Taking Down Evelyn Tait, by Poppy Nwosu

Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Murphy is always in trouble. Largely it’s of her own making, but sometimes it’s engineered by her arch enemy Evelyn Tait - who is everything Lottie is not. Now Evelyn has gone too far, romancing Lottie’s best friend Grace just to get to her. But second best friend Jude has a plan to take Evelyn down – outdo her in goodness and get her to show her true colours in school and at home. Nwosu gives a somewhat idealised picture of teens and their ability to rapidly learn and change. Her depiction of their everyday acceptance of diversity is hopefully more accurate and is refreshing. There is a touch of naivety to Lottie that is a little hard to swallow at times, but her spirit and energy is infectious. She is a bright spark and her relationship with her headmaster is particularly enjoyable. For anyone who knows Adelaide there are some glitches in geography and the timeline but the evocation of an exceptionally hot early summer in Port Adelaide is lovely. Despite a few minor twists and turns it is always pretty clear where this story is going and it’s an enjoyable journey getting there.