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Aspiring
Fifteen-year-old Ricky lives in Aspiring, a town that’s growing at an alarming rate. Ricky’s growing, too — 6’7”, and taller every day. But he’s stuck in a student, uncommitted basketballer, and puzzled son, burdened by his family’s sadness. And who’s the weird guy in town with a chauffeur and half a Cadillac? What about the bits of story that invade his head? Uncertain what’s real — and who he is — Ricky can’t stop sifting for clues. He has no idea how things will end up . . . With sunlight, verve and humour, award-winning writer Damien Wilkins brings us a beguiling boy who’s trying to make sense of it all.
- GenresRealistic Fiction
200 pages, Paperback
Published March 12, 2020
1 person is currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Damien Wilkins
22 books28 followersDamien Wilkins writes fiction, and he has published short stories, novels, and poetry. His writing has been described as ‘exuberant and evocative, subtle and exact, aware of its own artifice yet relishing the idiosyncrasies and possibilities of language’. Wilkins has had books published in New Zealand, the USA and the UK, and he has won and been nominated for a range of prizes and awards. He also edited the award-winning anthology, Great Sporting Moments: The best of Sport magazine 1988-2004 published in 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 28, 2020
I was really excited to see this book and bought it purely and simply for the cover before lockdown. I grew up just down the road from the place where it is set and the cover, with it's glowing mountains on the other side of a jewel blue lake had me totally invested.
This is Ricky's story. He is a teenager in the town of Aspiring, which is Wanaka in real life, a town which is a major drawcard for tourists who come to see the pristine Lake Wanaka, to climb and wander in the mountains and to soak up the sun in summer and the skifields in winter. Wanaka is one of those towns which has outgrown its small rural town origins. Ricky is a pretty ordinary kid, he goes to school, works in a cafe, has the usual family drama going on with the exception of two things, he is ridiculously tall and his brother was killed a few years ago in a traffic crash.
Ricky is one of those kids who plays scenarios in his head, he is constantly writing the script of a movie or a novel as a running commentary on his life. His interior life is very active, unlike the rest of his life which just follows along it's routine day to day. He has a few friends, he is useful in the basketball team because of his hight not his ability and he has work. A boss who cares about him and an aunt who loves him dearly despite being treated with prickly aversion by his Mum and Dad. Suddenly, Ricky begins to pay attention to the American man hanging around the cafe, a cut off Cadillac with a chauffeur, friends who are involved in a scam and a basketball team which is on the up. It is all going on. Plus there is a girl showing interest in him. For an overthinker this is a lot!
Actually it is too much overall. This book is trying to do too much. And it is all good stuff that it is trying to do, but it felt for me that it needed to be reigned in a little bit. Especially towards the end. I think that there is some lovely stuff in this novel, but it isn't quite the right fit. There needed to be more drive towards the outcome, to be a bit tightened up. Ricky is a lovely character and I wanted his story to be great. I struggled a little bit to feel that it was going to have a real appeal to the intended audience. It is a near miss for me.
This is Ricky's story. He is a teenager in the town of Aspiring, which is Wanaka in real life, a town which is a major drawcard for tourists who come to see the pristine Lake Wanaka, to climb and wander in the mountains and to soak up the sun in summer and the skifields in winter. Wanaka is one of those towns which has outgrown its small rural town origins. Ricky is a pretty ordinary kid, he goes to school, works in a cafe, has the usual family drama going on with the exception of two things, he is ridiculously tall and his brother was killed a few years ago in a traffic crash.
Ricky is one of those kids who plays scenarios in his head, he is constantly writing the script of a movie or a novel as a running commentary on his life. His interior life is very active, unlike the rest of his life which just follows along it's routine day to day. He has a few friends, he is useful in the basketball team because of his hight not his ability and he has work. A boss who cares about him and an aunt who loves him dearly despite being treated with prickly aversion by his Mum and Dad. Suddenly, Ricky begins to pay attention to the American man hanging around the cafe, a cut off Cadillac with a chauffeur, friends who are involved in a scam and a basketball team which is on the up. It is all going on. Plus there is a girl showing interest in him. For an overthinker this is a lot!
Actually it is too much overall. This book is trying to do too much. And it is all good stuff that it is trying to do, but it felt for me that it needed to be reigned in a little bit. Especially towards the end. I think that there is some lovely stuff in this novel, but it isn't quite the right fit. There needed to be more drive towards the outcome, to be a bit tightened up. Ricky is a lovely character and I wanted his story to be great. I struggled a little bit to feel that it was going to have a real appeal to the intended audience. It is a near miss for me.
January 7, 2023
What a quietly profound YA novel. This moves at a glacial pace and it was really hard to get in to. Then there were a few passages or observations that the main character made that had me sitting back and thinking. Some of the characters don't feel like they fit but you come to realise they serve a purpose in terms of helping Ricky come to terms with the weight of sadness that has sucked the joy out of his home. I ended up really appreciating this exploration of grief set in beautiful NZ.
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January 13, 2021
I really enjoyed the first half of this book. We get to know Ricky and his family, we have a glimpse of the beautiful 'Aspiring' or Wanaka to those of us that know this part of NZ. I liked the juxtaposition between Ricky's growth (already 6'7 and growing everyday) and the town's growth, which includes the arrival of Keri, who turns out to be a first love with all its awkwardness and joy! This picture, along with the long showdown of his older brother's death would have been enough, in my opinion. I thought the strange man in the Cadillac, the basketball... confused the narrative and tried to do to much. Perhaps I'm not discerning enough but I was lost with the character of Le Clair and wasn't sure why the Aunt was introduced to the already busy plot. Anyway, I liked Ricky, I loved the cover and the setting can't be beat!!!
March 15, 2021
I wanted this book to rock as I have students who could have lapped up a story set in NZ. Unfortunately I felt both the main character and the plot had lost their way. I won't be recommending this (*sad face*) but hopefully someone else has a better opinion.
June 2, 2020
I really think I need to go back and read this book again. There are so many different layers of meaning that I don't think I appreciated them all on the first read.
August 21, 2020
Aspiring by Damien Wilkins was not only shortlisted for the NZCYA Book Awards 2020, but as we found out last week, also won the Young Adult catergory!
This book was very deserving of that title and here’s why:
From the first page you are drawn in to Ricky’s world; he is our 15 year old narrator and tells his story almost as a stream of consciousness. The story opens with him working in his part time after school job at Pete’s, a run down restaurant/bar in the picturesque fictional South Island town of Aspiring (based on Wanaka) – a town that is full of tourists and growing at an incredible rate.
He’s 6 foot 7 inches tall, still growing. He can instantly tell the height of anyone just by looking at them and he has intrusive thoughts, mini stories that play out in his head while his life plays out around him. Such as this one while he’s cleaning out the meat freezer at Pete’s:
“Slowly it dawned on him that these icy pouches contained not next month’s dinner but the neatly sliced remains of the missing scientist.”
The cast of characters includes Ricky’s Mum and Dad, his friends at school, the mysterious Mr Le Clair (who he believes is predicting his future), and Keri, his bosses daughter/romantic interest who is newly returned from Auckland. But perhaps one of the most important characters is the looming memory of his older brother Mike who died a few years prior in a car accident. Mike influences Ricky has his family by his absence and shapes so much of their world.
Even the small characters in this book feel large. Everyone is so distinct and I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a kiwi that I can resonate so easily with everyone or if it is truly cross cultural, but these characters jump of the page and feel like real people you’ve met and intercted with.
Within a few chapters, it was clear that this is a book an english teacher would choose for her year 10 or 11 class to study. This is the first book in a very long time that has taken me back to those painful, awkward and uncertain years of being a teenager and trying to figure it all out.
There are so many pieces to this book that would make it ideal for a classroom (and indeed, help it to be a really engaging and enjoyable read).
In summary, Aspiring is the kind of easy, enjoyable read that would appeal to anyone from age 14 and up. Forgive the cliche, but it is a true coming of age story that is honest, tender and funny.
This book was very deserving of that title and here’s why:
From the first page you are drawn in to Ricky’s world; he is our 15 year old narrator and tells his story almost as a stream of consciousness. The story opens with him working in his part time after school job at Pete’s, a run down restaurant/bar in the picturesque fictional South Island town of Aspiring (based on Wanaka) – a town that is full of tourists and growing at an incredible rate.
He’s 6 foot 7 inches tall, still growing. He can instantly tell the height of anyone just by looking at them and he has intrusive thoughts, mini stories that play out in his head while his life plays out around him. Such as this one while he’s cleaning out the meat freezer at Pete’s:
“Slowly it dawned on him that these icy pouches contained not next month’s dinner but the neatly sliced remains of the missing scientist.”
The cast of characters includes Ricky’s Mum and Dad, his friends at school, the mysterious Mr Le Clair (who he believes is predicting his future), and Keri, his bosses daughter/romantic interest who is newly returned from Auckland. But perhaps one of the most important characters is the looming memory of his older brother Mike who died a few years prior in a car accident. Mike influences Ricky has his family by his absence and shapes so much of their world.
Even the small characters in this book feel large. Everyone is so distinct and I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a kiwi that I can resonate so easily with everyone or if it is truly cross cultural, but these characters jump of the page and feel like real people you’ve met and intercted with.
Within a few chapters, it was clear that this is a book an english teacher would choose for her year 10 or 11 class to study. This is the first book in a very long time that has taken me back to those painful, awkward and uncertain years of being a teenager and trying to figure it all out.
There are so many pieces to this book that would make it ideal for a classroom (and indeed, help it to be a really engaging and enjoyable read).
In summary, Aspiring is the kind of easy, enjoyable read that would appeal to anyone from age 14 and up. Forgive the cliche, but it is a true coming of age story that is honest, tender and funny.
July 24, 2020
Really good read - Wilkins has a great sense of humour, and this teenage kind-of-coming-of-age novel is a refreshing change among all the fantasy fiction
August 10, 2020
I smiled my way through this. Smart and sweet book, not just for kids.
February 2, 2021
A humorous look into the life of Ricky, living with the loss of a sibling in a town that's ever changing highlighting the effects of climate change on the lake, investment and financial decline on people's employment prospects, as well as the effects of a changing population on the township's look and feel. The plot unveils the mystery of several local stories via the human library, includes awkward parent-child communication silences, and a fascination with the St Louis Gateway Arch - and why not?
For the most part, the writing is cleverly constructed with an apt title and the ever-present and wide-ranging meanings of the ideas of height, growth, progress and expansion in all its forms.
How do we measure success, growth, or interest as well as know when it's time to leave our hometown or let go of our fears, losses, or guilt?
Parents may want to read chapter 18 before suggesting their child read this one!
For the most part, the writing is cleverly constructed with an apt title and the ever-present and wide-ranging meanings of the ideas of height, growth, progress and expansion in all its forms.
How do we measure success, growth, or interest as well as know when it's time to leave our hometown or let go of our fears, losses, or guilt?
Parents may want to read chapter 18 before suggesting their child read this one!
September 20, 2021
A shorter Wilkins book than usual - or so it feels - but still full of his quirky humour, imaginative sidepaths, fully-alive characters, and all manner of other oddities.
Aspiring is the name of the town in the story, and any Kiwi reader will know immediately that it's a disguise for Wanaka, with its lake, and mountains, and adventures sports, and phenomenal growth.
The story is presented in the usual Wilkins style: understated, not always telling you everything, true and yet also a little off the wall. Very enjoyable, and with a wonderful main character, who, like Wanaka/Aspiring, is growing taller day by day it seems.
Aspiring is the name of the town in the story, and any Kiwi reader will know immediately that it's a disguise for Wanaka, with its lake, and mountains, and adventures sports, and phenomenal growth.
The story is presented in the usual Wilkins style: understated, not always telling you everything, true and yet also a little off the wall. Very enjoyable, and with a wonderful main character, who, like Wanaka/Aspiring, is growing taller day by day it seems.
January 22, 2025
Strong realistic characterisation but zero plot tension until about p70. Too slow for YA. Also, uneasy mix of precise youth characterisation and cliched adult villain. Maybe because of teenage protagonist but still.
February 9, 2021
2.5 stars
January 6, 2022
I read this book for battle of the books. It was quite confusing and there are a lot of parts that I didn't really understand fully. But it was short and pretty interesting.
October 22, 2025
I really enjoyed the teenage angst, the setting, and the feeling of being trapped even while being in such a beautiful place which others wanted to visit, and being trapped in a cycle of grief. I could have done without the supernatural (?) element.
June 7, 2021
Nice to have a really good NZ YA.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews