'How about we toss a coin? Heads, it's west and a lift. Tails, it's still west, but no lift.'James is heading into the country on his first teacher-training round when a mysterious girl asks him for a ride. Sophie has him all worked out: 'You live with your parents and they bought you this car, and a very nice car it is too.' At first James can't see past her wild hair and attitude, but then Sophie trusts him with a secret she's been keeping too long.Steven Herrick masterfully reveals the essence of his characters in this tough and tender story about opening up to love and living a life that's true. Black Painted Fingernails is a captivating novel by the author of By the River and other popular, award-winning books.Two young adults meet on the road and find themselves with renewed purpose in this contemporary import. James is a student teacher traveling to his first assignment in a country town, but he puts his dreams (are they his dreams, he wonders, or his parents'?) on hold to give a beautiful hitchhiker a ride. Sophie, the hitchhiker, is returning home to her father and brothers after years of aimless wandering and missed connections, seeking closure, reconciliation, and a voice to express the secrets she has been carrying. James and Sophie bond through their shared uncertainty and begin a sweet and healing romance. James and Sophie narrate in honest, plain voices, but Herrick occasionally brings in the viewpoints of other characters; while this adds a deeper, though perhaps unnecessary, layer with James' parents, it distracts with one-off characters who exist only to provide backstory. This philosophical coming-of-age tale has a gentle message about making life meaningful by letting go of worries and regret, though it doesn't stand out too far from other similar tales. Krista Hutley. Booklist Online 06/11/2012

 

This book was recognised in the Book of the Year category by the Children's Book Council of Australia Awards.

There are 216 pages in this book. This book was published 2013 by Allen & Unwin .

Steven Herrick is an award-winning poet who has performed his poems in schools, cafes, colleges, and festivals all over the world. He lives in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, near Sydney, Australia.