Last Wave
Paul Hayden

Pan Macmillan
2001

ISBN: 0330362526

Ever had one of those choc-dipped ice-creams at the movies?  Rich dark-brown and hard as on the outside protecting a firm-but-quick-to-melt inside?  Looks solid but is really brittle and once you crack it, it comes apart in large chunks?

Well, that’s what Matt Owen reminds me of!

He has all the external security he needs – the language, the clothes, the mates, the alcohol, the hair,  the attitude – to cover the internal insecurity of his relationships with girls, his future career plans, the power of his family,  the disintegration of the group he has been hanging out with since primary school and his battle with the arthritis in his feet which may prevent his surfing again.

Last Wave is a contemporary novel which treads the uncertain pathway between the rock of the predictable, daily routine of school and the hard place of the world of adulthood and responsibility. Like both the ice-cream and life, there is more than one layer to the story and Hayden manages to blend these well and allow the reader's maturity to taste below the surface as far as it likes.

There are those who will find the language too explicit, the issues too graphic and the reality too disturbing but Paul Hayden has written a most moving story that is even better than a choc-dipped ice-cream, for after it is finished it is still with you for a long time.

The book starts in a podiatrist's rooms where Matt is having his arthritic feet attended to.  It takes us through the full range of pastimes that older teenage boys occupy themselves with.  These pastimes include going surfing a lot, going to mates' houses and having drinks at the local pub.  The story concludes with the ultimate party ending in tragedy.

This book is not a story for the faint-hearted.  At times the author is overly descriptive of situations which would have been better left to the imagination, or even untouched.

The story is also a little dismissive of the role teenage girls play in the life of teenage boys.  For this reason  Last Wave may not appeal to female readers.

Last Wave is a well-written story, thoroughly enjoyed by this reader, and recommended to any teenager, not easily shocked.

Reviewer: Carl, Yr 9, ACT

This book is about a seventeen year old boy named Owl. He has finished school and has his whole summer ahead of him. He soon finds out what it’s like to have something he loves taken from him, in more ways than one.

This is realistic fiction for young adults. This book would have been a lot more enjoyable if it weren’t for the excess swearing that did nothing to help the storyline. The surfing theme was put to good use making the reader feel as though the author either is a surfer or knows a whole heap about it. The laid back way in which the book is written suites the theme and age group. The books' style and print is easy to read. The story line, although a little slow at times, is generally quite entertaining.

 Kayla, aged 15, Canberra, ACT

A classically Aussie book that captures a seventeen year old surfie boy in a strange light - **gasp** he actually shares his feelings! Last Wave lets us enter the mind of one of those guys you can never figure – girls, you know what I’m talking about  - the cute surfie off the beach you’ve always had your eye on, but never been able to strike up much conversation.

We all know seventeen year old guys – sullen, ‘cool’, spends his words like they cost five bucks each – Matt is one of those suave guys who’s first priority is the surf.

But all that is about to change, he’s changing, him and his friends are out of high school now, and even their priorities are changing. His best mate is having a baby, his friends get killed in an accident, he’s falling for a girl – for real…he may not even be able to surf anymore.

A really good book that ridiculously manages to use the surf as an example of life – yet it works well. The language is perfectly real, which we all know in reality is quite profane at times. Surf lingo is used often, and strangely, there is a touch of empathy in our hearts towards Matt’s thoughts and emotions.

Last Wave dispels the myth, if it ever really was a myth, that surfers are laid back, bleached, blissed out and only concerned with catching the next wave. Matt Owen is the archetypical teenage surfie with all the right moves and seemingly with all the right answers. But delve deeper under the surface and there are all the same insecurities and problems laid bare. Matt isn't even free to enjoy surfing without pain since arthritis in his feet may mean he is not able to surf any longer. Last Wave goes into the raw truth behind the outer facade of the right gear and the right group and shows both Matt's physical and emotional pain in a graphic, no holds bared way, which is interesting and authentic right to the end, since the story is told from a teenager's point of view. The novel ends with Matt and his friends having the  party of their lives but it proves tragically unforgettable.

This is a very realistic and raw novel probably appealing more to male readers a little more since girls don't feature as strong characters. For teenagers of all ages-if you like in your face description!