Jess is just your average teenager.  She’s 16 years old.  Her pesky little brother, Spud, is mostly a good kid but occasionally gets himself into trouble.  Then there’s Ruby, Jess’s mum, an over-protective, soppy woman - just your average mum I guess.  Sara and Charlotte are Jess’s best friends and they are wild, wacky and crazy – everything a girl could want in a best friend really.  And of course there is Dylan, Jess’s sort-of-but-not-really boyfriend. Yep, Jess is just your average teenage girl dealing with family, friends and potential boyfriends.  Oh yeah…and she has cancer. 

Elizabeth Vercoe’s first novel, Keep Your Hair On!, is a beautifully crafted story which delves into the issues associated with cancer.  As Jess goes through her journey of growing up, we watch her deal with the additional trials and tribulations of chemotherapy, constantly feeling sick and losing her hair, not to mention tyring to deal with the fact that people treat her differently after learning she is suffering from cancer.  People including her best friends.  We watch Jess struggle with the decision of whether or not to tell people about her illness, particularly Dylan.  How will he react once he finds out Jess has cancer?   

Jess has a long path to travel.  Will she learn to deal with the pain and discomfort of the chemo sessions?  Will she be able to live with her mum and brother without going totally crazy?  What will happen with her best friends, will they ditch her or stand by her?  And what about Dylan?  If Jess tells him about the cancer, he’ll probably feel sorry for her…or dump her.  The life of a teenager is far from easy and Jess’s life is no exception.  Can she keep her illness a secret from everyone?  Or will the lies come falling down around her, just like her hair has been falling down the plughole?  Will Jess’s life ever return to normal?      

Having been a victim of cancer herself at the age of 25, Vercoe brings a wealth of honesty and experiences to Keep Your Hair On! resulting in an extremely realistic and truthful story.  This fictional response to her own cancer battle deals with a myriad of issues that are associated with the journey of a cancer patient, and protagonist Jess is the perfect vehicle of expression for Vercoe’s story.  Jess is a fantastic character – well built, easy to relate to, real.  In fact, the same goes for each and every character in the story.  Each has their own individuality, style and voice, allowing the reader to easily connect with the characters. 

The language that Vercoe employs throughout the text is extremely easy to read and relate to, without being far too simplistic.  The Melbourne mother of three has obviously listened closely to her children and their friends in order to capture the essence of the Aussie teen language so consistent throughout the novel.  In utilizing such a technique, Vercoe allows readers to associate themselves with characters through the common bond of language, leading to a greater empathy for Jess and her mates.   

One may think that such a potentially grave subject such as cancer would not be an appropriate topic for upper primary and lower secondary school readers, however Vercoe applies such a light touch in many parts of the book that the entire storyline of Jess and her illness becomes easily accessible to younger readers.  Numerous incidents of humour are rife throughout Keep Your Hair On!, keeping the reader from feeling ‘bogged down’ by the weighty issues at hand, while at the same time providing an appealing story.  But the topic of cancer is in no way treated flippantly or oversimplified.  Vercoe appears to have a great talent for taking a serious, and often dark, topic and turning it into a completely engaging and accessible novel for young adult readers, as is apparent in her second work The Grief Book, a CBCA short listed book for 2005. 

Keep Your Hair On! is a fantastic novel with two major themes that any child, and adult for that matter, would benefit from taking note of:

1. Just because somebody has cancer does not mean that they are any different to anybody else; and
2. As Vercoe herself puts it “There is light even in darkness.” (Vercoe 2003: foreword).

With such well crafted characters, accessible language, fantastic humour and wonderful messages, Keep Your Hair On! will undoubtedly appeal to any reader, whether young or old.  Vercoe has succeeded in creating a superb novel about an important topic within today’s society, without sugar-coating or oversimplifying it, while still retaining an appeal to readers everywhere.  I urge readers all over the world, whether dealing with cancer or not, to pick up this book, I guarantee you will love it.  Keep Your Hair On! is a true triumph!

Review by Joanne Enever

This piece was originally submitted as part of the course work in Australian Children's Literature. 

© 2005 Joanne Enever