‘How It Feels to Float’ winner of PM’s Literary Award for Young Adult Novel

Helena Fox’s debut novel How It Feels to Float has won the Prime Ministers Literary Award for Young Adult Novel 2020. The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards encourage a national appreciation of Australian literature and support increased understanding of Australian history.

The judges said:

A beautifully written, poetic and heartbreaking portrayal of grief, trauma, guilt and mental illness … although confronting and hard to read at times, it is ultimately a book about hope, resilience and survival.

Biz knows how to float. She has her people, posse, her mum and the twins. She has Grace. And she has her dad, who tells her about the little kid she was, and who shouldn’t be here but is. So Biz doesn’t tell anyone anything. Not about her dark, runaway thoughts, not about kissing Grace or noticing Jasper, the new boy. And she doesn’t tell anyone about her dad. Because her dad died when she was seven. And Biz knows how to float, right there on the surface – normal okay regular fine.

Congratulations to Helena for her beautiful novel!