Pet by Catherine Chidgey perfectly fitted my reading needs at the time of reading. I was confined to the houseboat on the Gippsland Lakes, and this compact, spiky story was the engrossing book I needed.

It’s a suspense novel but not what you might imagine, because the focus is on a motherless twelve-year-old, Justine. Justine and her fellow classmates are drawn to their glamorous, charismatic new teacher, Mrs Price, who chooses her ‘pets’ by giving them special privileges and coveted extra time with her at the end of the school day. When a thief begins to target the class and Justine’s precious pen goes missing, a sense of uneasiness takes over. Continue reading →