''Butterfly'' is a
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
young adult fiction novel by
Sonya Hartnett about the troubled adolescence of Plum Coyle, set in 1980s Australian suburbia.
Plot
Plum Coyle is on the edge of adolescence. Her fourteenth birthday is approaching, when her old life and her old body will fall away, and she will become graceful, powerful, and at ease. The strength of the objects she stores in a briefcase under her bed —a crystal lamb, a yoyo, an antique watch, a coin —will make sure of it. Over the next couple of weeks, Plum’s life will change. Her beautiful neighbor Maureen will begin to show Plum how she might fly. The older brothers she adores will court catastrophe in worlds that she barely knows exist. And her friends, her worst enemies, will tease and test, smelling weakness. They will try to lead her on and take her down.
Hartnett uses the suburban landscape as inspiration for many of her books, including Butterfly.
Awards and nominations
* 2009 shortlisted
The Age Book of the Year
''The Age'' Book of the Year Awards were annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's ''The Age'' newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. After 1998, they were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Initially, two awar ...
Award — Fiction Prize
* 2009 highly commended The Fellowship of Australian Writers Victoria Inc. National Literary Awards — FAW Christina Stead Award
* 2009 shortlisted
Colin Roderick Award
* 2010 shortlisted
Miles Franklin Literary Award
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...
References
2009 Australian novels
Australian young adult novels
Novels by Sonya Hartnett
Novels set in Australia
Fiction set in the 1980s
Hamish Hamilton books
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