Gemma Stone is convinced that it is a bad thing to chuck a Birkett. She describes it this way:
“In my family, when anyone rides the wave of their emotions, we say they’re chucking a birkett. When the emotion drives out all common sense, we say they’re chucking a big one. The telltale signs are: flaming cheeks, shortness of breath, bulging eyes and a prolonged illogical outburst.”
Gemma is trying to keep her temper in spite of all the things that are complicating her life. These include falling in love with the coolest boy in school, dealing with her sister Debbie and her bizarre wedding plans, and dealing with Raven de Head, the town bad boy who has a crush on her.
The whole novel has a dramatic feel and would make a wonderful play. Lisa Shanahan, the author, trained as an actor at University of Western Sydney and taught school drama. She begins by introducing us to Gemma’s sister, Debbie, and her wedding plans. In something resembling ‘Muriel’s Wedding’, Debbie wants a wedding with all the trimmings. This includes Gemma wearing a sequinned and feathered swan costume, as the flower girl, along with trimmings like ice sculptures, and serviettes in the shape of origami birds.
However, the main action occurs at Gemma’s school where she is having a crush on Nick, the rich and handsome one that all the girls want. He, of course, hasn’t noticed that she exists. On the other hand, someone else has noticed her – Raven de Head, who comes from the wrong side of the tracks.
To get Nick to notice her, Gemma joins the school play which is to be a performance of the Tempest. This is when art starts to resemble life. Nick plays the shallow Prince Ferdinand, Gemma is Miranda and Raven De Head unwillingly takes on the role of the monster, Caliban.
Gemma has to choose between Nick and Raven. In the course of this, she goes to Raven de Head’s home for dinner, where she receives the shock of her life and is jolted out of her safe middle class existence. Raven’s home is completely dysfunctional. His father and mother live on welfare, one brother is in jail, and two others are delinquents. Their family solve arguments by violence, and Gemma is shockingly caught in the middle of one. One scene is portrayed so realistically that it is painful to read. I made myself keep going, but wanted to put the book down. Of course, after this Gemma wants nothing to do with Raven or his family.
In the end, Gemma makes the right choice but I will not give that away! It climaxes with Gemma chucking her own birkett at Debbie’s wedding. It is a hilarious but very moving scene. This book is highly recommended for its wisdom and humanity.