Allen & Unwin, 2006

Nadia Wheatley’s CBCA-award-winning anthology, The Night Tolkien Died, was described by critic Stephen Matthews as setting ‘a new benchmark for young adult fiction’ and by Pam Macintyre as ‘terrific, compressed, passionate, frank stories... about serious adolescence’.

In response to requests from teachers and librarians for a new release of the book, the author brought together this collection of six of the original stories, together with two new stories. In making the selection, the focus was on stories to do with family life, in all its complexity.

As the characters explore who they are, and how they fit into their family, their community and their world, there is much for young adult readers to empathise with. At the same time, these finely-crafted stories provide excellent models for young people’s own writing.

With its strong focus on issues of identity and belonging, this anthology is an invaluable supplementary resource for the New South Wales Year 12 syllabus.

Perfectly pitched for readers in secondary school, Listening to Mondrian would also be accessible to mature primary-age students.