The first three audio books in the Sassy Saints Series.
From award-winning young adult author Amra Pajalic comes an own voices, found family, coming of age YA series for fans of Melina Marchetta and John Green.
1 Sabiha’s Dilemma
Sabiha and her mother Bahra are more than mother and daughter, they’re best friends. But when their extended family comes to Australia, Bahra becomes a Born-Again-Muslim to impress them, and expects Sabiha to step in line as the perfect daughter. Can Sabiha play the part of the good daughter so that her mentally ill mother is accepted back into the Bosnian community?
2 Alma’s Loyalty
Alma’s perfect family is fractured when her father finds out he has a long-lost daughter from his first marriage. When his overtures are rebuffed, it’s up to Alma to bring her new-found sister, Sabiha, into the family fold.
3 Jesse’s Triumph
After Jesse’s debut novel is published while he’s a high school student, he's thrust into the spotlight. Can Jesse steer his way through his new-found triumph, be with his dream girl, and ride the high school popularity wave without losing sight of who he truly is?
‘Sabiha's Dilemma is a ‘raw and honest story about duty and the desire to run free. A strong voice in Australian fiction.’ Melina Marchetta
'Pajalić bravely deals with some serious adolescent issues.’ Kirkus Review
'Precious, Intriguing, and Mood-Boosting.' Reader review
From award-winning young adult author Amra Pajalic comes a best friends love triangle, zero to hero makeover, found family, coming of age YA novel for fans of Melina Marchetta and John Green.
Jesse's childhood took a backseat as he became his ailing mother's primary caregiver, patiently counting down the days until high school finished and his real life began. When a new student, Sabiha, arrives at his school he meets his dream girl, but she’s met his best friend first.
After Jesse’s debut novel is published while he’s a high school student, he's thrust into the spotlight. Can Jesse steer his way through his new-found triumph, be with his dream girl, and ride the high school popularity wave without losing sight of who he truly is?
From award-winning, young adult author Amra Pajalic comes a friends to lovers, YA stand-alone romance novella
Noah and Zephyra have been best friends since they started high school. Zephyra thinks of Noah as a brother. Noah thinks Zephyra is the one.
Zephyra’s only interest in romance is between the covers of her favourite romance novels. Noah believes now that they’re sixteen it’s just a matter of time until their friendship becomes a relationship.
When they are completing a one week bike marathon their friendship hits some unexpected speed bumps. Will their friendship turn into something more or will they crash?
If you love slow burn romance with forced proximity, and a zero to hero makeover, you'll love The Climb, a young adult contemporary romance.
From award-winning young adult author Amra Pajalic comes a #ownvoices, found family, coming of age, YA novel for fans of Melina Marchetta and John Green.
Alma’s perfect family is fractured when her father finds out he has a long-lost daughter from his first marriage. When his overtures are rebuffed, it’s up to Alma to bring her new-found sister, Sabiha, into the family fold.
Now Alma is caught between family loyalties: her feuding parents, the brother she grew up with and the sister she just met, the new friends she made who are conflicted in their loyalties between her and Sabiha. Can Alma maintain the role of the perfect daughter and find a way to navigate the competing loyalties in her life?
Alma’s Loyalty is the second in the Sassy Saints Series for fans of fake friendships, secret boyfriends, long-lost relatives, and fierce and funny girls.
'Pajalić bravely deals with some serious adolescent issues.' Kirkus Review
‘Amra Pajalić writes with such honesty every young adult will empathise with her… While dealing with some ordinary “stuff” Pajalic’s observations are sincere and often hilarious.’ BENDIGO ADVERTISER
When she is four years old Amra Pajalić realises that her mother is different. Fatima is loving but sometimes hears strange voices that tell her to do bizarre things. She is frequently sent to hospital and Amra and her brother are passed around to family friends and foster homes, and for a time live with their grandparents in Bosnia.
At sixteen Amra ends up in the school counsellor’s office for wagging school. She finally learns the name for the malady that has dogged her mother and affected her own life: bipolar disorder. Amra becomes her mother’s confidante and learns the extraordinary story of her life: when she was fifteen years old Fatima visited family friends only to find herself in an arranged marriage. At sixteen she was a migrant, a mother, and mental patient.
Surprisingly funny, Things Nobody Knows But Me is a tender portrait of family and migration, beautifully told. It captures a wonderful sense of bicultural place and life as it weaves between St Albans in suburban Australia and Bosanska Gradiška in Bosnia. Ultimately it is the heartrending story of a mother and daughter bond fractured and forged by illness and experience. Fatima emerges as a remarkable but wounded woman who learns that her daughter really loves her.
‘Brave, compassionate, searingly honest and funny, this is a memoir in a voice like no other. Amra Pajalić’s love letter to her mother is a book that grabs at your heart and doesn’t let go until the final page.’ ALICE PUNG
..told in a distinctive voice, sharp, direct, sometimes bruising. The Australian
Melbourne's Amra Pajalic opens her heart and soul in this memoir of life with a Mum battling mental illness. Herald Sun
.... there's humour and irony here, such as playful echoes of Jane Austen. The Age
...gritty, poignant and at-times humorous book... Weekly Times
Amid the chaos, Pajalić remains alert to beauty and humour. The Saturday Paper
Sabiha and her mother Bahra are more than mother and daughter, they’re best friends. It’s been them against the world, with Sabiha being her mother’s carer and confidante during her periodic bipolar breakdowns.
When their extended family comes to Australia, Bahra becomes a Born-Again-Muslim to impress them, and expects Sabiha to step in line as the perfect daughter. Can Sabiha play the part of the good daughter so that her mentally ill mother is accepted back into the Bosnian community?
With the heartbreaking twists of John Green’s novels, and exquisite characters like those of Melina Marchetta’s, you'll love this hilarious, poignant, gutsy and real book.
‘Sabiha's Dilemma is a ‘raw and honest story about duty and the desire to run free. A strong voice in Australian fiction.’ MELINA MARCHETTA
