Wildlife by Fiona Wood

Two sixteen-year-old girls in Australia come together at an outdoor semester of school, before university--one thinking about boys and growing up, the other about death and grief, but somehow they must help each other to find themselves.

Adorable, introspective, well written. Loved it.

I loved this SO much. These girls, Sib and Lou, felt so realistic in their attempts at navigating popularity and grief and friendship. I love most YA books about camp/outdoors/etc and this one, set in an Australian school's wilderness term, made great use of all those finding yourself in nature tropes that I DIG.

It handles teen sex in a refreshing confused/enthusiastic/hesitant jumble that I haven't seen much of in YA, and that I appreciated.

also: a wallaby dies.