The Sidekicks, by Will Kostakis

Three private schoolboys - Ryan, Harley and Miles - have little in common but their mutual friend, Isaac, who has just died. Nevertheless they pull together to process their loss, move on and grow up. The story is told in three parts, from the perspective of each of the boys – the swimmer, the rebel and the nerd. It’s an interesting approach, which works quite well as a picture of Isaac is gradually built up and the reader gets a different perspective of each of the three from the perspective of the other two. Unfortunately none of the three protagonists is quite credible; the cardboard stereotypes of jock, rebel and nerd never quite get fleshed out into real people. This is particularly the case for Miles, the nerd, and as his version is the final segment of the story this is a major problem. Harley, the rebel, is the most successful and his relationship with Isaac’s grieving mother is poignant, containing a ring of truth that the book as a whole lacks.