Out Walked Mel

by Paula Boock

A gripping book for teenage readers by award-winning writer - fast-paced, punchy and much lovedMel is short, stroppy and never knows when to keep her mouth shut. When she interferes with her best friend Wai's interaction with none other than the Minister of Education, and the interference isn't appreciated, Mel storms out. Out of school and out of home - and heads north. At first she sees it as an escape from a past and present too messy to deal with. But standing up for yourself is one thing; facing the consequences is quite another. Mel's return journey from one end of New Zealand to the other turns into a discovery of not only truths about her past, but also truths about herself. 'The most nicked book in schools'. Mel is instantly familiar - mixed-up, smart, and sassy.

Genres: Young Adult

Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Paula Boock began writing when she was seven. 'There was this story of four brothers who were surprisingly like my four brothers... I illustrated the book as well — the characters looked sort of like the Beatles.'

'I've always been affected by books. As the youngest in a large, boisterous family, I developed early the ability to work — write even — amidst a racket. The library — school and public — was where I found most of my books. I went through all the crazes: Secret Seven, Famous Five, horsey books, detective novels, sci-fi... you name it.'

Paula began by writing plays and short stories, but it wasn't until she began working in publishing that she thought of writing a young adult novel. Her first novel, Out Walked Mel, won the AIM Best First Book Award and was a finalist for the Esther Glen Medal, a library award she won two years later for her novel Sasscat to Win. She was the 1994 Writer in Residence at the Dunedin College of Education where she wrote her third book, Home Run, a finalist in the 1996 AIM Senior Fiction Award, and began Dare Truth or Promise. This last novel sold worldwide, won the 1998 NZ Post Children's Book of the Year award, and was shortlisted for a Lambda Award in the United States.

Paula's recent work includes an adult novel, scriptwriting 'The Strip' and more young adult fiction titles. She enjoys the film and television genre, but finds that teenage characters 'still tend to sneak into my work and take over.' Paula lives and works in Wellington, New Zealand.

Reviews

[EmilyViolet · Rating 1 out of 5]

Warning: Rant ahead.
(Spoilers too, but you don't care about those.)

This was yet another book I was required to read for school and yet another one that I hated. With a passion.
Out Walked Mel is the strange, pointless tale of a girl who swears at the minister of education, runs away to stay with her boyfriend, doesn't want to sleep with him, then does, then doesn't, then goes on a tour bus, see's a flower and finds out her best friend died. Woo. There's also some inner turmoil or something in there to do with her parents (her mum might have been bi???? You never really get told)

You're probably thinking, well all books are kind of pointless; they're just entertainment (BTW they are way more than that) but Out Walked Mel wasn't even entertaining in the slightest. Need proof? A girl in my class was sitting there reading it and then bam! She fell asleep, slumped in her chair in English.
NO ONE GIVES A CRAP ABOUT MEL'S STUPID LITTLE PROBLEMS!

Also, Mel's character is simply not a likable one. She is too... immature and petty to be a decent lead in a book. It's very difficult to like someone who decides to have sex for the first time because she saw her boyfriend have a 'moment' with his roommate. She also never faces her problems, or stands up for herself, or looks any deeper than the skin outer layer of anything. Need more examples? Mel never even found out whether she was expelled or not before running away from home- she could have done that for absolutely no reason. Instead of being a smart, decent person, while hitch-hiking she climbs into a car with four (three?) random dudes, one whom is high, the other two drunk and doesn't even try getting out until they basically get sick of her and start trying to scare her. She never wrote to Helen because Helen moved away. Simple as that, she thought. But no, subconsciously she never wrote to Helen because Helen and her mum had been lovers. It takes her the entire book and her best friends death to figure that out. WTF?

Lastly, I just want to mention when Mel was a child, she ate a photograph of her mother. ATE. She pulled it out of the frame, picked the layers apart, chewed the sheets into tiny balls and swallowed them. She wasn't even a small enough child not to know what she was doing either.
I had to mention that, because it really creep-ed me out.

So that, children, is Out Walked Mel. A weird, pointless, slightly demented (not in a good way) novel that you should avoid at all costs.
Seriously English teachers, get some bloody taste!

[Katie Little · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hardly what I would call a novel. Its shorter than a Stephen King 'short' story.

I remember reading this one at high school. (Funnily enough the high school Mel supposedly attends)

Its overly simple and I havent read enough Paula Boock to know if this is just her style or not. But it suits the material. 17 year old girls can be incredibly vapid. That hasnt changed in the nearly 30 years since this book was released and isnt likely to ever change.

What I appreciated was the little shout outs to the casual and not so casual racism which continues to be a huge problem in New Zealand.

[Malcolm]

A strange little piece of Young Adult fiction which nevertheless deals with big themes such as discovering one's own sexuality. Set in a picareque form, it is the story of the travels of a teenage girl over much of the length of New Zealand (Dunedin to Cape Reinga and back.)
Although the allusions to and quotations from Mary Renault's The Last of the Wine, would alert the adult reader, many young adult readers seem to miss what it is that Mel comes to understand about herself. The troubled rebellious character, however, seems to engage most readers and the language is easy to follow.
It is a pity though that the school examiners in New Zealand and many teachers miss the use of literary allusions (not just Mary Renault but also Jean Auel) including the irony of Bob Marriott singing House of the Rising Sun as well as the symbolism of the flower and the dark tunnels. This book does not insult the intelligence of the better reader although its length (eighty pages)will not keep you long.

[Clay · Rating 2 out of 5]

All actions have consequences. ‘Out Walked Mel’ demonstrates that you cannot run away from your problems; you have to face them head on. Mel has many challenges: she’s impulsive, she doesn’t like school, she is confused about her sexuality, her Mum’s dead, her Dad is absent and her brother has been forced into being her caregiver. She lacks the maturity to deal with these issues, so instead she decides to literally run away – to Christchurch. However, because she is impulsive she has no plan of how she will get there and how she will support herself, so she ends up hitchhiking with members of the Mongrel Mob, who are recklessly drunk driving: “It seemed as if one bottle had turned this guy into a raving maniac.” Mel thought that she was grown up and sophisticated, but quickly realised she was completely out of her depth.
Often, teenagers make poor decisions on a whim, as their brains are not fully developed. Mel’s actions are a clear example of this. Sometimes, we need to realise that we are still growing up, and need to take the time to think about a choice that could have an outcome which could harm us, however it is never too late to face the consequences of your actions and start again. Mel realises that leaving her home doesn’t mean her problems are no longer there; they will follow her wherever she goes until she deals with them. This shows that Mel has matured. The reader sees this in her decision to go home and restart her education: “I think I’d like to go back to school.” Mel now understands that, although it is difficult to deal with her issues, she needs to confront them head on in order to progress in life. It is never too late to make a positive change and improve the trajectory of your life.

[Chantelle Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well I had to read Out Walked Mel in my English class, and it was one of those books I couldnt help but not take seriously. I had one of those teachers that seem to always try to find the oldest, hardly known, book to have their class read for an assignment and, as always when this happens, it doesnt work out well.

The book focuses on Mel, who seems to have a lot of issues. Mel loses her mother in a car accident when she is young and at this time is neglected by her loser of a father. Mel has to live with her older brother, Davy (I think that is his name) and his partner, Steph.

When we meet Mel she is failing school and has no idea what she wants to do with her life. Mel also has a fight with her best friend, Wai, after she acuses the principal of being racist to Wai, though Wai doesnt see it this way. I don't even know why the fight is such a big deal to Mel but that is how the story goes as pointless as it is.

The fight then gives Mel some crazy ideas; that maybe she could go and visit her boyfriend to get some sort of inspiration on what she wants to do with her life, though she has to go and see her dad first. So Mel runs off as a hitch-hiker to see her father and get some money out of him so she can visit this boyfriend of hers.

The remainder of the book is about Mel randomly slotting into the picture of people she meets along the way and then deciding that she will go back to school at the end of the book. Wai also dies when Mel gets back which is probably the only relevant twist. A book I quickly tired of reading.

[SBC · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book, but very good.

Mel is tough and urban, wears a leather jacket and big boots, and plays the drums. She is friends with Wai and is sort-of girlfriend to Wai's brother Benny but clearly ambivalent about it. She has a nice brother (who practically raised her) now married to the Austrian Stef and raising twins (she still lives with them). She gets practically expelled from school because she tells the Minister in other words that he's racist and sexist, then she hitchhikes to Christchurch which was very interesting, the different people that picked her up. I really noticed how heterosexuality was portrayed negatively in this book - father with sleazy chains, clothes, car, decor at house, and with younger girl, and language and fact he cheated on her mother. Benny is nice but she doesn't really like him sexually and he's probably keen on his flatmate. At the end she realises she is bisexual, I think. A good read, but leaves her relationship with Benny unresolved and was it really necessary to kill off Wai?

[Mikaya Hurunui]