Much young adult fiction is about not fitting in. How that topic is covered distinguishes the hack from the frustrated pedant and the gifted writer. This review covers eight YA novels by skilful writers whose diverse works are peopled by those who refuse to fit the norm.

Martine Murray’s second novel, How to Make a Bird, is as impressive as her first, The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley. Manon, on a day-long journey to Melbourne, experiences painful collisions with reality, interspersed with flashbacks to events that have brought her there, determined to find several people. Murray’s word pictures are striking in their vivid simplicity: