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All My Dangerous Friends
Louie has finished with her old life, and stepped into a world of sinners. For her, nothing is going to be the same again. This darkly funny, disturbing novel explores a lawless world where morality is a nuisance, everything can be bought, and the prices paid are high.
195 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
2 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
Sonya Hartnett
42 books311 followersSonya Hartnett (also works under the pseudonym Cameron S. Redfern) is, or was, something of an Australian child prodigy author. She wrote her first novel at the age of thirteen, and had it published at fifteen. Her books have also been published in Europe and North America. Her novels have been published traditionally as young adult fiction, but her writing often crosses the divide and is also enjoyed by adults.
"I chose to narrate the story through a child because people like children, they WANT to like them," says Sonya Hartnett of THURSDAY'S CHILD, her brilliantly original coming-of-age story set during the Great Depression. "Harper [the young narrator] is the reason you get sucked into the characters. Even I, who like to distance myself from my characters, felt protective of her."
The acclaimed author of several award-winning young adult novels--the first written when she was just 13--Australian native Sonya Hartnett says she wrote THURSDAY'S CHILD in a mere three months. "It just pulled itself together," she says. "I'd wanted to set a story in the Depression for some time, in an isolated community that was strongly supportive. Once the dual ideas of the boy who tunneled and the young girl as narrator gelled, it almost wrote itself--I had the cast, I had the setting, I just said 'go.' " Accustomed to writing about edgy young adult characters, Sonya Hartnett says that identifying with a seven-year-old protagonist was a challenge at first. "I found her difficult to approach," she admits. "I'm not really used to children. But once I started, I found you could have fun with her: she could tell lies, she could deny the truth." Whereas most children know "only what adults want them to know," the author discovered she could bypass that limitation by "turning Harper into an eavesdropper and giving her older siblings to reveal realities."
In her second book with Candlewick Press, WHAT THE BIRDS SEE, Sonya Hartnett once again creates a portrait of childhood. This time the subject is Adrian, a nine-year-old boy living in the suburbs with his gran and Uncle. For Adrian, childhood is shaped by fear: his dread of quicksand, shopping centers, and self-combustion. Then one day, three neighborhood children vanish--an incident based on a real case in Australia in the 1960s--and Adrian comes to see just how tenuous his safety net is. In speaking about Adrian, the author provocatively reveals parallels between herself and her character. She says, "Adrian is me in many respects, and many of the things that happen to him happened to me."
Sonya Hartnett's consistently inspired writing has built her a legion of devotees. Of THURSDAY'S CHILD, Newbery Honor-winning author Carolyn Coman says, "Hartnett's beautifully rendered vision drew me in from the very start and carried me along, above and under ground, to the very end. This book amazed me." The achingly beautiful WHAT THE BIRDS SEE has just as quickly garnered critical acclaim. Notes PUBLISHERS WEEKLY in a starred review, "Hartnett again captures the ineffable fragility of childhood in this keenly observed tale. . . . Sophisticated readers will appreciate the work's acuity and poetic integrity." Sonya Hartnett's third young adult novel, STRIPES OF THE SIDESTEP WOLF was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.
Sonya Hartnett lives near Melbourne, Australia. Her most recent novels are SURRENDER, a mesmerizing psychological thriller, and THE SILVER DONKEY, a gently told fable for middle-grade readers.
"I chose to narrate the story through a child because people like children, they WANT to like them," says Sonya Hartnett of THURSDAY'S CHILD, her brilliantly original coming-of-age story set during the Great Depression. "Harper [the young narrator] is the reason you get sucked into the characters. Even I, who like to distance myself from my characters, felt protective of her."
The acclaimed author of several award-winning young adult novels--the first written when she was just 13--Australian native Sonya Hartnett says she wrote THURSDAY'S CHILD in a mere three months. "It just pulled itself together," she says. "I'd wanted to set a story in the Depression for some time, in an isolated community that was strongly supportive. Once the dual ideas of the boy who tunneled and the young girl as narrator gelled, it almost wrote itself--I had the cast, I had the setting, I just said 'go.' " Accustomed to writing about edgy young adult characters, Sonya Hartnett says that identifying with a seven-year-old protagonist was a challenge at first. "I found her difficult to approach," she admits. "I'm not really used to children. But once I started, I found you could have fun with her: she could tell lies, she could deny the truth." Whereas most children know "only what adults want them to know," the author discovered she could bypass that limitation by "turning Harper into an eavesdropper and giving her older siblings to reveal realities."
In her second book with Candlewick Press, WHAT THE BIRDS SEE, Sonya Hartnett once again creates a portrait of childhood. This time the subject is Adrian, a nine-year-old boy living in the suburbs with his gran and Uncle. For Adrian, childhood is shaped by fear: his dread of quicksand, shopping centers, and self-combustion. Then one day, three neighborhood children vanish--an incident based on a real case in Australia in the 1960s--and Adrian comes to see just how tenuous his safety net is. In speaking about Adrian, the author provocatively reveals parallels between herself and her character. She says, "Adrian is me in many respects, and many of the things that happen to him happened to me."
Sonya Hartnett's consistently inspired writing has built her a legion of devotees. Of THURSDAY'S CHILD, Newbery Honor-winning author Carolyn Coman says, "Hartnett's beautifully rendered vision drew me in from the very start and carried me along, above and under ground, to the very end. This book amazed me." The achingly beautiful WHAT THE BIRDS SEE has just as quickly garnered critical acclaim. Notes PUBLISHERS WEEKLY in a starred review, "Hartnett again captures the ineffable fragility of childhood in this keenly observed tale. . . . Sophisticated readers will appreciate the work's acuity and poetic integrity." Sonya Hartnett's third young adult novel, STRIPES OF THE SIDESTEP WOLF was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.
Sonya Hartnett lives near Melbourne, Australia. Her most recent novels are SURRENDER, a mesmerizing psychological thriller, and THE SILVER DONKEY, a gently told fable for middle-grade readers.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 17, 2018
This was entertaining enough but not particularly strong - the main character was a little too naive to be really sympathetic, and the fact that her dodgy friends turned out to be even more dodgy than she initially thought didn't come as much surprise. But the retrospective narration is a good choice and does well at capturing that feeling of looking back on the events of your teenage life with a sense of disconnect.
August 11, 2017
Not one of my Hartnett favourites. Louie an 19 year old who wants to rebel joins a nasty cast of young 20 year olds acting like juveniles delinquents with petty thieving, violence and drugs. The book just seemed flat and lacked the pizzaz of other Hartnett books.
November 8, 2015
I remember reading this book in high school, and I recently bought it again second hand, and boy am I glad that I did, I forgot what a great book this was :)
Want to read
December 18, 2019This cover is amazing.
November 27, 2020
There was something sensitive that shone through in this book. Hartnett did a good job of bringing her characters to life. Both the dialogue and story telling felt real.
It deals with some heavy issues for a teen novel but I think it does so well. Louie might come across as a simple, easily lead, perhaps even one-dimensional character at times but I think the she creates the perfect frame for the other characters to steal the show. Hartnett did smart things like positioning all the characters through Louie's lens for example which made them all likeable. Also the small stories shared, like the one about Flynn waiting for his Dad to come home with the dog, serve to demonstrate how the very small parts we know about people form such big parts of how we understand and accept them.
Overall I think Hartnett did well to portray the complexity of the relationships between the characters and power mechanics that held them together.
It deals with some heavy issues for a teen novel but I think it does so well. Louie might come across as a simple, easily lead, perhaps even one-dimensional character at times but I think the she creates the perfect frame for the other characters to steal the show. Hartnett did smart things like positioning all the characters through Louie's lens for example which made them all likeable. Also the small stories shared, like the one about Flynn waiting for his Dad to come home with the dog, serve to demonstrate how the very small parts we know about people form such big parts of how we understand and accept them.
Overall I think Hartnett did well to portray the complexity of the relationships between the characters and power mechanics that held them together.
December 4, 2023
3 1/2 stars. An engaging story about the bad choices that often get made in the youthful years, when naively trying to impress others.
July 9, 2013
A tremendously interesting amoral tale exploring why people from supposedly good backgrounds choose to involve themselves with petty thieves and low-life crooks.
The storytelling is sparse but exact; it’s all centred around one or two events, so not a huge amount happens, and while the lead characters feel fully formed I couldn't tell you many details about where the book is set.
The tone is serious but carries no trace of self-importance, managing, for example, to touch on domestic violence without being a book about domestic abuse. Hartnett refuses to write didactically and presents us with several conflicting viewpoints throughout meaning the urge to judge the characters in her absence, initially quite strong, becomes muddled and difficult.
As such, if you’re interested in writing with a grand message or you read seeking a philosophy it probably wouldn't be for you. For a fan of minor but notable achievements though, this book works.
The storytelling is sparse but exact; it’s all centred around one or two events, so not a huge amount happens, and while the lead characters feel fully formed I couldn't tell you many details about where the book is set.
The tone is serious but carries no trace of self-importance, managing, for example, to touch on domestic violence without being a book about domestic abuse. Hartnett refuses to write didactically and presents us with several conflicting viewpoints throughout meaning the urge to judge the characters in her absence, initially quite strong, becomes muddled and difficult.
As such, if you’re interested in writing with a grand message or you read seeking a philosophy it probably wouldn't be for you. For a fan of minor but notable achievements though, this book works.
March 16, 2021
I usually love everything Hartnett writes but this isn’t one of my favourites. What I did like about it was the way she showed how easy it is for young women, especially those around 17-18 years of age, to get caught up with people who are really awful. It’s a part of growing up and finding out who you are, and although of course not everyone goes through this phase, I’ve seen it happen.
Often, as in this novel, the main character (Louie) escapes unscathed and goes on to lead a normal life. That is one of the advantages of privilege, something that Hartnett didn’t explore in detail in this novel.
However, the novel is 20 years old now, and privilege (in all its forms) and its impacts was probably not discussed the way it is now.
Not bad, but if for readers who haven’t been introduced to Hartnett, this isn’t the one I would start with.
Often, as in this novel, the main character (Louie) escapes unscathed and goes on to lead a normal life. That is one of the advantages of privilege, something that Hartnett didn’t explore in detail in this novel.
However, the novel is 20 years old now, and privilege (in all its forms) and its impacts was probably not discussed the way it is now.
Not bad, but if for readers who haven’t been introduced to Hartnett, this isn’t the one I would start with.
January 1, 2015
A 19-year-old girl, tired of her safe, boring life, befriends a rougher group. her new friends deal drugs, shoplift big-ticket items, rough up those who need it, and more. she wants to know everything they do, but finding out is more than she wants to see.
not my favorite of Hartnett's books. the plot didn't grab me and tge characters were bland, including the head of their criminal enterprise. Hartnett can do far better.
not my favorite of Hartnett's books. the plot didn't grab me and tge characters were bland, including the head of their criminal enterprise. Hartnett can do far better.
February 28, 2011
A thoroughly unpleasant book about a girl who's a complete loser and her unpleasant friends who rob people, peddle heroin and have nasty violent habits. The fact that the girl finally comes to see them for what they are doesn't IMO redeem it at all, and the advice about how to go shoplifting is extremely irresponsible.
October 6, 2013
I lost interest in All My Dangerous Friends after a while. I didn’t think the characters were that interesting. I stopped listening to the audiobook.
January 1, 2018
yessss.
nice and quick and entertaining.
i loved flynn (?)
nice and quick and entertaining.
i loved flynn (?)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews