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Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair
A special reissue of a bestselling Australian classic from award-winning author Steven Herrick.
Jack is an everyday sixteen-year-old boy. He’s obsessed with Annabel, sport and nose hair. He’s also obsessed with a ghost …
There’s a ghost in our house
in a red evening dress,
black stockings
and Mum’s slingback shoes.
Her hair whispers
over white shoulders
as she dances through the rooms.
A bittersweet comedy about the infinite promise of first love and the everlasting sorrow of grief, Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair was shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year: Older Readers and New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards.
Jack is an everyday sixteen-year-old boy. He’s obsessed with Annabel, sport and nose hair. He’s also obsessed with a ghost …
There’s a ghost in our house
in a red evening dress,
black stockings
and Mum’s slingback shoes.
Her hair whispers
over white shoulders
as she dances through the rooms.
A bittersweet comedy about the infinite promise of first love and the everlasting sorrow of grief, Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair was shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year: Older Readers and New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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104 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 1, 2017
3.5 stars.
This review appears on Happy Indulgence. Check it out for more reviews.
Thank you to University of Queensland Press for providing a review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair is an Australian young adult book that is written entirely in verse. It’s short but sweet and packs quite an emotional punch, despite it having quite a simplistic story. The book focuses on family and grief, which are two of my favourite themes to read about.
While the story may seem a little bit slice of life, at the heart of it lies an impactful story about grief and how people deal with loss. The main character Jack is 16 and lives with his father and his older sister in the Blue Mountains after losing his mother to cancer 7 years ago. Her loss still haunts him and he spends a lot of his time communicating with ‘the ghost’ who is the mother he has lost. At the same time, Jack is having his first venture into love with a girl from his high school, Annabel.
My favourite thing about this book is the way that it was written. I love reading books that are written in verse and, while I admit that I don’t always really understand poetry or verse, there’s something very magical about a story that is able to be told in such an impactful way with so few words. Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair is a simple story and it’s difficult to see what it’s about at the start but the words will draw you in and the themes of the story become apparent quite quickly. I thought it was an interesting portrayal of grief and loss that didn’t involve lots of gut-wrenching and devastating moments. Instead, it was understated but still effective in communicating the grief that a family goes through when they experience a loss of a family member. What I also enjoyed was the fact that the book was written not only from Jack’s perspective, but also from the perspective of his sister, Desiree, his father, and Annabel. It gave a really well-rounded picture of grief and how different people deal with it differently. My only real criticism is that I wish the book was a bit longer. I would’ve liked to have seen it developed a little bit further and at a slower pace.
I loved Jack as a character. Sometimes it can be hard to get a sense of what a character is like when everything is written in verse, but I got a great image of Jack. He’s just your everyday teenage boy who’s just discovering love and trying to move on from a tragic loss. He’s a writer and wants to publish a successful book in the future, and it was just really hard not to love him. I also really enjoyed getting to know the other characters. There were quite a few pages or poems written from the perspective of the other characters and this allowed us not only to get to know them but also to learn more about Jack from their perspective.
Overall, I really enjoyed Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair. It was simple but impactful and the cast of characters were extremely likable. I really loved the themes of family and grief but wished the book had been a little bit longer.
This review appears on Happy Indulgence. Check it out for more reviews.
Thank you to University of Queensland Press for providing a review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair is an Australian young adult book that is written entirely in verse. It’s short but sweet and packs quite an emotional punch, despite it having quite a simplistic story. The book focuses on family and grief, which are two of my favourite themes to read about.
While the story may seem a little bit slice of life, at the heart of it lies an impactful story about grief and how people deal with loss. The main character Jack is 16 and lives with his father and his older sister in the Blue Mountains after losing his mother to cancer 7 years ago. Her loss still haunts him and he spends a lot of his time communicating with ‘the ghost’ who is the mother he has lost. At the same time, Jack is having his first venture into love with a girl from his high school, Annabel.
My favourite thing about this book is the way that it was written. I love reading books that are written in verse and, while I admit that I don’t always really understand poetry or verse, there’s something very magical about a story that is able to be told in such an impactful way with so few words. Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair is a simple story and it’s difficult to see what it’s about at the start but the words will draw you in and the themes of the story become apparent quite quickly. I thought it was an interesting portrayal of grief and loss that didn’t involve lots of gut-wrenching and devastating moments. Instead, it was understated but still effective in communicating the grief that a family goes through when they experience a loss of a family member. What I also enjoyed was the fact that the book was written not only from Jack’s perspective, but also from the perspective of his sister, Desiree, his father, and Annabel. It gave a really well-rounded picture of grief and how different people deal with it differently. My only real criticism is that I wish the book was a bit longer. I would’ve liked to have seen it developed a little bit further and at a slower pace.
I loved Jack as a character. Sometimes it can be hard to get a sense of what a character is like when everything is written in verse, but I got a great image of Jack. He’s just your everyday teenage boy who’s just discovering love and trying to move on from a tragic loss. He’s a writer and wants to publish a successful book in the future, and it was just really hard not to love him. I also really enjoyed getting to know the other characters. There were quite a few pages or poems written from the perspective of the other characters and this allowed us not only to get to know them but also to learn more about Jack from their perspective.
Overall, I really enjoyed Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair. It was simple but impactful and the cast of characters were extremely likable. I really loved the themes of family and grief but wished the book had been a little bit longer.
March 20, 2017
A wonderful little read, but enjoyed A Place Like This more.
February 26, 2017
Steven Herrick is a dead-set legend. Seriously; if writing awesome books for adolescents was grounds for canonisation, he’d be a living Saint.
Okay, so that is a bit of a stretch; but Herrick is all about the stuff that We English teachers dream about. Appealing characters and themes that resonate with teens; check. Language that oozes with all the delectability of the purest honey; check. Settings that are uniquely, and refreshingly, Australian; yes please. Add to this that the man does it in verse (although his prose is particularly splendid also). Excuse me while I swoon; I may be in urgent need of a Bex and a lie down.
I came to the magic that is Steven Herrick somewhat recently; jumping on board in 2011 with the release of his novel Black Painted Fingernails. Having now officially surrendered to his spell, I welcomed the chance to read a reissue of a couple of his older books. Love, Ghosts and Nose Hair and its sequel A Place Like This, were originally released in 1996 and 1998 respectively. Examining the story of Jack and Annabel, both stories, told completely in verse, remain as fresh as if they were only written last week.
As with many of Herrick’s stories, both novels explore the experiences of youth set against the unique backdrop of Australia (be it in suburbia or in the bush). While primarily ‘coming of age’ tales, both travel the somewhat clumsy, often giddy, joy that is first love. Herrick’s world is one where the ride through adolescence collides head-on with reality. His characters are insecure, frequently searching and battle with a world that has often dealt them a hand that is unfair. For Jack, this reality is one where he must reconcile his own ghosts and the grief associated with losing his mother to cancer. It is a place where Annabel must define her own future, even though doing so may cause conflict with the future her parents (and Jack) have envisioned for her. Finally, there is Emma; sixteen and pregnant, she must come to terms with her life, that of her unborn child and the unfairness of a single night that changed everything. You see, while humour is a tool that Herrick employs with great finesse; beneath this is a gritty world that is unfair and filled with characters whose hearts ache with pain certain to resonate with its audience.
Both Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair and A Place Like This, are beautifully crafted using the sparse descriptive language now synonymous with Herrick. The stories will have broad appeal with older adolescents and will sit well in the English curriculum from year 10 upwards. As with most of Herrick’s verse novels, these stories are as accessible as they are engaging. While suitable for use with accelerated English students, they will be deeply appreciated by less reluctant readers in the senior years.
For more reviews like this head on over to www.ozbooks4teachers.wordpress.com
Okay, so that is a bit of a stretch; but Herrick is all about the stuff that We English teachers dream about. Appealing characters and themes that resonate with teens; check. Language that oozes with all the delectability of the purest honey; check. Settings that are uniquely, and refreshingly, Australian; yes please. Add to this that the man does it in verse (although his prose is particularly splendid also). Excuse me while I swoon; I may be in urgent need of a Bex and a lie down.
I came to the magic that is Steven Herrick somewhat recently; jumping on board in 2011 with the release of his novel Black Painted Fingernails. Having now officially surrendered to his spell, I welcomed the chance to read a reissue of a couple of his older books. Love, Ghosts and Nose Hair and its sequel A Place Like This, were originally released in 1996 and 1998 respectively. Examining the story of Jack and Annabel, both stories, told completely in verse, remain as fresh as if they were only written last week.
As with many of Herrick’s stories, both novels explore the experiences of youth set against the unique backdrop of Australia (be it in suburbia or in the bush). While primarily ‘coming of age’ tales, both travel the somewhat clumsy, often giddy, joy that is first love. Herrick’s world is one where the ride through adolescence collides head-on with reality. His characters are insecure, frequently searching and battle with a world that has often dealt them a hand that is unfair. For Jack, this reality is one where he must reconcile his own ghosts and the grief associated with losing his mother to cancer. It is a place where Annabel must define her own future, even though doing so may cause conflict with the future her parents (and Jack) have envisioned for her. Finally, there is Emma; sixteen and pregnant, she must come to terms with her life, that of her unborn child and the unfairness of a single night that changed everything. You see, while humour is a tool that Herrick employs with great finesse; beneath this is a gritty world that is unfair and filled with characters whose hearts ache with pain certain to resonate with its audience.
Both Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair and A Place Like This, are beautifully crafted using the sparse descriptive language now synonymous with Herrick. The stories will have broad appeal with older adolescents and will sit well in the English curriculum from year 10 upwards. As with most of Herrick’s verse novels, these stories are as accessible as they are engaging. While suitable for use with accelerated English students, they will be deeply appreciated by less reluctant readers in the senior years.
For more reviews like this head on over to www.ozbooks4teachers.wordpress.com
January 8, 2021
Uh I read this for school... It wasn't too bad tbh I just don't really like poetry that much that's all.
December 24, 2023
17 year old Jack is on the cusp of leaving childhood behind. School, sport, sex are all on his mind. With his Dad and his sister, the last 10 years has been spent coming to terms with the sudden death of his mother. Life doesn't care about you or your plans, but you have to push through it. Falling in love with Annabel, and all that that brings to him, enables Jack to view his future on his own terms.
Powerfully written in verse novel form, this will surprise young adult readers with its many frank, funny and poignant moments.
Powerfully written in verse novel form, this will surprise young adult readers with its many frank, funny and poignant moments.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 19, 2020
1/5
I really didn't enjoy this book! The poetry just wasn't for me...
I really didn't enjoy this book! The poetry just wasn't for me...
February 10, 2020
its a good book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2022
Jack has written in verse form his life - the important bits to him and the things that matter most - his family.
July 27, 2008
good shit!
had to teach it to the world's shittiest students last year, none of whom really appreciated it. but i dug it. and though it's young adult fiction, worth a look for adults alike.
it's also a nice progressive choice of a novel for students - dealing with sex and such, death, heavy issues. it makes parents angry, which makes me excited! yay for rocking the boat
had to teach it to the world's shittiest students last year, none of whom really appreciated it. but i dug it. and though it's young adult fiction, worth a look for adults alike.
it's also a nice progressive choice of a novel for students - dealing with sex and such, death, heavy issues. it makes parents angry, which makes me excited! yay for rocking the boat
September 22, 2016
(Only a quick review, sorry!)
I read this book on the train today! Only took me maybe an hour all up. An easy 4 stars!! I really like poetry like this. I actually got this book because we needed it for school in like, year 8, but I read it again a couple years ago and I read it again today!
And bonus points 'cause it's Australian!
I read this book on the train today! Only took me maybe an hour all up. An easy 4 stars!! I really like poetry like this. I actually got this book because we needed it for school in like, year 8, but I read it again a couple years ago and I read it again today!
And bonus points 'cause it's Australian!
October 10, 2014
a wonderful series of poems by Steven Herrick conveying what it means to be a teen and be in love. I enjoyed it very much
February 24, 2018
revisiting a favourite verse novel from when I was a teen. still a favourite!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews