In Between: Angie; Saret; Alex; Fatima

by Maureen McCarthy

Genres: Young Adult

321 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1998

About the author

Maureen McCarthy, the ninth of ten children, was born in 1953 in country Victoria. She has worked as a teacher in Victorian secondary schools and has written scripts for television and educational films. Her film credits include 'Skipping Class', he award-winning documentary, 'Eating Your Heart Out', and the SBS mini-series, 'In Between', which was later adapted inot four novels by Maureen. Her latest works includes the novels Ganglands and Cross My Heart, which was published in 1993 and short-listed for the NSW Premier's Prize in that year. An Australian author and scriptwriter, her novels concern the lives of emerging adults, from ages sixteen to early twenties. McCarthy has three sons and lives in Melbourne.
Maureen dedicated her story in the collection 'Family: A Collection of Short Stories' to the memory of her much-loved nephew, Justin Haire, who died tragically in October 1993, aged 21 years.

Reviews

[Alli · Rating 5 out of 5]

'My friend Alex. The boy inside me is still afraid. Take the kite for Tome. Tell him it must go very high, like a bird. Tell him Australian bombers must only play football. My Buddha is for Fatima. She will understand what it is for me.
I have nothing to give you Alex, but friendship.
In my father's family, this is the best gift of all.'

This book is wonderfully written.
It is the story of four teens growing up in multicultural Australia.
Even though it was first published in 1987 the themes that each of the teens went through are still completely relevant to today.

We have Fatima, a Muslim Turkish girl who wants to have the freedom to do what she wishes with her own time but still has the respect & responsibility to return home by her curfews, really appreciating the small luxury of participating on the community paper.
There is Saret, a Cambodian Illigal immigrant, who along with his sister have escaped the horrors of his country trying to seek a new life but have to deal with new horrors in Australia.
Then there is Angie a blonde haired Aussie/Polish girl who lives with her single mother and is best friends with Fatima. She doesn't seem to understand the restrictions of Fatima's parents & has a lot of freedom that she takes for granted.
Lastly there is Alex the Macedonion young guy who is stuck hanging out with the wrong 'gang' crowd. He has proud Macedonion parents who wish he would grow up & be a man and not shame the family and his little brother,Tome, who idolises him.
You also get a glimpse of where their parents were from & how they have suffered to get to where they are hoping to bring up their children in Australia but yet with thier old countries beliefs, not ready to let go of traditions & even thier own discriminations.

The issues each of teens face are the same issues that are still being faced in every day life Australia now.
Again Maureen McCarthy has used the streets of Melbourne so this really made it feel realistic to me. In fact I think I know the Community Housing Block where these characters live.
I picked up a few Maureen McCarthy books from a second hand store as she was appearing at a school my teacher friend works at and out of the 3 I have read so far this one is the best (Ganglands was also quite good). If you can find this book in a library, a charity shop or on the shelf at a friends place I recommend picking it up and getting stuck into it!

One of my favourite moments was when Alex described his mother dancing at a picnic and that she was one of the most Beautiful woman on that particular day.