Bridget ‘Bee’ Ballentine is 12 and starting her first year of high school in the beach suburb Crescent Bay.
Still reeling from the departure of her mother for an ashram in India, Bee talks to Buddha and begs for her first period not to arrive. She’s not ready to become a woman yet, whatever that means.
Although Bee’s yet to find her tribe at school, her BFF is surfer Leon McKay, also known as the hottest boy in Year Eight. As long as Leon has her back, Bee can survive the mean girls, her meddling step-mum, Kath, and her swimming nemesis, The Piranha.
Over one blistering summer, set against the backdrop of bushfires, smoke haze and water restrictions, Bee will grow up, show up, and make a name for herself.
Pip Harry is an Australian author and journalist. Her YA novels I’ll Tell You Mine, Head of the River and Because of You have been shortlisted for the CBCA Children’s Book of the Year Awards, Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and Queensland Literary Awards respectively. Her first middle grade novel, The Little Wave, won the 2020 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award for Younger Readers.
Are You There, Buddha? transported me right back to the ripe age of twelve. It’s an age that initiates change, transformation, finding yourself, losing yourself, and finding yourself again. These pivotal life-moments are set against the backdrop of climate change; they move in tandem. It’s poignant and impactful.
Bee’s process of change and growth was the type of recognition my twelve-year-old self needed. I wish I had a book like this at the time, though its message rings true for all facets of life: we’re constantly evolving and so is the world around us—and Harry showcases this exceptionally throughout the novel.
Are You There, Buddha? is a fresh, funny and very contemporary take on puberty, first periods and relationships. It reminds us that we all have the chance to change the course of our life and make a difference in the world. I recommend it to all readers aged 11+.
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