Exit Through the Gift Shop


Publication Date: 27 Jul. 2021
Format: Paperback / softback

ISBN 9781760983512

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    Anahita Rosalind Ghorban-Galaszczuk (yes, that really is her name but you can call her Ana) is discovering that life is absurd. As if dying of cancer at the age of 12.5 isn’t bad enough, she still has to endure daily insults from her nemesis, Alyssa (Queen Mean) Anderson.

    Ana’s on a wild roller-coaster of life and death, kindness and cruelty, ordinary and extraordinary. And she’s got a few things to do before she exits...

    Information

    Book Type: Junior Chapter
    Age Group: 10 years +
    Traffic Lights:
    Class Novel: Yes
    Good Reads Rating: 4/5
    Literary Rating: 4.5/5

    Review

    Anahita Rosalind Ghorban-Galaszczuk has Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and has been told she has just 12 months to live. This stream-of-consciousness story is written as her diary of that time, with her illustrations scattered throughout.

    Ana splits her time between living with her divorced parents: her mother (and her mother’s new plastic surgery obsessed husband, Plastic Pat)—in Sydney’s wealthy eastern suburbs—and her father, his new wife Wanda, her three sons, two daughters, two dogs and one evil cat, in the Western suburbs.

    At school, there’s Alyssa Anderson (secretly named by Ana as Butt Breath). Alyssa looks sweet and beautiful on the outside, but she spouts mean words and green gooey spit from the inside. Amongst other things, she always finds a way to insult Ana about her half Persian heritage.

    Ana’s best friend Alexander, known as Al, is the only one at school who knows about Ana’s illness—that is, until Ana and her parents decide to tell the school. Having finally come to this key moment, Ana is certain that it will cause Alyssa to feel bad about the way she has treated her, and hopefully result in her backing off.

    Alyssa doesn’t apologise, but she does tell Ana she is going to make it her personal mission to ensure her last days are happy ones. They will be besties (sub text: whether that’s what Ana wants or not). Ana isn’t sure what’s worse—Alyssa being nasty, or Alyssa being nice, especially as Ana doesn’t trust that her kindness is genuine.

    Alyssa keeps taking selfies with her and Ana can’t work out why until she discovers the photos posted online with the hashtag #meandthedyinggirl. Alyssa has been using Ana’s illness to gain followers on social media, and it’s worked.

    When Ana confronts her, Alyssa says she shouldn’t be surprised—did Ana really expect people to care that she was dying? Ana punches her and gets suspended. Of course, Alyssa was filming the whole time. She posts the footage on social media to garner sympathy for her injury.

    Ana has had enough. She and Al plan to get revenge, and ultimately decide to expose her cruelty online to turn the tide of public opinion. With all the laws that exist against cyberbullying, Alyssa’s own behaviour is going to backfire on her—it could even result in her having a criminal record.

    But before they can act, Ana’s health worsens. She gets chemo at home because she’s too sick to even go to the hospital. She’s offered the opportunity to go on a T-cell trial in Philadelphia, so Ana and her mum travel to America. There, she makes a friend called Kenya who encourages her to live every moment as if it’s a lost cause.

    When Ana returns home, Alyssa is as horrible as ever. Now determined to take revenge, Ana spies on Alyssa and gets a shock—Alyssa is caring for her brother, who was in a horrible car accident and requires 24 hour care. How can she be such an amazing carer at home and such a horrible bully at school? Ana confronts Alyssa, who says she’s not sorry at all for her behaviour and that it made her feel better about her own life.

    And then another curveball hits: Kenya dies. Ana begins to understand that there’s no way to defeat Alyssa without sinking to her level, so she focuses on living out her last days doing the things she loves with the people she loves.

    The book doesn’t have a neat, satisfying ending—much like life, it’s messy and heartbreakingly incomplete. Ana learns to hold on to the good things in life rather than focusing on a vengeance that will never be truly satisfying. Cathartic and real, this story and its philosophy on life will leave a lasting impression. The stylistic elements of the story add a layer of reality and will be a useful tool for students studying different creative writing styles.

    Themes

    Persian culture, terminal illness, cancer, bullying, blended families, selfie addiction, social media, shame, revenge

    Content Notes

    1. Mild toilet humour. 2. OMG (p. 23). “Bitch” (bleeped out) (p. 57).

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