Mel's life is totally out of sync, at school, at home, everywhere. Pug is the only good thing - loving him, in his untidy room scented and shadowed with frangipani, she finds passionate fulfilment. But his world is so different from hers - can they possibly make it together? And can she let him in on her overwhelming secret? 'Tough, tender, sexy, passionate, this is one of the year's best.' - Pam Macintyre, Age 'The Best Thing is an impossibly good book. I felt enriched by reading it. It has the energy of a rock concert, and the finesse of a violin. I wish I'd written it.' - John Marsden 'A beautiful book, a passionate novel of love, of learning, of loss and of new life.' - Sophie Masson