Great Read for Parents of Teens

Posse by Kate Welshman
Random House Australia/ISBN: 9781741663358/RRP $18.95

pos⋅se [pos-ee] noun A body or force armed with legal authority. slang A group of friends or associates.

Aptly named, Kate Welshman’s debut novel, Posse, is the story of a group of teenage girls discovering their power and the responsibility it brings.

Well written, Posse is at times too sexually alluring when inappropriate but shockingly candid about the all too real problem of child molestation.

Amy is a popular hockey-player who is a lesbian in a strict upper-class Sydney Methodist girl’s school. Her ‘posse’ of friends look to her for guidance but when jealousy breaks out between Amy and Clare (the beautiful one of the group), things start to get nasty. Clare embarrasses Amy by constantly chiding her about her sexuality and in an act of revenge, Amy finds herself in a frightening situation that changes the course of her, and her friends, school careers and possibly lives.

Due to its brutal honesty, Posse may be helpful for teenagers who are confused about their place in their family, their personal sexuality or any sexually abusive situations they may have found themselves in.

The book lacks the clichéd self-pity often assumed to run alongside this kind of situation and portrays its characters as normal, adventurous and sometimes unwise teenagers who at the end of the day, just want to be loved and appreciated for who they are.

Even though Posse was intended for teenagers, adults might also enjoy the experience of reading it and gain an insight into the complicated world that teenagers live in.

As featured in The Hawkesbury Gazette, 19 June 2009