Waterhole by Fiona Bell

University of Qld Press, 2018. ISBN 9780702259999
(Ages: 11+) Sunny is home from boarding school - the first school holidays since her mother died in a single-car accident. She clashes with her stepfather and secretly blames Kevin, who is working alone on their farm in North Queensland.
Sunny is overwhelmed by glimpses of her dead mother, and as a result, believes a missing local teenager to be dead. She is interested in Matthew, who is older and has an unsavoury reputation, at least according to another boarding school student, Zara, who befriends Sunny to relieve her holiday boredom. Sunny and Zara both briefly work part-time jobs at Leanne's takeaway.
Leanne is invested in helping both Kevin and Sunny cope in the wake of her best friend's death but Sunny's problems mount as Kevin seems to be a person of interest in young Dylan's disappearance. Should Sunny tell someone about her visions or leave town and a burgeoning romance, to try to find her biological father?
Younger readers may identify with Sunny and her expressive oversharing narration, but for the more well-read, this ghost story will seem somewhat old fashioned.
Deborah Robins