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.

First Person Shooter, by Cameron Raynes

Bikies, bullying, drugs and dysfunction – all are just as rife in a small regional town as in the city, but with fewer resources devoted to dealing with such problems and fewer places to hide from them. Fifteen-year-old Jayden lost his mum when he was three and his dad is recovering from a serious car accident. He stutters badly and is addicted to the video game Call of Duty. At school he is a weirdo, but not a loner as he has found his tribe, and then there is Shannon – his neighbour and best friend, who could be more. Shannon has her own demons. Her dad died before she was born and her mum is nearing the end of a prison sentence for shooting dead her violent stepfather. Both kids enjoy target practice with their rifles, but avoid shooting live targets, even pest animals like foxes. Raynes evokes an all-too believable country town with issues. The tension builds as the day of Shannon’s mum’s release approaches and the small town and its surrounding farming families brace for repercussions. Jayden’s limits are tested as he learns to rise above his disability and break free of others’ expectations of him.