Di Walker, Saving Charli, Scholastic Australia, July 2023, 273 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761297311
Twelve-year-old Charli is the oldest of a twin, born just before Freya. Charli increasingly resents Freya, who faces a lifelong battle with illness. Charli has made many sacrifices for her sister, until this year. She doesn’t want to look after Freya, despite her friends Queenie and Blair who assure Charli that Freya is also part of their lives. Everyone sees Charli and Freya as a pair, but Charli wants her own identity and independence. Freya dies in the first part of ‘Saving Charli’. Freya can’t speak, but at the end of her life she is able to utter words to Charli. She tells Charli, ‘I love you, Charli.’ Charli’s guilt leaves a terrible hole in her heart. She questions herself. Who is she without Freya? Did she cause Freya’s death? She feels lost and alone. Charli retreats into a tent in her backyard, refusing to go to school, refusing attempts from family and friends to help her.
Saving Charli is told through the alternating perspectives of three friends finishing primary school with one entry by Freya at her death. The three girls are true friends. They are always there for each other. Queenie and Blair are committed to help Charli leave her backyard tent, grieve, and engage in swimming and life again. Charli eventually comes out of her tent and rejoin her friends.
Told from the perspective of three girlfriends, it has a special appeal to girls. Saving Charli is a story of loss, disability, the importance of friendship and family.
Suitable for ages 8+.
Reviewed by Susanne Gervay
