A Shot at Freedom

'A Shot at Freedom' is a contemporary young adult novel worth stopping for.
Brooke and David are out to find love, while trying not to lose each other. Caught in the crossfire of their warring families, they dream of freedom and independence every day. They imagine a life on an island in the Whitsundays free from drama. Their only chance at finding peace is to take off on their own. A better life might have been possible, but they delay leaving for one crucial night getting caught in the violence they wanted to escape. It's not long before they discover they haven’t left the worst of everything behind. David leaves with a secret, the accidental shooting of his father as he defends his mother. Brooke leaves with a fantasy, the hope that when they are alone they will be together and happy. As runaways can his secret and her fantasy co-exist?

Sometimes together, sometimes separate, their journey drags them through a youth shelter, roughing it on the road, and finally onto their dream island. All the while they face more of the same violence and emotional manipulation from strangers they had at home with their family's. Nowhere seems safe anymore. The Whitsundays isn’t gorgeous enough to fulfil their fantasy life. Holding it together becomes David's main objective, while all Brooke can think about is being together.

If you love someone for all the good, all the bad and have no happy memories without them in it, what could you do to hold onto them?

What could you forgive? What is unforgivable?

What if you were so ashamed of all that you were, all that you had done, all that you had come from? What would be the one thing to pull you back from the edge of a cliff?

What would you do for the person that you love but are likely to destroy?

Is love, friendship and shared history enough to pull Brooke and David through?

Brooke and David are runaways trying to survive, having to overcome violence, homelessness, depression, guilt and shame, life changing secrets and deeply ingrained patterns of family dysfunction. Unwittingly, they recreate in their new life the same drama that their parents created in their old lives, all because they tried their best to avoid it. Running towards freedom may not be all that it's cracked up to be. What does it take to help them to find what they really need to move past it all?

Brooke and David have a connection that any young couple would be ecstatic to have. 'A Shot at Freedom' is a coming of age teen adventure with love at it's core, ploughing through the unexpected sacrifices that need to be made. Brooke and David's journey towards independence and freedom, seems impossible with all that they have to overcome.
They run, but can’t hide from anything. Independence is everything. It is so close they can smell it? Or is that the residue of gun smoke? Ready, Aim, Fire…

A Shot at Freedom - Awards and Comments
"A well-written, pacey, top quality teenage runaway story that faces controversial issues...Takes the plot and runs with it right from the start, rarely faltering."
"There is so much to admire about the writer's unsettling approach to the various dilemmas of being young."
"...a bright, breezy, appealing voice."
Vogel Award Judges choice (Allen & Unwin)
Winner CYA
Two times Runner-up CBCA Writers Competition

Other Teen / Young Adult Novels written by Kelli Bradicich
In No Need of Air
Pink Serenity