SHORTLISTED FOR THE CBCA BOOK OF THE YEAR: OLDER READERS 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUSTRALIAN BOOK DESIGN AWARDS 2025 BEST DESIGNED YOUNG ADULT COVER
'It was the beginning of everything. And the end of so much.'
Layla is in her final year of school. It's the last year to make sure that the next major phase of her life begins correctly because she's got big plans.
She just wants to be a normal teenager and to fit in but when her troubled cousin Marley comes to stay, he challenges everything she thought she was.
Steph Tisdell is a writer, actor and an award-winning comedian. She's a proud Yidinji woman, and her words sparkle with humour, depth and authenticity in this extraordinary debut novel that explores cultural and personal expectations, and responsibilities.
LONGLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS FOR YOUNG ADULTS 2025
HIGHLY COMMENDED FOR THE VICTORIAN PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARDS FOR YOUNG ADULTS 2025 Steph Tisdell is one of the brightest stars in Australian comedy.
Her natural warmth and wit have been a hit with audiences and critics alike ever since she won the 2014 Deadly Funny National Grand Final. Her award-winning shows always sell out and she's a regular on mainstream television shows such as Hughesy We Have a Problem and The Project, as well as a supporting role in ABC's Total Control.
Because of an early interest in law, she enrolled in law and this sense of social justice matched with her formidable intelligence enables her to deliver social insights that challenge cultural stereotypes in a way that is hilarious, relatable and importantly, as a proud Indigenous woman, powerful.
The Skin I'm In is her first novel. A feisty, poignant novel about being 17, being Indigenous and navigating cultural expectations and high school by comedian and actor Steph Tisdell.
