This Stays Between Us
Title: This Stays Between Us
Author: Margo McGovern
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
Shortlist: John Marsden Prize for Writing for Young Adults
Margot McGovern’s love letter to 90s horror films will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Four girls share a cabin in an abandoned town where the ghost of Smiling Jack haunts isolated campers.
Shelley is the new girl with her own haunted past.
Mack made things awkward by kissing her best friend.
Priya thinks she’s ready to take the next step with her boyfriend.
Raffi has a flair for drama and convinces them all to hold a seance.
But when you call on the darkness, sometimes the darkness replies ...
Judges’ Report
This Stays Between Us is a taut, gripping horror novel, flawless in its execution. Incredibly original in both narrative and voice, McGovern expertly wields and manipulates the conventions and tropes of the genre. Running beneath this terrifying, delicious horror is a timely critique of the way that women and girls become victims of violence, even when they survive it. Perfectly pitched for a YA audience, we were impressed by every element of this novel, from its realistic and authentic representations of teenage relationships, the demonstration of craft across the novel’s multiple points of view and the way it delivered something new and exciting within such a familiar genre.
Extract
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About the Author
Margo McGovern
VPLA book photography by Shannyn Higgins
The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards are proudly supported by the Victorian Government.
