I read a book about two-and-a-half years ago called Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. ‘I always wanted to write YA,’ Pung says, ‘but I also wanted to write a satire about class – most of my other books are about culture, but this is about class. It’s Heathers meets House of Cards by way of Mean Girls. The novel is hard-edged satire cloaked in contemporary YA: exploring class dynamics, everyday racism and bullying. The book follows new scholarship student Lucy Lam as she uncovers Laurinda’s true powerhouse: a group of students called The Cabinet who rule the institution with an iron fist. Laurinda is her debut work of fiction, and is set in an exclusive private girls’ school of the same name. Pung is the author of two acclaimed memoirs, Unpolished Gem and Her Father’s Daughter, and edited the collection Growing Up Asian in Australia. At about the same time, Nona & Me by Clare Atkins came our way and we suddenly had two superb, involving stories about young people, culture, growing up and finding your way.’ ‘We have worked with Alice for many years now, and it’s exciting to witness both a departure (to fiction) and a return (to school days) with Laurinda. ‘As publishers, we are always looking for exceptional writing and original voices,’ says Black Inc. this month released their second, Alice Pung’s Laurinda. Following on from the release in October of their first young adult title, Clare Atkins’ Nona and Me, Black Inc.
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