This books hurts me. Seriously. Physically. Hurts. Me.

Lesson learnt: Do Not Read this book when you are sick because:

1. Laughter will turn to a coughing fit which hurt your chest and will earn you the dirtiest looks from your fellow commuters;

2. Staying up to finish reading end up with bucketload of tears [did I mention that I also suffer from over-sensitive tearducts?] which as a result completely blocked my nose passages and followed by the worst-head-pounding-headache from lack of oxygen… So… I barely had any rest that day and couldn’t sleep at night because this book is one that will stay with you for a long time. Forgiveness was easily granted.

 

 

Billy Tsiolkas is in Year 12 when his yiayia (grandmother) handed him a list of 3 things she’d like him to do. They are not, in any way, easy to do as it required him to find happiness for the 3 members of his immediate family (mother and 2 brothers) and to keep them together as a family. Even though he struggled with what to do with this list, his yiayia evidently saw something in him when she passed the torch to him, or rather the “gluestick”. She expected him to keep the family together as she has been doing, when she is no longer around. This is a big ask even for an adult but Billy found that he does want his family to stick together and he will give up even his one chance at making it big for this.

 

Reaching out to teenage boys aren’t easy. I lead a Year 10 group at church and bar 1, I would be so very lucky to get a grunt or a one word response from them. Amazingly though, they are not so reticent online. LOL. The point is that Billy truly has his work cut out for him. He found support in his best friend, Lucas (Sticks), and a girl whose grandfather shared a room with his yiayia at the hospital. With their ideas and backup, he managed to set up his mum on a date, checked up on his brother online public profile, and entrapped his younger brother to be in a room with him for one whole night.

 

The language is easy to understand and will appeal to all generations. Sentences are pretty short and direct with humour being delivered sharply to hit you in the right spot. The First Third is light reading in terms language but will have you clutching your stomach in hilarity (or in my case, my chest –see above) and tears will sneak out without you realising that the story has truly touch the deepest part of your heart. The only thing missing to make this a full experience for me is a recipe of yiayia’s moussaka! I was totally teary and salivating at the same time ;)

 

Thank you, Penguin Teen Australia, for providing copy of book through your Live Event

I went to a Penguin Teen event last night and got a signed copy of The first Third by Will Kostakis and The Cinderella moment by Jennifer Kloester. (as well as a cute little penguin bag)

Both authors were really friendly and down to earth and I can’t wait to finish their books.

This is the story of a good Greek boy with a gay disabled feminist best friend called Sticks, (sounds like a parody? It isn't), a crush on Hayley "it's complicated" Walker-Pryce, and an embryonic career in standup comedy.

Billy's hospitalised Yiayia gives him a bucket list: to "fix" his distant gym-obsessed younger brother, to find a girlfriend for his (gay) older brother, and to find his mother a husband. This may sound like the setup for a cliche-ridden romcom, but the result sidesteps genre banality in all sorts of delicious ways.

Weaving realistic, relevant use of Twitter and other social media into the text, the book delves into Greek-Australian stereotypes and realities, the world of internet dating, and the brittleness of first impressions. But at the core of the book is a funny, tender, winning story of a seventeen-year-old boy who loves his Yiayia; that, in modern teen literature, is rare enough.

Quotes beneath spoiler tags; but they're not particularly spoilery.


"He shrugged. ‘I don't really know him either,' he said. ‘There's this app for my phone. All the guys that are near you pop up and you can chat to them. The expectation is that you're on it to do stuff.'

Sticks had hooked up with guys at parties, but they never did anything serious. I'd expected that the I-had-sex conversation would come after the there's-this-guy-I-like confession and the this-is-so-and-so introduction. He'd always said he wanted it to mean something. But instead he'd downloaded an app, where there was an expectation . . . "

[...]

"‘You know you don't have to do that, right?'

‘Says the able-bodied hetero kid,' Sticks said. ‘If you think you have to jump through hoops to find someone – then my hoops are spinning. And they're on fire.'

Sticks was like baking paper, nothing ever stuck to him. But in an instant, he'd become fragile."

I talked to the real Sticks for like an hour at Will's Melbourne launch - real nice guy, and incredible with the number of common interests we had.----------------------It’s not often that you come across a book that you feel like it is your story on the page and not some imaginary character’s or the author’s. Although I’m not Greek, I related – the cultural theme was general enough to apply to all cultures, and most of all any European nationality (I’m Maltese and Serbian so everything in The First Third was basically spot on). My parents are divorced, and it was eerily scary how similar my parents are to Bill’s. Bill is the middle child of three sons; I’m the youngest with two older sisters – I still related to Bill. Bill watches his yiayia make moussaka; I watch my baba (Serbian, well, Macedonian side) make maznik (the most well known Macedonian pastry dish). Bill’s desires are somewhat mine too. So Will Kostakis’s The First Third is without a doubt my favourite contemporary novel I’ve read this year, and that’s a big compliment as contemporaries and me don’t mix well together as I feel like I’ve read many before. But in The First Third’s case, I read the entire book thinking that not one aspect of it was boring or generic or uninventive. Kostakis has written a completely original story, using his own life – most importantly his family and yiayia – in a relevant manner to be enjoyed by all, with characters you can’t help to love and laugh and cry with.By the way, see how it’s blurbed by Melina Marchetta? That means you have to purchase it. Now.Seriously. Food. This book is a Greek feast.Besides the food, The First Third basically involves Bill Tsiolkas’s yiayia (grandmother) falling ill. Bill then goes on a quest to make things right, the way his yiayia wants things to be, directed by a “bucket list” she gave him on her hospital bed:1. Find your mummy a husband2. Have Simon girlfriend in Sydney3. Fix PeterWith the help of his gay best friend Sticks (Lucas) who has cerebral palsy, Bill discovers ways to tick these objectives off of his yiayia’s list, to help these three – well, four, including his yiayia by completing the list – key people in his life. As he attempts to correct them, he finds the truth about his father, helps Sticks to be who he is and not shy away from his disability, and falls in love himself. Sometimes it wasn’t easy helping someone who didn’t want to be helped, and although it took Bill much effort and many attempts to achieve these things for his yiayia, with his determination to support and comfort his family and friends he holds his family together even in the toughest times. (It is not the events that will spoil you, but the interactions with others and the ways in which Bill achieves these things.)It’s going to get a bit personal here… What struck home to me the most wasn’t that I had lost someone like my grandparents who hold their cultures so close to their hearts that it is often lost in this technologically advanced and modern world, nor was it that I too attempt, no matter how difficult, to help and be there for my mother and siblings just as Bill was for his. What struck a chord with me, what resonated with me so deeply, was with Bill’s father.When Bill was young his dad left, escaped. He never helped Bill and his siblings with anything, he wasn’t there for them. Although mine is not a direct reflection of Bill’s, there are some elements that are relatable. Just like Bill, I really didn’t have a father figure growing up in my teen years. Maybe after a year my parents separated at the beginning of 2006 (first day of year 8, mind you) my dad escaped to the Gold Coast – to me, to escape all the responsibilities of having to care for his children. He found someone and lives with her (I don’t object though because she’s nice as). Unlike Bill I still communicate and contact with my dad here and then and see him when I can, but somewhat like Bill’s dad my dad rarely helps us when we desperately need something – there’s always excuses. And yet although he doesn’t have two kids like Bill’s he has two dogs, which he pays more attention to, uses more money towards, and every-fucking else, more for them than his own children, my sisters and I.To relate so heavily with a single character, even if based on one’s own life, shows that there is honesty and truth in the writing, a voice so powerful that it is hard to ignore. To use someone in your life as an example to help another is what I’ll be doing more often now, thanks to Bill.I love the relationships in The First Third. Bill’s dynamic with his best friend Sticks was one in that they were born to be friends. His relationship with his yiayia is one that I see in mine with my nanna and my baba, and probably my favourite of the book. It was funny and endearing, and from the very beginning this relationship was pure. Just as sincere was Bill’s relationships with his mother and his brothers, Simon and Peter, a family open yet so distant, fractured in ways unknown, the glue holding them together wearing down.‘I understand grandparents aren’t forever,’ I said… ‘… with Papou it was slow.’…‘But Yiayia… She’s the same. She’s exactly as I remember her. She hasn’t changed. And I… I can’t lose her when she still knows my name. I haven’t had time to get used to not having her around.’‘She’ll be fine,’ Lucas said.I wasn’t sure if I believed him.‘I was talking to her today. She said you can split life into three parts.’ I swallowed hard. ‘You spend the first third getting embarrassed by your family. When they pass away, you spend the next part trying to make a family like the one you had. And when you’re old, you just embarrass whatever family you’ve made.’‘I’m sure that’s an oversimplification.’‘And if it’s not? When Yiayia goes, that’s it. She’s my last grandparent. I’ll be in the second third. I suck at second-third stuff. I kiss girls; they run away. I’m not ready, Lucas. Why can’t I stay here forever?’‘It doesn’t work like that,’ he said. ‘We grow up, stuff changes.’…‘I’m holding on to the tail-end of her life and I know, no matter how hard I hold on, she’s going to slip between my fingers and I’m going to lose her forever.’ And saying it out loud, my composure shattered. Tears were streaming down my face and I struggled to get the words out. ‘I don’t know how I’m going to live without her.’The First Third will surely have you reflecting on your own family life, who is important to you and who to help the most. To sacrifice everything for your family is a theme that runs deeper than the blood that is shared, but something much greater, much more important. To cherish is to live. To support is to love.You can learn a thing or two from Bill as well.

When I was little - I think about seven or eight - I spent my pocket money on a key ring with a little book attached, for a Mother's Day gift for my mum. On the front was a picture of a mumma cat with her two kittens. Inside, I wrote a story about a mum who got angry with her two kids and then felt bad about it. I was totally creative (or so I thought) and gave my characters names that were one or two letters off my own family's. I proudly showed my gran - my mum's mum."Why did you change the names?" she exclaimed. "It's bleedin' obvious it's you."I was a teensy bit crushed. But she was right. It was bleedin' obvious it was us.Which is pretty much how I feel about The First Third.Will (short for William) Kostakis is a Sydneysider with Greek heritage. He grew up with his mum and two brothers (according to the acknowledgements of The First Third - which also suggest his mum is looking for love). As he mentioned at the Penguin Teen Live (PTL) event I attended a few weeks ago, he has an absent father, which contributed to making him incredibly close to his grandparents - his yiayia in particular. Judging by the story he told at PTL that inspired The First Third, he finds his grandmother's poor English skills and attempts to interact with unsuspecting retail workers hilarious. He also has a gay best friend with cerebral palsy. People confuse him with another Greek Australian writer, Christos Tsiolkas.Bill (presumably William) Tsiolkas is a Sydneysider of Greek heritage. He grew up with his mum and two brothers. His mum is looking for love. He has an absent father, and has grown up incredibly close to his grandparents - his yiayia in particular. He finds his grandmother's poor English skills and attempts to interact with unsuspecting retail workers hilarious. He has a gay best friend with cerebral palsy. His surname is Tsiolkas.I know they say to write what you know, but this just seems a bit much to me. I felt uncomfortable reading this with the knowledge that it was so heavily autobiographical. Like the author was somehow taking advantage of the people in his life. Now, they might not feel that way at all, but it's just the impression I was left with.This was especially troublesome in regards to the treatment of his mother and grandmother. They were frequently the butt of WBill's jokes - with his mother's looks in particular subject to demeaning remarks, such as she looked like a "reanimated corpse" after a night at the hospital, or that in her underwear "her body frowned". I don't think the writer intended to be sexist - in fact, there's a nice speech in there on feminism by Sticks, the main character's best friend. But it oddly came in response to another character's mention of "dropping" a girl. Apparently, that's misogynistic. Now, unless there's some history to being "dropped" that I'm not aware of, it's really not sexist. It's slang for breaking up with someone and can be (and is) applied to both sexes. It's not a gendered term. Repeatedly disparaging the female body, however? Pretty damn offensive. So while it was nice to see an explicit, positive discussion of feminism in a Young Adult book, this was seriously undermined by the problematic undercurrent of much of the novel's humour.On the subject of humour, a lot of it was just plain unfunny. Early on in the book, Bill and Sticks head to Melbourne, and Sticks comments about the city, "I get the feeling that it's trying too hard to make me love it." I couldn't have said it better myself. The comedy in this book felt forced in many places, like the author was trying way too hard.Kostakis was actually at his best when he forgot about attempting to be funny and just let his story flow. At its heart, this is a touching tale that centres around something I think pretty much everyone can relate to - the fear of losing loved ones. I know it got me all weepy just thinking about it. The importance of family, and the unbearable idea that they might not be around forever, is an admirable theme and was one of my favourite parts of The First Third.I also loved that Kostakis featured multiple gay characters and a character with a disability and treated them with respect. There was no tokenism and they weren't just there for added drama. They were well-rounded and important parts of the story. If only I could say the same for the treatment of the female characters.The First Third is a good book, but for me it was not great. The potential was there, and if certain parts of the novel were stripped back - especially the forced humour - it could have lived up to it and been amazing. As it is, I'll be interested to see what Kostakis does next.I received a review copy of this book from the publishers.For more of my reviews, check out Belle's Bookshelf------Ready for a readalong with Eleanor, Mandee, Mel and Melanie.