The First Third
Penguin Random House Australia 2013
BUY (PAPERBACK ● AUDIO)TEACHERS’ NOTES
Life is made up of three parts: in The First Third, you’re embarrassed by your family; in the second, you make a family of your own; and in the end, you just embarrass the family you’ve made.
That’s how Billy’s grandmother explains it, anyway. She’s given him her bucket list (cue embarrassment), and now, it’s his job to glue their family back together.
No pressure or anything.
Fixing his family’s not going to be easy and Billy’s not ready for change. But as he soon discovers, the first third has to end some time. And then what?
It’s a Greek tragedy waiting to happen.
A painfully funny yet poignant contemporary Australian story for young adults, The First Third is the award-winning sophomore novel from Will Kostakis.
WINNER: The Inky Awards, Gold Inky 2014
GET READING! 50 Books You Can’t Put Down 2013
ISLN (Singapore) Red Dot Book Awards, Mature Readers Longlist 2013-14
CBCA Book of the Year Awards, Older Readers Shortlist 2014
Australian Book Design Awards, Best Design YA Book Shortlist 2014
Internationale Jugendbibliothek, White Ravens 2014
Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Young Adult Fiction Shortlist 2014
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, Young Adult Fiction Award Shortlist 2016
KOALA Awards, Fiction for Years 7-9 Shortlist 2017
YABBA Awards, Fiction for Years 7-9 Shortlist 2017
“The relationships in this novel are gems, funny dialogue, wonderful characters, a story told with so much heart.” Melina Marchetta, Printz Award-winning author of Looking For Alibrandi
“The First Third is a gift of a novel. It proposes to the reader that there is a lovely simplicity of the human condition if only we can take a minute to find it.” Marama Whyte, HYPABLE.COM
“The First Third has a warm, authentic voice… just the right mix of humour and affection.” Maryanne Hyde, GOOD READING MAGAZINE
“This book reads like Will Kostakis putting his heart on his sleeve and his family on the page, and the result is nothing short of magnificent.” Danielle Binks, ALPHA READER
“Filled with wonderful dialogue, engaging characters and bucket loads of humour and heart, The First Third is another fantastic YA novel from Australian author Will Kostakis.” Susan Whelan, KIDS’ BOOK REVIEW