Blog Every Day in June Day 11: Nine Australian YA novels to help you deal with workplace problems

Today's post comes from Anne Reddacliff, ALIA Sydney's Event Officer.

Anne's compiled a fantastic list of novels to help you manage the '9 deadly sins' of workplace issues.

1. Walking Naked by Alyssa Brugman

Problem: Gossip

If you find yourself the subject of workplace gossip or social hierarchy, Walking Naked conveys the meaninglessness of playground politics. Megan, a member of the school’s in-crowd forms an unlikely friendship with Perdita, the outcast. This book will teach you how to be true to yourself and true to your friends.

2. Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Problem: Apathy

Saving Francesca appeals to the times when you don’t apply for a promotion or you stop yourself from speaking up in a meeting. Francesca is holding herself back but her journey through a turbulent year will remind you to stay passionate when you’re dulled by apathy and have faith in who you want to be.

3. On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Problem: Leadership

If you’re recruited to a leadership position and you don’t think you’ve got what it takes, On the Jellicoe Road is a novel about how to be a leader even when your nick-name is Coward of the County. Taylor Markham is leading the Boarders in the Territory Wars but can she unite a school divided? How to succeed when others are expecting you to fail.



                                 

4. The Spellbook of Listen Taylor by Jaclyn Moriarty

Problem: Anxiety

The Spellbook of Listen Taylor is the remedy for when you don’t want to go to work. Marbie Zing feels anxious in her office environment so she creates a fantasy world where dropping a box of paperclips is a supernatural omen predicting she simply must go home. The Spellbook of Listen Taylor deals with the extent to which a mental illness can paralyse you in the workplace.

5. A Corner of White: Book One, The Colours of Madeleine Trilogy by Jaclyn Moriarty

Problem: Isolation

Madeleine likes colours. They remind her of the life she had before her mother exiled her to Cambridge, England. She struggles to make friends with the inseparable Jack and Bella, while writing letters to Elliot Baranksi from the Kingdom of Cello. If you feel alienated at work Madeleine will show you how to connect, to find your place in a hostile social world.

6. Careful What You Wish For by Maureen McCarthy

Problem: Discontent

Ruth’s family embarrass her so she wishes for a new one. Careful What You Wish For captures the feeling of being unfulfilled, the hours spent dreaming of that elusive perfect job. Ruth’s journey will prompt you to consider making the most of your current workplace. Your dream job, like the perfect family, may not be everything you think it will be.


                               

7. Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood

Problem: Goal-setting

Dan Cereill wants to achieve six impossible things. But how to make the impossible possible? Six Impossible Things is about how to set goals and believe in them. This book will inspire you to make a career plan and apply for promotions you didn’t think you were qualified for.

8. Hating Alison Ashley by Robin Klein

Problem: Jealousy

There’s always someone who’s effortlessly better at what they do than you are. Hating Alison Ashley confronts the power of envy. It suggests we can learn as much from our enemies, whether in the playground or in the workplace, as we can from our friends.

9. Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Problem: Assumptions

Lucy is in love with a mysterious graffiti artist, named Shadow. So she enlists Ed’s help to chase Shadow across an empty city. But who is Shadow and is Ed really as juvenile as Lucy believes? Graffiti Moon is about the assumptions we make of others and they make of us. This book will encourage you not to judge your colleagues by their position title. The workplace is flat but the world is round.

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