The Bridge

The City is divided. The bridges gated. In Southside, the hostiles live in squalor and desperation, waiting for a chance to overrun the residents of Cityside.

Nik is still in high school but destined for a great career with the Internal Security and Intelligence Services, the brains behind the war. But when ISIS comes recruiting, everyone is shocked when he isn’t chosen. There must be an explanation, but no one will talk about it. Then the school is bombed and the hostiles take the bridges. Buildings are burning, kids are dead, and the hostiles have kidnapped Sol. Now ISIS is hunting for Nik.

But Nik is on the run, with Sol’s sister Fyffe and ISIS hot on their trail. They cross the bridge in search of Sol, and Nik finds answers to questions he’d never dared to ask.

The Bridge is a gritty adventure set in a future world where fear of outsiders pervades everything. A heart-stopping novel about friendship, identity and courage from an exciting new voice in young-adult fiction.

Interview Highlights:

Indies online—Australian independent booksellers

The Listener

SF Signal—Sci-Fi fanzine

Praise for Jane Higgins and The Bridge:

The Text Prize is going from strength to strength, as the publisher continues to choose winners that push the boundaries of young adult fiction. The latest winner, The Bridge, is brilliant. Every sentence is skillfully crafted, with just enough left unsaid that the reader is always hungry for more….This is a breathtaking first novel.

Junior Bookseller and Publisher

In The Bridge, teenagers must sift fact from fiction from propaganda. Knowledge truly becomes power – and not every character has a happy ending. Full review.

Sunday Star Times

This is one of those rare books that manages to be layered and thought-provoking, as well as action-packed and entertaining. Read full review.

Leanne Hall, Readings

‘The Bridge shows how hard it can be to tell right from wrong, especially in the face of war. This page-turner and first novel is well placed for a sequel.’

Weekend Australian

‘The Bridge ticks all the boxes without becoming formulaic….[Higgins’] preoccupations—the fear of failure at school and what that might mean for one’s future career prospects; the fear of rejection and of being an outcast—will resonate with readers in their late teens and Higgins cleverly entangles these doubts into the fabric of what could have been a simple adventure story…a welldeserved winner [of the Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing] and I hope there’s a sequel.’

Jose Borghino, Sydney Morning Herald

‘The Bridge tackles the theme of a city at war with itself with freshness and insight.’

Listener (50 Best Children's Books of 2011)

‘Our favourite young adult book of the year… A wonderful plot unfolds and begs the question “are we the really the good guys?’

Sunday Tasmanian

‘Winner of the Text Prize, this is a powerful dystopian adventure about questioning authority, the complexities of war and enduring bonds.’

Fran Atkinson, Saturday Age