Six of the best Australian YA lit classics

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Janet Manley tagged six of the most widely read Australian classics for teens, including:

If you loved Persuasion, by Jane Austen, try My Brilliant Career, by Miles Franklin

Were it published today, the subtitle of this book would be My Brilliant Career: *Sarcasm Hand Raised*. Miles Franklin is a big deal in Australia, mostly because of this shouty book, written while she was still a teenager. The main character, Sybilla, is marooned out on her alcoholic father’s farm, and is over-freaking-joyed when she receives an invitation to go live at her aunt’s property (think of it like a trip to Bath; this book is set in the 1890s, so it’s written to seem somewhat Victorian). There, a handsome, older farm fellow proposes to her, but Sybilla (who is a bit of a tomboy) doesn’t want to be stuck out on some farm with a hunk of man meat for the rest of her life, so she turns him down. Franklin’s debut looks at the limited options available to women “back then,” and the process of growing up and realizing you have finite options.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue