With The Axeman’s Carnival on everyone’s lips having just won the prestigious Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction last month, Chidgey is back already with something wildly different yet equally powerful. Pet is about 12-year-old Justine who longs to be her new charismatic teacher’s class pet. When things start to go missing in the classroom, accusations run rife, tensions mount and Justine starts to suspect her teacher isn’t quite who she seems. Set in NZ in the 1980s, this unflinching story casts a lens on bullying, lies, shame, and betrayal. Chidgey is the master of foreshadowing and her ability to create an ever-increasing atmosphere of foreboding is outstanding. This story gave me chills - it is quite possibly the most unsettling story I have ever read.
— Olivia