The Good Daughter will be published in May 2009 by Text Publishing.

Synopsis:

Friends aren’t always friendly

Family isn’t always nice

Fifteen-year-old Sabiha has a lot to deal with: her mother’s mental health issues, her interfering aunt, her mother’s new boyfriend, her live-in grandfather and his chess buddy, not to mention her arrogant cousin Adnan. They all want to marry her off, have her become a strict Muslim and speak Bosnian.

And Sabiha’s friends are not always friendly. She gets bullied by girlfriends and is anxious about boyfriends, when she just wants to fit in. But two boys, Brian and Jesse, become the allies of this fierce and funny girl.

The Good Daughter is a coming-of-age novel written with sensitivity and humour. It confronts head-on the problems of cultural identity in the day-to-day lives of teenagers. Amra Pajalic has a wonderful ear for idiomatic dialogue and the dramatic moment.

Amra is available for talks and workshops for secondary students.

The ‘It isn’t me’ Defence—How to write from your personal experience and not get caught out.

From Anecdote to Short Story Workshop—Using real life events to craft a short story

Amra’s My Space page: http://www.myspace.com/amrapajalic

Find out more about Amra at her website: http://amrapajalic.com/

On The Good Daughter:

A raw and honest story about duty and the desire to run free. A strong new voice in Australian fiction.
– Melina Marchetta

I love The Good Daughter. It had me in stitches. Hilarious, poignant, gutsy and real.
– Randa Abdel-Fattah

Funny, sharp and insightful.
– Simmone Howell