Laurinda - Alice Pung - 2.5 stars rounded to 3

[Susie]

Laurinda by Alice Pung is a young adult novel that follows the story of Lucy Lam, a young vietnamese girl who is awarded a scholarship to an elite private girls school. Central to the school are 'The Cabinet', a trio of girls who hold all of the power within the school. Lucy is briefly welcomed in to their circle, but it ultimately ends up being for thier gain and she realises that she wants none of it. A theme that runs through the story is that of Lucy as the Australian born daughter of refugees, and her experience of being an outsider at school, both culturally and socio-demographically.

Although I was initally taken by this book as Lucy's description of her new school was uncannily similar to the school that I myself attended for much of secondary school, I ended up finding it boring and a little far fetched. I don't really recommend it to anyone! I picked it up as I am attending a session at the Melbourne Writers Festival about second generation narratives, and Pung is one of the guest authors.