The Convertible Couch

Beebie always felt like the odd one out.

While his tall, athletic brothers excel at every sport going, eleven-year-old Beebie is small, slight, and wears glasses. But when he is finally picked to play rover for the school football team, he is convinced this is his moment: the day his sports-mad father will finally be proud of him.

Then his mother drops a bombshell. His father has left.

Now Beebie must spend weekends at his dads new home, sleeping on a convertible couch in a strangers lounge room. His fathers girlfriend is shiny and cheerful. Her two little boys demand all the attention. And her daughter Marnie? She is hostile, resentful, and wants nothing to do with him.

But Marnie has her own pain. Her own absent parent. Her own reasons for that permanent scowl.

As Beebie and Marnie circle each other warily across kitchen clean-ups and tennis courts, they discover something unexpected: the only person who truly understands what you are going through might be the last person you would choose.

A warm, honest Australian novel about fractured families, unlikely friendships, and finding your footing when the ground shifts beneath you.