Description
Book SynopsisWhen twelve-year-old Sherrie-Lee witnesses a failed bank robbery in her neglected town, she seizes an opportunity to claim a new identity for herself. Escaping her troubled home life, she tries out a new name and invents stories and personas to cover her tracks.
Sherrie-Lee finds both possibility and loneliness in this new freedom, as well as an unusual friendship which she nurtures. But harsh realities close in, and she’s plagued with foreboding – from her vulnerable brother at home to the climate crisis. While she dreams of a kinder world, it won’t be long before her own deceits start catching up with her.
This arresting debut challenges assumptions and captures the powerless yearning of adolescence with a voice that is fresh, magnetic and often funny – one that pulls you in and won’t let go.
Trade Review'Compelling. The prose bubbles and snaps with an energy that’s as changeable as its teen protagonist … a stunning, important novel about poverty and hopelessness, compassion and resilience.'
-- Emily Devane
'Fossils, Alison Armstrong’s debut novel, is a moving and vivid piece of storytelling. With great skill, Armstrong captures the inner life of Sherrie-Lee, a young girl without a safety net who has been left to fall between the cracks. Sherrie-Lee’s exposure to darkness and the dangerous place she finds herself in is described in haunting, lyrical writing that is at all times compelling and frequently surprising.'
-- Will Mackie, New Writing North
'A moving novel about resilience and compassion in the face of a hopeless future. You will fall in love with Armstrong's protagonist, and your heart will ache for a better future for her.'
-- Kate Baguley
