What the Boy Hears When the Girl Dreams

Long Listed for 2022 Voss Prize

By: Graeme Friedman

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Paperback | 9 September 2021

At a Glance

Paperback
372 Pages

Age
16+

Dimensions(cm)
23.5 x 15 x 3

Paperback

$14.95

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Twelve-year-old Finn wakes up one day with super-hearing. It gives him ‘dancing eyes’ and fainting spells, makes him the target of the school bully, and opens a window onto his parents’ failing marriage. At night he hears the dream-talk of Buseje, an asylum seeker who lives downstairs in the granny flat.

Finn begins to retrieve the fragmented stories which spill out while Buseje sleeps, helping her untangle the terrible mysteries of her childhood. But as Finn’s superpowers grow, he unwittingly unleashes ghosts from the past.

As the immigration officers close in on Buseje, can Finn do anything to prevent her from being deported?

Set against the political backdrop of the race riots in Sydney in 2005, What the Boy Hears When the Girl Dreams is a poignant insight into the silences and injustices that divide us, and the healing power of unlikely friendships.

Industry Reviews

‘Whimsical and tender, What the Boy Hears When the Girl Dreams is a beautifully written coming-of-age story. Reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, this is a powerful and moving exploration of friendship, trauma, loss and recovery.’
Suzanne Leal, author of The Deceptions

‘A richly complex and lyrical novel that is a portrait of the essential reckoning that the young must make with pain and suffering in order to fully inhabit their moral personhood.’
Ceridwen Dovey, author of In the Garden of the Fugitives

‘A moving, sensitive account of a child comprehending his startling circumstances as he grapples with the broken adult world around him. What the Boy Hears When the Girl Dreams is at once heartbreaking and redemptive. Graeme Friedman is a gifted storyteller.’
Kate Rossmanith, author of Small Wrongs

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What the Boy Hears When the Girl Dreams

Long Listed for 2022 Voss Prize

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Modern & Contemporary Fiction

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Pre-order the brand new high-concept magical rom-com from Ashley Poston, bestselling author of The Seven Year Slip, now!

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A Short History of Longans

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Country People

'The book of the summer' Mick Herron

People Like Us

A big-hearted novel celebrating the power of women's friendships

Mire

Lovesick

The must-read 2026 Australian debut dissecting modern love, for readers of Jacqueline Maley, Coco Mellors and Diana Reid

Billie King

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For All the Dead Girls

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The Importance of Being Delia

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The Secrets We Hide

The next thrilling mystery in the new North Falls series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Are All Guilty Here

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