Katy Warner, Triple Threat, Hardie Grant, September 2022, 320 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781760509101
Triple Threat is my 23rd (yes, I counted) Australian young adult novel for 2022. It has been a good year for contemporary stories, particularly, and Edie’s journey stands alongside others offering a lot of heart, authenticity, and thoughtful exploration of topical issues affecting teenagers today.
Edie is very much impacted by the mostly negative reactions towards her. Despite having the ‘triple threat’ (She sings! She dances! She acts!), she is not popular or applauded at her posh school. The same school has provided a scholarship, which brings with it, the usual (and improbably high) obligations – expectations that she performs brilliantly in every production, networks with potential sponsors, and welcomes new students who demand her attention.
Right from the start, we understand Edie is juggling schoolwork with extracurricular stuff, while trying to maintain friendships with Aubrey and Will, who have had her back since Year 7, but now are talking about different future pathways (Gap year! Travel!). She lives with her grandparents and her absent mother is as unpredictable as she is unsupportive. There are secrets around her home life she reveals slowly, and we see her struggle to live in a world with peers whose wealth brings entitlement and privilege she cannot imagine.
When Noah arrives, the most entitled and privileged of them all (not to mention good looking and charming), Edie is tempted by the doors he opens, although not straightaway or completely. This is what is so great about her character – she tries very hard to stay true, even when at moments, she allows herself to get caught up in the promises offered to her. Over the course of the novel, she learns who and what is important, and her journey is well worth travelling.
There is great diversity and inclusivity here that thankfully doesn’t feel forced or overdone. The elite school institution allows for thoughtful commentary about equity and status, which all of us need to interrogate in our own lives. Warner’s sensitive handling of the issue around the #metoo movement shows why we continue to publish stories which reflect the real life of Australian teenagers. I just wish more actual teenagers would actually read them.
Triple Threat is recommended for young people (probably mostly female) fifteen years and older.
Reviewed by Trish Buckley
