Take Three Girls, by Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell & Fiona Wood

Clem, Kate and Ady are in Year 10 at St Hilda’s, one Melbourne’s incestuous and insular private schools. With parents working in Singapore, sporty Clem and her nerdy fraternal twin Iris really don’t get along. A swim star, Clem is rethinking her priorities after an injury and an encounter with an attractive older boy. Country girl Kate is another new boarder, keen to get a scholarship and study medicine but torn by her love of music and the alternative possibilities it offers. Ady is a long term day girl with family problems, struggling to reconcile her creative side with her mean girl pack. St Hilda’s has instituted a wellness program to counteract online bullying, which seems inadequate to deal with its toxic impact on the girls. But it serves to bring together three who would otherwise have had little to do with each other and these new, strong friendships help them deal with the online nastiness. The three authors create strong voices for three distinct heroines, who learn a lot about themselves and how to get what they want in life. They also do a good job of blending those voices when the girls interact, although sad twin Iris is left a little underdone. The end of the tale is anticlimactic, fighting hate with flowers solves everything apparently, which is a pity as it’s otherwise a good, contemporary story.