The Minnow

Winner of The Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing, 2013.

Tom survived a devastating flood that claimed the lives of her sister and parents. Now she lives with Bill in his old shed by the lake. But it's time to move out - Tom is pregnant.

Diana Sweeney's young protagonist is tougher than we might expect. The Minnow shows us not only what Tom has lost. Equally important is what she has held onto, and the quiet but intense ways in which she thrives. In her longing for what is lost, Tom talks to fish: Oscar the carp in the pet shop, little Sarah catfish who might be her sister, an unhelpful turtle in a tank at the maternity ward. And the Minnow. Diana Sweeney is a university lecturer and fashion model.

The Minnow is her first novel. She was born in Auckland, and now lives in New South Wales.