Today I want to bring it back local, which is something that I think we are particularly good at here at 2ser. Focussing in on local creators doing interesting, innovative things.
My book this week is Climb from Philip Barker. Philip is a teacher from the Blue Mountains and he’s taken his understanding of his students and his passion for climbing and turned it into an incredible debut.
In Climb we meet Ashley Davies. Ashely has a talent for climbing but so far it’s only proven useful finding the best tree at lunch time and escaping from bullies who insult her brother.
Ashley loves her family and her town but now she’s in High school she realises there’s a lot she doesn’t understand.
There’s too many secrets in Ashley’s life and no one wants to trust her with the truth. So when a rock-climbing competition offers her the chance to (maybe) get some answers, Ashley decides it might be worth keeping a few secrets of her own…
The first thing I want to note about Climb is the centering of Ashley and the way that issues to do with young adults on the cusp of change is dealt with sensitively.
It may seem like a truism that come election season someone is going to bring up lowering the election age and this is invariably met with a slew of stereotypes about the immaturity of youth. In Climb we get to see that the emotions and reactions of youth are natural and often well thought out (if poorly executed). Barker shows us that when you are disempowered and made to feel a spectator in your own life it makes sense to take things into your own hands.
A strength of contemporary YA (young adult) writing is that it melds powerful characterisation with important issues. I’m never going to get to all the wonderful books that cross my desk but shout out to all the amazing cli-fi and other social justice issues being explored.
Ashley is interested in how she can be herself and why this always seems to be the subject of someone’s approval.
Climb takes us into the world of competitive climbing and tries to show us the passion along with the consequences. The book even begins with a ‘don’t try this at home’ type warning. We see in Ashley the infinite potential of starting something new melded with the risk of failing at something essential.
Another aspect I want to shout out is that Climb is independently published. Brought out through Abbeydale Collective, Philip described the group when we spoke as something of the beating heart of the book. Of course we know writers as the name on the cover but Abbeydale collective is a way to acknowledge the numerous and varied people that go into publishing.
Climb is an incredible achievement on its own but the book is already spawning a sequel. On the strength of the original story a follow up is on the horizon and may segue to more mainstream publishing. Whatever the outcome I wanted to introduce all to Climb for its incredible story and the world of possibility out there in original Sydney storytellers.
Book Club is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
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