Published: 01/03/2018
ISBN: 9780646961255
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 336
RRP: $19.99
If I Tell You
Alicia Tuckerman
If I Tell You by Alicia Tuckerman, debut Australian author. The 2018 must-read YA love story.
‘The second our eyes lock in the dark is all the time I need to know that whatever happens next, my life will never be the same.’
Life and love don’t wait until you’re ready, but what if finding yourself means losing everything you’ve ever known?
Seventeen-year-old Alex Summers lives with a secret and the constant fear someone will find out. But when a new family moves to town, they bring with them their teenage daughter Phoenix Stone. When Alex falls for Phoenix, there is no warning. In a small town with small minds, girls don’t go out with other girls, even if they want to.
In fear there is bravery – you can either cling to the edge or have the courage to jump. But what do you do when you’re left spiralling through the freefall?
This is a heart-wrenching story of love in an unloving Australian landscape.
Alicia Tuckerman was raised in rural NSW before she left home at the age of sixteen because she was terrified of what would happen if anyone found out she was a lesbian. Alicia wanted to write If I Tell You because of the lack of representation of LGBTQA+ in the media and arts when she was growing up. If I Tell You is a bittersweet YA love story that explores teen identity, love and loss.
“…a heart-wrenching story of love in an unloving Australian landscape…” – Good Reading Magazine
“Powerful, deeply affecting and yet hopeful, this book celebrates the bravery that it takes to live an authentic life, and explores the struggle often associated with the coming out experience, with a gentle and loving touch.” – Better Reading
Alicia Tuckerman
“Complex and confronting issues of homophobia and bigotry are navigated delicately in If I Tell You, and at times it can make for an uncomfortable read, but Tuckerman does not shy away… There has been much discussion of the importance of LGBTQI representation in young adult literature, and If I Tell You is one of the finer examples encountered in a while.”
Better Reading (March, 2018)
“If I Tell You is a heart-wrenching story of love in an unloving Australian landscape… Being able to pick up a book and see yourself within the pages is an incredibly powerful and important thing.”
Good Reading Magazine (March, 2018)
“Every now and again, you will come across a piece of fiction that resonates so deeply within you that it will move you to tears. That is exactly what happened to me, as I read If I Tell You by Alicia Tuckerman… If John Green wrote a lesbian novel, it still could not compare to Tuckerman’s astonishing debut work.”
Queer Quality (March, 2018)
“If I Tell You by Alicia Tuckerman is a heart-wrenching and beautiful debut about bravery, love and life.”
Wild Heart Reads (February, 2018)
“Powerful, deeply affecting and yet hopeful, this book celebrates the bravery that it takes to live an authentic life, and explores the struggle often associated with the coming out experience, with a gentle and loving touch.”
Better Reading (March, 2018)
“Tuckerman’s depiction of Alex’s conflict and fragile self esteem is authentic and strong.”
Trish Talks Text (March, 2018)
“If you were to ask me about the book(s) that pull my heart strings the most, as of now I’d say If I Tell You is one of those books for me.”
Adele is Reading (March, 2018)
“If I Tell You is a story full of heart-wrenching hardships, sacrifice, and love.”
