Damien Wilkins is one of our most celebrated and awarded writers of adult fiction. Now, his first-ever YA foray has been shortlisted for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

Set in a fictional South Island town that very much resembles Wanaka, Aspiring is a coming of age story in the classic YA tradition that stretches back to Catcher in the Rye.

Fifteen-year-old Ricky lives in Aspiring, a town that’s growing at an alarming rate. Ricky’s growing, too — 6’7”, and taller every day. But he’s stuck in a loop: student, uncommitted basketballer, and puzzled son, burdened by his family’s sadness. And who’s the weird guy in town with a chauffeur and half a Cadillac? What about the bits of story that invade his head? Uncertain what’s real — and who he is — Ricky can’t stop sifting for clues. He has no idea how things will end up . . .

With sunlight, verve and humour, Wilkins brings us a beguiling boy who’s trying to make sense of it all.