The Year Nick McGowan Came to Stay

It is 1989 and Rachel Hill is faced with every 17 - year - old s worst nightmare the most popular boy in school is coming to live with her family for a term. The strain of looking good at the breakfast table and hiding her New Kids on the Block posters and embarrassing childhood photos is almost too much to bear. With the help of her best friend Zok, Rachel battens down the hatches in preparation for the best - looking boy in her class to move into her bedroom and into her life. But a mysterious secret from his past will make the year Nick McGowan came to stay one that Rachel will never forget.

About the Author

Rebecca Sparrow was born in 1972 and lives in Brisbane. She holds a Bachelor of Business (Communication) from the Queensland University of Technology. Over the past twenty years Rebecca has earned a living selling touch lamps, working as a nanny, a travel writer, a television publicist, a marketing executive, a magazine editor, a newspaper columnist and a secret shopper (once). Rebecca's first novel, The Girl Most Likely, was published in March 2003. It spent 16 consecutive weeks in the Queensland Top Ten and was a joint winner for the citywide One Book One Brisbane reading campaign. Rebecca's second novel, The Year Nick McGowan Came To Stay was published in May 2006 and a year later premiered as a stage play at La Boite Theatre in Brisbane. In her spare time Rebecca works voluntarily with War Child Australia, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing immediate, effective and sustainable aid to children affected by war.