The YA Room is a Melbourne-based Young Adult book club! We meet once a month to discuss our Book of the Month, as well as host a variety of other special events. The YA Room was co-created at the beginning of 2017 by Sarah Robinson-Hatch and Alexandra Panzarino, and it’s run by Sarah and co-hosts Bianca Breen and Shaun Goodhue.
Book of the Month
The Monster of Her Age
In a neo-Gothic mansion in a city at the end of the world, Ellie finds there’s room enough for art, family, forgiveness and love. A coming-of-age story about embracing the things that scare us from the author of The Year the Maps Changed.
How do you ruin someone’s childhood? You let them make-believe that they are a monster. But sooner or later, the mask must come off…
Ellie Marsden was born into the legendary Lovinger acting dynasty. Granddaughter of the infamous Lottie Lovinger, as a child Ellie shared the silver screen with Lottie in her one-and-only role playing the child monster in a cult horror movie. The experience left Ellie deeply traumatised and estranged from people she loved.
Now seventeen, Ellie has returned home to Hobart for the first time in years. Lottie is dying and Ellie wants to make peace with her before it’s too late. But forgiveness feels like playing make-believe, and memories are like ghosts.
When a chance encounter with a young film buff leads her to a feminist horror film collective, Ellie meets Riya, a girl who she might be able to show her real self to, and at last come to understand her family’s legacy – and her own part in it.
A story of love, loss, family and film – a stirring, insightful novel about letting go of anger and learning to forgive without forgetting. And about embracing the things that scare us, in order to be braver.
Upcoming Events
The Monster of Her Age Book Meet
Wednesday 25th August, 7pm – 8.30pm AEST
Melbourne Young Writers’ Studio, 720B Nicholson St, Fitzroy North VIC
Want to be a part of the largest YA book club in Melbourne?
Follow us on all our social media platforms to be the first to know what we’ll be doing next!
Twitter • Facebook • Instagram • YouTube • Eventbrite
