That thing I did by Allayne Webster

This is one roller-coaster ride of madcap adventure. Five eccentric characters are thrown together on a road trip to fulfil the last wish of a crazy aged care escapee. Daisy may be old but she is as tough as they come, and Taylor, Chip, Jackson and Chloe find themselves all doing her bidding. Along the way there are a lot of mishaps, corny jokes and laughs galore, but at the same time Webster competently handles more serious issues of suicide, abuse, and difficult relationships.

Taylor is the lead character – the ‘thing that he did’ was a social media post that was possibly insensitive and hurtful. It leads to him losing his closet friend and being ostracised from his friendship group. But in his connection with young would-be pornography director Chip, and the mishaps that follow, he learns to appreciate the individual qualities of a range of supposed misfits, and in the end it is a story about acceptance and true friendship.

This story really is a mixed bag – comedy, adventure, romance, and teenage coming of age, it could appeal to a range of adolescent and more mature readers.

Themes: Comedy, Road trip, Friendship, Coming of age.

Helen Eddy