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Nathan Nuttboard Upstaged (Anthony Eaton, UQP, $16.95 pb, ISBN 9780702236655, April) ****

Nathan Nuttboard, surfer, loyal friend, and likeable lad returns for a third time in his new book Nathan Nuttboard: Upstaged from celebrated author Anthony Eaton. When Sally-Anne Anderson, the most popular girl in Year Seven, dumps Nathan in front of his mates he’s confused. No one had even bothered to tell him he was going out with her. Then his teacher decides to revamp the end of year concert and adapts Romeo and Juliet with a surfer language and an environmental theme. Sally-Anne naturally lands the role of Juliet and Nathan accidentally impresses his teacher in the audition and is cast as Romeo. Nathan confides in his surfer friend Gnarly, but can’t seem to execute his advice, which results in disastrous results every time the kissing scene is rehearsed. Nathan must master his nerves, or face humiliation. Eaton beautifully captures the humour and tension of having to kiss your ‘ex-girlfriend’ in front of the whole school. Eaton’s knowledge of his audience shines through in this series, and illustrates his skill as a writer when considered against his work for older readers. There are good messages for pre-teens about friendship and loyalty in Upstaged, with a lively pace and great dialogue to keep readers entertained.

Ben Beaton is a writer and teacher in Perth

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker