SOLVED. YA Coming of Age/ Romance set in Australia involving trapping possums. [s]

[Katie]

I read this book in the late 1980s or early 1990s. I thought I remembered the title as Paradise Road but that isn't right. I read it in the US but it was set in Australia. The story was about a shy, lonely, unpopular girl who lived in a rural area in Australia with her parents. Her Mom stayed in the bedroom and never cleaned - maybe she was drinking? Or grieving the death of a baby? The Dad didn't know what to do and maybe mostly ignored the girl. But she finds a baby possum whose mother was killed by a trap. The trap had been set by the neighbor - an attractive, popular boy from school. I don't remember why he was trapping possums. But they become friends. He invites her to go to a party. His Mom takes her to get her hair cut and by a new "jumper". I remember I wasn't sure about the word jumper. Maybe he had told her that he wouldn't trap anymore but then the possum she had been raising was killed in a trap and she gets upset. In the end the boy's Mom helps the Dad to get the Mom some help. That's all I can remember. I've been looking for years as I loved this book in my early teens.

[Becca]

Paradise Lane by William Taylor?

[Katie]

That was fast! I recognized the cover as soon as I saw it. Thanks!

[Kris]

Glad you found your book, Katie.

Paradise Lane by William Taylor - Becca's find.