About the book
A stolen diary.
A race against time.
A girl with everything to lose.
When Melati Nelson wins a scholarship to an elite Melbourne high school, she buries her bad girl past. But after the school unfairly punishes her, a defiant Mel steals a diary from the school counsellor’s office, only to discover a coded cry for help. The diary belongs to Devi, a young Indonesian girl who is being held by traffickers.
Mel races against the clock, in a desperate journey that takes her from Melbourne to Java, to work out Devi’s identity and where she’s being held. Before long the pieces fall into place and Mel must put her own life on the line to find justice for a girl she’s never met.
A gripping and original novel that explores privilege, responsibility, and the difficult and dangerous choices we are sometimes forced to make.
Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to make things right…
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About Louise
Louise Bassett writes for young adults and grown-ups. The Hidden Girl is her debut novel and was shortlisted for the Ampersand Prize. Her award-winning short fiction has been published internationally and she’s a past winner of the Australian Crime Writers Association SD Harvey Award.
After qualifying as a lawyer in Adelaide, she worked in international aid in Indonesia, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam. While living in Indonesia, she scaled volcanoes and worked with activists who were campaigning to end violence against women. These experiences inspired The Hidden Girl.
Louise works in community justice, giving her a deep understanding of the impact of crime and vulnerability; issues she explores in her writing. Based in Melbourne, Louise lives with her partner and too many books.