One True Thing podcast

The Wahalo's Book Club episode discusses the novel "One True Thing" by Nicole Hayes. It is set in Melbourne and focuses on Frankie's struggles when her mom runs for Premier. The book highlights the impact of social media rumors on teenagers' mental health. The characters in the book also face fake rumors. The episode mentions that people create rumors because of their low self-confidence and anxiety. The novel portrays how elections and politicians are often accompanied by rumors. Stress is a significant theme in the book, and it is revealed that teenagers are one of the most stressed age groups. Frankie experiences stress due to media manipulation and her mom's political campaign. The book helps teenagers understand that they are not alone in facing stress and rumors online. The episode concludes by encouraging parents to have their kids read this novel and others like it. Welcome back to another episode of Wahalo's Book Club. I'm Mikaela O'Gorman coming back to you with another Insight into Australian Novels. Today I'm accompanied by Scotia Lucy. Hello everyone, I'm really excited to be here today and talk about one of my favourite novels. Today we are talking about One True Thing by Nicole Hayes. This novel is based in Melbourne City, Australia and is about the struggles that Frankie goes through when her mum is running for Premier. Frankie encounters countless challenges throughout the book, but the two major challenges the book focuses on are the rumours being spread about not only her but her family as well and the stress that she undertakes within this novel. One True Thing is a great representation of how social media spreads rumours and how it can be very impactful on teenagers' mental health. As studies show, 38% of people in Australia have shared fake news on social media or have been affected by fake news or rumours. Oh my god, that is quite an alarming amount of people who have experienced this type of thing. The novel also depicts the same type of issue as Frankie says. I check my phone and there's a text from Harry warning me that there's a meme circulating of me throwing up sweet chilli prawns. This shows that the characters in the book also experience people creating fake rumours and false news. But why do people find the need to do this, Michaela? Well that's a really good question. According to Psychology Today, the reason for people making up rumours about other people is because they have no self-confidence and are very anxious about people finding things out about them. So they feel like it is necessary to talk about people so that no one asks about them or their lives. Well, that is very interesting because the novel also depicts this, as in the book it says, I notice a small group of year 10 kids huddled around an iPad. Their focus trained on whatever they're watching. One of them looks up at me. This quote from the novel is talking about when the election is happening with Frankie's mum and people are making up rumours about her mum. This is another good example of why a young Australian should read this book, as this is happening in everyday life. A lot of rumours come with elections and politicians, just like the 2018 Australian federal election, where it says that the rumours of fake news loomed over this election causing people to rethink who they're voting for. I do remember that election. It came with a lot of gossip and rumours that affected not only the politicians but their families as well. Yes, exactly, and that issue caused so many people to be highly stressed when it came to voting. Stress also comes from many different things. This might be surprising to most of you, but teenagers are actually one of the most highly stressed age groups. 45% of high school students are stressed every day and 61% of teenagers' stress comes from family issues. Wow, I didn't realise that many teenagers were affected by stress. This book also indicates that the main character, Frankie, also goes through the troubles of stress. Most of Frankie's stress is due to the public and her mum running for Premier, which leads to a big stress being put onto her family. Yes, stress is a very big part of this novel, especially when Frankie says, it's media manipulation, dirt being thrown in the hope that some of it sticks. I know none of it is true, I do, so why does it feel like the ground is collapsing beneath me? This quote is indicating that the rumours that the media is putting onto Frankie's family is really affecting her and making her extremely stressed. This is exactly why young Australians should be reading this novel and books like it, as this book allows teenagers to see that they aren't the only ones suffering from this and that they aren't alone. Social media is a big part of teenagers' lives and they need to know that they aren't the only people being affected by stress it causes, and they aren't the only people having rumours being spread about them online. On that note, we're running out of time. Thank you so much, Social, for taking the time out of your day to come discuss this book with me and share your knowledge with everyone else. It was my pleasure. I hope to come back soon and keep talking about books together. And remember, parents, reach out to your kids, get them to read this wonderful novel and other Australian ones just like it. Ohelos Book Club signing off.