ARE YOU THERE BUDDHA?

A fresh, funny and modern take on puberty, first periods and relationships.

Bridget "Bee" Rickards is 12 and starting her first year of high school at Crescent Bay on the Central Coast of Sydney. 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 best friend forever 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. A long overdue companion to the 1970s classic novel, Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret, Pip Harry's story tackles puberty and relationships geared to a generation growing up in the confusing (and often terrifying) age of social media. It touches on themes of climate change, faith, blended families, absent parent, swimming and bullying. PIP HARRY is a freelance writer and editor. She has written 3 award- winning YA novels. Her latest, Because of You was shortlisted for the 2018 Victorian Premier's Literary Award, the CBCA, and Queensland Literary Award. Pip published her first middle grade verse novel in 2019, The Little Wave (UQP) which won the CBCA. Pip lives in Singapore with her family. When not at a keyboard, she can be found eating noodles and swimming laps.