Because of You

‘Books can save anyone. If they’re the right ones.’

Tiny is an eighteen-year-old girl living on the streets in Sydney, running from her small-town past. She finds short-term accommodation at Hope Lane – a shelter for the homeless – where she meets Nola, a high school student on volunteer placement.

Both girls share their love of words through the Hope Lane writing group. Can they share their secrets, too?

Review by Sarah McDuling

What happens when a girl who feels like she has nothing meets a girl who seems to have everything?

Because of You is a deeply touching and very poignant novel about an unlikely friendship between two girls in very different circumstances.

Tiny is trapped in a spiral of self-blame and feelings of isolation and hopelessness. She has been living on the streets for a year when she is offered a place at a homeless shelter. Meanwhile, Nola is doing community service at the same homeless shelter. She doesn’t have to worry about things like where to sleep or how to get her next meal, but that doesn’t mean her life is simple. She knows what it’s like to feel trapped and isolated.

When Tiny and Nola first cross paths, it seems impossible they could ever be friends. And yet, despite the prejudice and hostility that initially sets them apart, they soon form a friendship that will change both their lives.

Because of You is truly heartbreaking at times. Pip Harry confronts the issues of homelessness and life on the streets head on. She tells a story that is dark, gritty and painful, yet ultimately full of beauty and hope. This is a powerful book that stole my heart and brought tears of sorrow and joy to my eyes.

About the Author

Pip Harry is a freelance editor, copywriter and author. UQP published Pip’s debut novel, I’ll Tell You Mine, which won the 2013 Australian Family Therapists’ Award for Children’s Literature and Head of the River, which was shortlisted for the 2016 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature and longlisted for the State Library of Victoria Gold Inky award in 2015. She currently lives and writes in Singapore.