Year 12. Layla’s final year at her Australian high school. It lay ahead of her like a red carpet into her future. Layla’s a hard worker, driven and confident within her schoolwork – achieving A’s and praise from her teachers.

Layla isn’t exactly super popular but is happy in the friendship she has had from small. But lately her best friend has been hanging out with another girl named Jess. The bond between Layla and her bestie has begun to bend and stretch and she’s worried.

Something else is changing too. Layla’s cousin Marley has come to stay. He had been getting into a lot of trouble where he lived, so it was decided he would come and live with her family in the city.

The cousins aren’t close, and have had completely different upbringings. Layla’s friends are white and she hardly gave the colour of her skin a second thought. But when Marley arrives he brings uncomfortable things to the surface – both at home and school.

His upbringing might have been hard, but Layla realises he knows so much more than her about their culture and identity. She has just cruised along in her privilege, never really needing or wanting to know. At the mention of attending a Dreaming Camp instead of the normal school camp, Layla is conflicted. This would be a way to learn more about country and culture, but what will she miss at the camp her friends are attending?

Soon, her friendships have changed, and her whole outlook on life has imploded after a traumatic event. Layla feels unanchored and not sure which way to turn. Being a teen suddenly feels really hard and confusing, and she feels pulled in separate directions. How did everything become so hard and pointless?

Told in first person, Layla is such a warm, authentic, beautiful, imperfect teenager. She had found things relatively easy until Year 12, had a good relationship with her hard working and loving parents, and did well in school.

A traumatic event pushes Layla off her axis, spinning her into confusion, uncertainty and a spiral of rebellion as she tries to work out not only her future but her entire identity – which hasn’t been questioned before.

The Skin I’m In is a powerful story of belonging, finding out who you are and loving yourself during the transformation of teenage years. Being indigenous in an all white school suddenly brings pressures Layla has never experienced before – both inner and outer, and she’s not sure how to process them.

Superbly written and so powerful. Within this novel we experience the completely normal teenage angst of this age, first love, taking control of your own destiny and dreams, and learning to stick up for who you are.

Loved it! 

Author – Steph Tisdell

Age – 16+

Look Inside here

(2024, Pan Macmillan, Family Friendship, Growing Up, Love, Prejudice, Racism, Romance, School, Indigenous, Aboriginal, Country, Elders, Belonging, Identity, Rebelling, Suicide, Angst, Truth)