Exit Through the Gift Shop
Shortlist year:
2022
Shortlist category:
Children's literature
Published by:
Pan Macmillan Australia
About the book
Anahita Rosalind Ghorban-Galaszczuk (yes, that really is her name but you can call her Ana) is discovering that life is absurd. As if dying of cancer at the age of 12.5 isn't bad enough, she still has to endure daily insults from her nemesis, Alyssa (Queen Mean) Anderson.
Ana's on a wild roller-coaster of life and death, kindness and cruelty, ordinary and extraordinary.
And she's got a few things to do before she exits . . .
About the author
Maryam Master
Maryam Master was born in Iran and moved to Australia when she was nine. She is a screenwriter and playwright who loves creating shows for young audiences.
Maryam has adapted three of David Walliams' books for the stage – 'Mr Stink', 'Billionaire Boy' and 'The Midnight Gang' – as well as Oliver Jeffers' 'The Incredible Book Eating Boy', all of which premiered at the Sydney Opera House and toured across Australia. She also collaborated with Australian Children's Laureate Leigh Hobbs on 'Horrible Harriet: Live on Stage'.
'Exit Through the Gift Shop' is her first novel.
About the illustrator
Astred Hicks
Astred is a Sydney-based freelance book designer who has worked with most of the publishers in Australia – and a few internationally – at some point in her 15-year career as a graphic designer.
Astred has had the pleasure of collaborating with many talented editors, designers, publishers, photographers, stylists, project managers and authors in the Australian publishing industry during her 11-year career as a book designer.
Judges’ comments
Twelve-and-a-half-year-old Anahita Rosalind Ghorban-Galaszczuk, has Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Her bestie Al likes to call it "the bad one", even if it sends his mind into a spin. "Why call it a 'non' cancer when it's actually worse than the original?"
This open hearted and generous book tracks the last year of Ana's life; the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful and the challenging. Taking up space in her life are her super-supportive divorced parents, a blended family with multiple step-siblings, and her nemesis and tormentor "Butt Breath" Alyssa who crosses a line when she finds out about Ana's cancer. Ana must decide how she wants to fight back, and what she's willing to lose.
Ana copes by switching channels with the remote control of her brain. Her "mental dance breaks", descriptions of nouns and adjectives, various lists, quirky illustrations and the humorous voice and wit throughout form a wonderful combination of storytelling that lifts the spirits in the darker moments and helps contextualise Ana's plight.
Witty, vibrant and achingly beautiful, 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' dissects the thin line between life and death with humour and hope, while asking important questions about what it means to live, what it means to forgive and perhaps most powerfully, "how to make 'living' a form of art."
