THE FIRST THIRD

Billy Tsiolkas isn't ready for life to change, he's fine with things the way they are. Unfortunately for Billy, his grandmother doesn't feel the same way. Yiayia's making bucket list plans and she's given Billy the task of bringing his broken family back together.

Life is made up of three parts: in The First Third, you're embarrassed by your family; in the second, you make a family of your own; and in the end, you just embarrass the family you've made. That's how Billy's grandmother explains it, anyway. She's given him her bucket list (cue embarrassment), and now, it's his job to glue their family back together. No pressure or anything. Fixing his family's not going to be easy and Billy's not ready for change. But as he soon discovers, the first third has to end some time. And then what? It's a Greek tragedy waiting to happen.

Will was only 19 when his first novel for young adults, Loathing Lola, was released. It went on to be shortlisted for the Sakura Medal in Japan and made the official selection for the Australian Government's 2010 Get Reading! programme. In 2005, Will won the Sydney Morning Herald Young Writer of the Year for a collection of short stories. Now 23, Will spends his time working as a freelance journalist, writing and touring Australian secondary schools. His second novel, The First Third, was released in August 2013.