi-curious teenager. The Vietnam veteran with the Indian son-in-law and lingering PTSD is the least successful character.