Being Bindy

Bindy is 15 but her best friend Janey doesn’t think she acts like it. Janey is into clothes that show a lot of flesh, hanging out at the cinema, being with the cool crowd and having boyfriends. Bindy doesn’t feel wanted anymore and doesn’t understand why not liking all the things Janey likes means she now has no friends at school. Being Bindy traces her up and down friendship with Janey but also her relationship with her mum and dad, who have been divorced for years. Her mum suddenly wants her to live with her while her dad is starting a romance with Janey’s mum, even though they’ve known each other for years as just friends and babysitters.

Being Bindy is set in an Australian high school and although there is some Australian slang that may be unfamiliar to UK readers (or perhaps not with Neighbours and Home and Away on our screens for years) the themes and angst are obviously universal to all teenage readers. The scenarios Brugman invents (for example all of Bindy’s knickers being thrown round at school assembly) are excruciating. However there is not quite enough comedy to make this novel as popular as other books aimed at early teenage girls about friendship and growing up.