A great book about Australia through the eyes of another culture. Akira decides to be an exchange student to escape the pressures of his father and the memories of his best friend who killed himself. Unfortunately, he finds himself in a very strange host family where the only "normal" person is 10 year old Daisy. The father has had a nervous breakdown, the mother works extremely long hours and is always sad, and the older daughter Angie seems to be extremely mad at Akira for no reason and also indulges in a great deal of high risk-taking behaviours. In contrast, Akira meets Stolly and his very welcoming Greek family. Things come to a head when Akira buys a motorbike, as it turns out the oldest son in his host family was killed in a motorbike accident. Unfortunately his appearance on the bike triggers off something in the usually normal Daisy and she disappears. Can Akira find her before she makes the same mistake his best friend did? Excellent, moving novel. p.63 A meets S p.67