Take the Shot

Shortlisted for the Readings Young AdultBook Prize, 2020, this is a book about basketball, friendship, growing up, family drama – and a rare genetic disorder called Marfan Syndrome.

Bug has a secret. Actually, he has a lot of secrets. By this point, Bug's secrets have secrets. Like...

Number one: he's formed a basketball team at his new school based on a giant lie.
Number two: his parents don't know he's playing basketball again.
Number three: his new teammates have no idea he isn't allowed to play, and they definitely don't know why.

Bug will do anything to keep his secrets, keep his new team and keep his life from falling apart. Because no one can know the biggest secret of all: Bug risks his life every time he steps out onto the basketball court.

About the Author

Susan is a doctor and a writer. As a clinical geneticist, Susan hunts for answers to undiagnosed genetic conditions in children - a kind of DNA-sleuth for kids, minus the trench coat. Susan's writing takes the reader inside the medical world, without the boring bits. Her novel, Cut, was shortlisted for the Kill Your Darlings' Unpublished Manuscript Award in 2017. Her writing has been published in The Big Issue, The School magazine, Melbourne's Child magazine and The Reader anthology from the Emerging Writers' Festival.

When she is not drumming up new ideas for stories, or feeding her unhealthy obsessions with coffee and young adult fiction, Susan hangs out with her husband, their two kids and their gorgeous neurotic dog Snowy.