White Noise
OUT now uwa Publishing
Available for from your local independent bookshop or from UWA Publishing.
Fifteen-year-old Emma is awoken up by her dad’s nightmares. Again.
On Friday evenings they go running at East Point Reserve to escape. Escape the ripples of grief that still chase them three years after her mum’s death; escape Emma’s autism diagnosis; escape her dad’s work as an emergency room doctor.
At school, Emma has won a spot on the beach volleyball Sports Institute program. The spot that her best friend Summer desperately wanted. And Summer’s family are moving away to the other side of town. Their friendship has kept Emma going since her mum’s death but now things are changing between them – and change isn’t something Emma can outrun.
Set in tropical Darwin, White Noise is an achingly true portrayal of girlhood, grief, and autism from the authentic and gripping voice of Raelke Grimmer.
PRAISE
“An incredible debut novel about the journey of a father and daughter navigating adolescence, autism, and a way through the choppy waters of grief.”
—Graham Akhurst, author of Borderland
“[A] captivating debut YA novel… The humid Darwin weather is tangible, languid and heavy as we struggle along with Emma, suffocating in her grief. Emma is a richly drawn character, and her teen anxieties are compounded by her autism diagnosis, which is presented credibly and distinctly without being didactic or performative… Grimmer deftly handles an achingly moving story about loss and teenage confusion with nuance and confidence. The short, staccato prose conveys substantial depth of meaning and the recurring analogy of grief and tidal waves is particularly affecting.”
– Marissa Kyriakopoulos, Books + Publishing
“White Noise is a phenomenal debut – like a Justine Kurland photograph in book-form, a bruising mapping of grieving, growing and girlhood. The tropical backdrop of Darwin heightens every emotion and contrasts so wonderfully against protagonist Emma’s struggles in the wake of unimaginable loss, and upheaval. Grimmer also deftly threads a needle around discussions of Autistic women and girls, providing a poignant perspective for neurodiverse readers. A wonderfully complex and compelling YA read.”
—Danielle Binks, author of The Year the Maps Changed, The Monster of Her Age, Six Summers of Tash and Leopold
“Grimmer has created an authentic voice in Emma, and the world she has constructed for Emma rings true too. The pace of the action is compelling, as are the characters, so that putting down the book is not an option.”
—Susan Lazenby, English Teachers Association of Western Australia