Two days after Head of the River and Harley Grammar is subdued at morning assembly; instead of singing ‘We are the Champions’ and back-slapping the rowing stars, the entire school is in a state of mourning for an unnamed but seriously ill student. Meanwhile, Leni Popescu is in her own state of mourning and recovery after an accident. She’s at once scared for what her injury will mean for her rowing career, and worried about the same student her schoolmates are keeping vigil for.Jump ahead and it’s six months to Head of River – back to where it all began. Leni and Cristian Popescu are rowers for Harley Grammar and part of a proud rowing family. Leni and Cristian’s mum and dad were Olympic rowers – their dad a silver medallist and part of the Romanian eight, while their mum won gold as stroke for the Australian pair. Their parents met on the dance floor at the athlete’s bar at the Olympic Village in Seoul, and their dad migrated to Australia to wed their mum after a long-distance romance.After years of gruelling early-morning starts, pulls on the ergo machine and fighting tooth and oar for a place on their respective crews, Leni and Cristian are getting ready for Head of the River – a Victorian rowing regatta that is the oldest continuous schoolboy (now girls too) rowing event in the world, dating back to 1868. To win Head of the River is to be a hero for your school. For Leni, especially, it’s a way to kick-start her Olympic rowing career. But for Cristian, training for Head of the River this last year has been nothing but a prolonged soul-crushing. He’s not fit enough, as his coach revels in reminding him. A new boy, Sam, from the American school in Singapore has been at Harley Grammar for only a few months and rowing even less than that – but he’s being praised as a natural, and is breathing down Cristian’s neck for his spot on the first crew.Through alternating chapters, we’ll see the six months leading up to Leni and Cristian’s Head of the River – the obstacles they face, mistakes they make and lessons learned through blood, sweat and Yarra River water.‘Head of the River’ is the new contemporary YA novel from Australian author Pip Harry.I have been excited for this book ever since I interviewed Pip Harry back in 2012, and she mentioned that her next book was going to be; “a YA novel which focuses on a brother and sister who are training for the Head of the River rowing regatta.” I was so in love with this idea for a number of reasons: the main one being how rare Aussie, contemporary YA sports novels (with male and female protagonists!) are these days. Another big reason for the excitement was the focus on rowing: because I was a rower. For one year of high school I donned a zoot suit, about killed myself on the ergo machines and participated in regatta after regatta after regatta. I’m not saying I was a good rower (my coach often yelled at me via her megaphone as she rode her bike along the bank that I had to “keep my head in the boat”, because I had a tendency to look at the passing scenery. What can I say? I’m more of a dreamer than a rower). So I felt an instant connection to this book. Head of the River is one of the most prestigious school sporting events in Victoria. The event started out (back in 1868!) as a duel-style race between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College on the Yarra River – and has now broadened to include boys and girls’ heats, and inter-school rivalries like you’ve never seen before. It is a big bloody deal, and Pip Harry has written about it brilliantly – blending the history, pride, and competitiveness beautifully with the very relatable stories of an ambitious sister and her down-trodden brother.Pip Harry actually really plays around with gender roles in this book. It’s sister Leni who is the gung-ho competitor with her sights on Head of the River cup and a career, like her parents’, as an Olympic rower. It’s so refreshing to read a young female character with this kind of bull-headed drive. Sure, a big character arc for Leni is learning that it’s as much her friendships in the boat that have to matter as winning, but I loved her determination and machismo; In the middle is a cut-out of the Head of the River cup, which I’ve coloured in with gold pen. I want it so badly it hurts. I like to touch the cup with my hand and imagine my bow girl going over the line first, thousands of people screaming on he banks of the Barwon River. Thinking about it gives me goose bumps. There’s a quote posted up that I think about during training: ‘Pain is just weakness leaving the body.’ By contrast, Cristian feels constantly dwarfed by his sister’s rising star. He’s not as good (or passionate) as Leni and their parents when it comes to rowing, and he feels the constant pressure to keep physically fit – particularly because he has a problem with temptation and portion control. Cristian is also seriously hung-up on one of Leni’s fellow rowers, a petite dancer called Penny who Cristian seems to continuously humiliate himself in front of; ‘It won’t be the last time you screw up,’ she says. ‘Dad and I lost plenty of races.’ ‘But you won plenty, too.’ ‘Sure. But in rowing, you’ve got to learn to take the rough water with the glassy pond. Otherwise it will break your heart. Now show me your hands.’ But, as hinted in that opening chapter, stormclouds are gathering for brother and sister Popescu. Cristian’s negative self-image is leading him down a seriously dangerous path, and when Leni gets closer to the boy trying to steal her brother’s place in the boat, it causes a rift in their family. Speaking of family, Harry explores the Popescu dynamics beautifully and it was something else I really related to. Their father is Romanian, and migrated to Australia to marry their mother – the kids sometimes feel embarrassed by his European attitudes and poor English-language skills, and even after so many years of living here their father still feels the brunt of being a ‘foreigner’. I loved the second-generation explorations, and just the fact that the family were so close – it was a double-edged sword in that Leni and Cristian really want to make them proud, but that put added pressure on them too.I’ve also got to say that Pip Harry has the private school scene down. I attended a private all girl’s school, and I must admit that part of my wanting to be a rower was because I thought that particular sport had a certain cachet to it that I didn’t have otherwise, being from a very blue-collar, working-class background that was so different from many of my peers. I just thought Harry captured that world so damn well. In one scene particularly; Instead of standing with the other parents drinking from plastic champagne glasses and eating dainty chicken sandwiches, my parents are tinkering with boats. They’ve been tinkering with boats my whole life. Dad’s adjusting the height of a rigger. Mum’s oiling a squeaky seat wheel. Dad’s the Harley Grammar boat caretaker, so he fixes, tunes and cleans all sixty boats in our fleet.Mum has a smudge of grease on her cheek and she’s dressed in cargo shorts and an old T-shirt. I feel an itch of embarrassment. The other rowing mothers have white teeth and done-up hair, Broome pearls and designer jeans. The dads wear polo shirts and aviator sunnies. They carry long lens SLR cameras and the 'Saturday Age'. Yep. That about sums it up. ‘Head of the River’ is a compelling and thoughtful contemporary Australian YA sports novel – that it has a brother and sister protagonist who don’t conform to gender stereotypes is also deserving of praise. But ‘Head of the River’ is also compulsive reading – with a plot that catches you like a crab and pulls you under. I loved it.
I think it’s fair to start this review with a warning: I haven’t loved a book this much for a while, so I’m probably going to ramble. I started Head of the River in the airport after finding out my flight had been delayed by an hour. What else could I do but start reading? A couple of hours (and two more delays) later, I was half way through the book and completely hooked. If you’re a fan of Australian contemporary YA you simply cannot miss Head of the River.Leni and Cristian were characters I was immediately drawn to. However, I felt a particularly strong connection with Leni because I saw a little of myself in her. Not in terms of her athleticism (because I will do anything to avoid exercise), but in terms of her drive and determination to achieve the very high standards she set for herself. This was me in high school and half of university. So I was particularly intrigued by Harry’s exploration of the pressure teens feel from parents and peers, whether that be real or imagined. I say imagined because often, we put more pressure on ourselves than other people. I certainly did. It’s incredibly hard to shake yourself out of that mindset and even harder to tell yourself it’s ok to fail. I can’t think of another YA novel where this topic was executed as beautifully as in Head of the River.Another interesting aspect I enjoyed was the exploration of body image, weight and eating behaviours. What made this so compelling was that it was Cristian who faced these problems in Head of the River. Eating disorders are so often represented as only really affecting teenage girls, so it’s great to see authors like Harry shedding light on how young men are also susceptible.Performance enhancing drugs in sport has been big news in Australia over the past year, with prominent ALF and NRL players and clubs under investigation. I was interested by the questions Harry raised about drugs, and indeed drug testing, in school competitions in Head of the River. The novel also looks at why people might turn to performance enhancing drugs, particularly as a promising young athlete. I felt like it all came back to pressure people feel to achieve – even if it’s pressure they’re putting on themselves.In the midst of all these issues and the competition, Leni and Cristian are also dealing with the same things most teenagers are. They’re navigation the ups and downs of romantic relationships as well as friendships and fitting in with the popular crowd. I loved the way Harry wove these ‘normal’ teen experiences into the novel, making it something most people can easily relate to. I also loved seeing how sport could bring people together and create new friendships, particularly when it came to Leni and Cristian’s dad, who made a new life in Australia among his rowing crew.Finally, don’t be afraid to read this novel because it’s about competitive sport. I am as un-sporty as they come and I couldn’t put this down. Because Head of the River is about so much more than the sport of rowing. It’s about fitting in, opening up, break-ups and blossoming relationships and dealing with the weight of expectation. Head of the River is a beautifully written story, which will stay in your mind long after the final race has ended.This review and many more can be found at The Unfinished Bookshelf.Thank you to University of Queensland Press for providing a copy of the book for review.
Do You like book Head Of The River (2014)?
Head of the River is Pip Harry’s second novel. Set in Melbourne, seventeen year old Leni and Cris Popescu are twins, children of former Olympian rowers, and are in their final years of school at Harley Grammar. Both were taught to row at a young age and are now in preparations for the Head of the River, the most important race in the school year. Leni is feeling the pressure and Cris is starting to realise that rowing is not what he wants to do anymore.I adored both Leni and Cris and the dual narration worked perfectly. Being twins they are so in sync, not that they don’t have arguments and rivalry, but the bond between them was so sweet. And while being very similar, they’re also quite different: Leni is serious, determined, focused, sometimes to the point of seeming unfriendly, which also means she’s lonely. Cris on the other hand wants to relax more and no longer wants to win as much. Both feel the pressure due to their parents’ legacy, but their parents were really supportive and present throughout their story. There were so many tender moments between the four of them, I loved the Popescu family.Cris is struggling with his weight, he comfort eats, didn't work out as much over the holidays, and finds himself heavier than the rest of the boys. It was so refreshing to read about weight issues from a male perspective, and instead have Leni wishing to be bigger and more muscular. I could understand Cris going along with the plan to use drugs to get himself back in shape, and the topic was dealt with sensitively and realistically.The book starts two days after the race and then jumps back to six months earlier, and I was hooked on Leni and Cris’ story from the start. It’s clear something serious happens at the race and slowly their story unfolds, detailing the enormous amount of time and effort that goes into their training. Was Leni going to get the win she so wanted? Was Cris going to get caught taking drugs? I took on all their nervous energy while reading and was anticipating the outcome.There’s a romantic element for both twins, more so for Leni, but I really liked that it wasn’t the sole focus of their story. Leni is dating Adam, but has her eye on new boy, Sam. It was great to see Leni’s growth over the course of the story, specifically when it came to Sam, and to the rest of the rowers. For anyone put off because they have no idea about rowing, don’t be. Firstly, there’s a glossary of all the rowing terms, and secondly, everything is so vivid that you’ll be able to picture the rowing scenes easily, even if you've never picked up an oar.Pip Harry has done it again, Head of the River accurately captures those awkward teenage years, filled with embarrassing parents, the pressure to achieve, and fumbling romances. This is a moving and captivating story with a bittersweet ending, sure to be loved by teens and adults.Thank you to the wonderful people at UQP for my review copy.**************************************EXCITEMENT!
—Mands
An interesting book about the pressures placed on young people the world of elite school sport. Money and prestige play a big part in this rather insular world where winning seems all consuming. This novel tells the story of Cristian and Leni Posescu who are twins on rowing scholarships. There are high expectations that they will perform well, partly because their parents are both medal winning Olympians and partly because they must maintain high performances to stay at the school. The pressure to do well and win the Head of the River eights, in both boys and girls sections, place almost unbearable pressures on both them and others in their circle.The narrative unfolds with the voices of Cristian and Leni in alternating chapters as they explain their struggles. Each is trying create a balance in their lives whilst finding a place for study, working out their relationships as well as keeping up with the rigorous training regime in preparation for the final race. Each finds out that not everything can be achieved the way they want it to.At the end of the novel, the love they have within their family, and the support they give to each other, leaves the reader with a positive impression of life beyond school.Head of the River is not simply a novel about sport. It is about so much more. It is ultimately about friendship, growing up, relationships, identity, insecurities and anxieties when you are becoming an adult and family bonds. Sport is the mechanism but it is not an "issues" book.An interview with the author about this books can be found at http://www.kids-bookreview.com/2014/1...
—Rhondda Powling
3½ Starshttp://www.divabooknerd.com/2014/06/h...Head of The River should be read by not only those who are interested in rowing, but for all teens who compete and strive to break into a professional level. It follows the dual points of view of siblings and twins, Leni and Cristian, whose parents are both Olympians and respected members of the rowing community, being only natural to both take up the sport themselves. I really enjoyed seeing both points of view, with Leni at the top of her sport, while Cristian struggled to maintain the same level, often feeling as though he was competing against his sister in the eyes of his parents. He sees Leni as having it all, but not realising that she struggles out of the water, socially, and finding herself in a lackluster relationship while she fights her feelings for new boy Sam. Cristian seemed terribly unhappy, his storyline was more engaging and allowed the reader to relate to his daily struggle with weight and his own mental anguish.The storyline more than ever, is a really popular topic for discussion in Australia at the moment with the alleged drugs scandal at the Essendon AFL club, and the investigation by ASADA, the Australian Sports Anti Doping Authority. But where the media will just report on facts and accusations, we rarely see a personal side of the effects that the scandal had had on players and their families. Although Leni and Cristian are fictional, it allows the reader to see just what sacrifices athletes make for their chosen sport and that they are prone to mistakes, just as you and I are. I wanted to enjoy it more than I did, whether it was due to being outside the intended demographic or haven't had played competitive sports outside of school, but I found myself wanting to skim over the training sessions just to reach the more personal side of the storyline. Pip Harry was able to put me right into the action from the grassy banks of the river, and loved the Melbourne locations scattered throughout. Overall, it was a fascinating story of the lives of young athletes and the pressure of competitive sports, from an author who has experienced the life firsthand.
—Kelly (Diva Booknerd)
