How to Repaint a Life
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley December 7, 2021
Author Steven Herrick
Distributor: UQP
ISBN: 9780702263156
Publisher: University of Queensland Press (UQP)
Release Date: September 2021
Website: https://www.uqp.com.au
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YA award winning author Steven Herrick has once again written a superb novel How to Repaint a Life, which takes a gentle, but clear look at changing, choice and acceptance, with his very real to life characters Isaac and Sophie, two independent young people from vastly differing backgrounds, who both are facing lifestyle choice as to what next with their futures.
Isaac has come from an abusive, dysfunctional and distressing background: an alcoholic bully of a father and a mother who long ago gave up the battle, leaving Isaac to the mercy of his father. Isaac has had to learn to fend for himself since he was 12 years old, needing to keep a clean, tidy house and cook the meals for a father who was vicious in his actions.
Sophie has been wrapped in the warm embrace of a loving family since birth. A family with slightly differing views on life and a somewhat quirky way of managing their work, home life in a small country town, where a lot, but not a lot changes.
Sophie is mad on art, wondering whether going to Art College in Melbourne is the right choice, Isaac is keen on survival. Both of them are facing changing futures with uncertainly, but both in so many ways knowing that to make the right choice is the only way forward.
Isaac arrives in a small town where he finds a safe place to sleep at the race course and it is from this perspective the two lives of Sophie and Isaac begin to form the story based on the basic values in life of honesty, trust, kindness, compassion and most importantly, making the right choices.
Many years in the creation How to repaint your life has evolved from the many questions asked of Herrick when he has been touring schools speaking about his books, the characters and messages contained within the various storylines.
Poignant, charming and addressing the issue of bullying, choice and acceptance How to Repaint a Life is an excellent read for young people looking at values and beginning to understand the world outside of their immediate family life.