Pretty Things

Brie is a high-maintenance teenage girl who spends most of her time thinking about make-up and designer labels - at least, when she isn't dreaming that her beloved gay best friend Charlie might fall in love with her.

It's Charlie who decides that the two of them are going to spend their summer at a drama workshop, where they immediately cross paths with Walker - a troublemaker who has a bad reputation when it comes to girls, but who Charlie just can't resist.

But Walker has already set his sights on the only person who stands up to him: strong-willed Daisy, who just happens to be a lesbian. As the four find themselves working together to put on a production of The Taming of the Shrew, the drama and confusion soon spills over into their own lives.

Told in four contrasting - and often conflicting - voices, this is a funny and enjoyable book about friendships and first love. With a frank and candid approach to teenage sex and relationships, Sarra Manning cleverly conveys the confusion and uncertainty of adolescence, revealing that sexuality is not always as straightforward as we are sometimes led to believe.