Remind Me Why I’m Here is a fun Australian Young Adult fish out of water story.
Maya Sorenson of Chicago, Illinois, thinks she’s headed to Barangaroo in Sydney, Australia, famous for its harbourside views. Instead, she’s headed to a sheep farm in Barangaroo Creek, hours away from the Sydney beaches and cafes. To make things worse, she arrives at the farm to find Ruth, her host sister, has had to leave to nurse a sick family member. Instead, she’s going to be shown around by Gus, Ruth’s brother, who plainly has somewhere he’d rather be.
Gus’s dreams are digital, and he had his summer planned and paid for–a design course in Sydney. Why can’t their brother Pat look after this girl? Pat loves the farm and always wanted to be a farmer. But his dreams are over now he’s in a wheelchair following a farm accident. The result? Two brothers trapped in roles they don’t want, a trapped tourist determined to tick off her to-do list, and more than enough guilt to go around.
Maya and Gus don’t have a good start, especially given May has no interest in staying on a farm.
While Maya learns to enjoy her real Aussie farm experience, she’s also battling with Gus–which gives a lot of opportunity for some fun scenes. Together, they both have to learn to deal with their guilt, and stand up for themselves to get the lives they want.
All that sounds very serious. Remind Me Why I’m Here is anything but. Kat Colmer has a unique ability to deliver soften the blog of potentially tough messages with excellent writing and a healthy dose of humour.
Thanks to Rhiza Press and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.
About Kat Colmer
Kat Colmer is a Sydney-based Young Adult author who writes coming-of-age stories with humor and heart. She has a Master of Education in Teacher Librarianship and loves working with teens and young adults. When not writing, teaching, or reading the latest in YA fiction, Kat spends time with her husband and two children.Find Kat Colmer online at:
About Remind Me Why I’m Here
An Australian to-do list. A broody host brother. A disaster in the making.
Gus has important plans this summer– plans that do NOT involve helping an animal-phobe from the States tick off items on her seriously clichéd must-do list. So he devises a list of his own–one guaranteed to send Maya packing, allowing him to enjoy the last of his freedom before he trudges off to agricultural college.
But Maya doesn’t scare that easily and soon sparks fly. Before long, Gus and Maya discover hidden depths to clichéd bucket-lists and secret summer plans. Because sometimes it takes someone half a world away to remind you why you’re really here.
Denise Hunter is the internationally published bestselling author of more than 30 books, including “The Convenient Groom” and “A December Bride” which have been made into Hallmark movies. She has appeared on the The 700 club and won awards such as The Holt Medallion Award, The Carol Award, The Reader’s Choice Award, The Foreword Book of the Year Award, and is a RITA finalist.
It’s 1924 and Poppy Denby is heading up to Northumberland to celebrate her father’s sixtieth birthday. She stops off in Newcastle en route to visit her Aunt Dot, who has temporarily relocated from London to renovate a house she’s inherited.
Kristen Young was born (and spent a memorable first few months of her life) in the UK, grew up in Sydney, but now lives in the Central West of NSW with her husband, three children, and slightly neurotic dog. She has been involved in church-based ministry for over 20 years, and loves helping people of any age to see how awesome Jesus is.
Siri Mitchell is the author of 14 novels. She has also written 2 novels under the pseudonym of Iris Anthony. She graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and has worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she lived all over the world, including Paris and Tokyo. Siri is a big fan of the semi-colon but thinks the Oxford comma is irritatingly redundant.
