All I Ever Wanted

Winner of the Adelaide Festival Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction, 2012.


Over the nine days before her seventeenth birthday, Mim's life turns upside down. In the end, the same things look entirely different.


Rule number one: I will not turn out like my mother.


Mim knows what she wants, and where she wants to go. Anywhere but home-in a dead suburb and with a mother who won't get off the couch. Her two older brothers are in prison, so now Mim has to retrieve a lost package for her mother. Does this make her a drug runner?


She's set herself rules to live by, but she's starting to break them. And she can't seem to find answers to all the new questions:

Why is the monster dog Gargoyle hidden in the back shed?

Why is the boy she sent Valentines to for years now suddenly a creep?

And who is the mysterious girl next door who moans at night?


Vikki Wakefield lives in the Adelaide foothills with her husband and young family. All I Ever Wanted was shortlisted for the Inky Awards, 2011, and was the winner of the Young Adult Fiction Award, Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, 2012. Friday Brown is her second novel.


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'One of the most memorable YA books I've ever read. Original, real, startling and beautiful.' Cath Crowley, author of Graffiti Moon


'One of the best debut novels I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Vikki Wakefield has gifted the Australian Publishing world, and readers of Young Adult Fiction, a superior tale, full to brimming with formidable characters and an exquisite protagonist. Her ability to sculpt full flesh and blood characters, with only words, ensures she will quickly be placed snug among the ranks of those we already know to expect much from, the likes of Cath Crowley, Melina Marchetta, Leanne Hall, Fiona Wood and Tim Pegler, for their talent to makes us love their characters.' The Book Gryffin


'While it’s both a thriller and a gritty romance, for me All I Ever Wanted is first and foremost a sparkling journey into hope. As the story drives toward its surprising conclusion, we’re left as stunned as Mim as she discovers “that there are so many ways to tell a person you love them.” I loved this book.' Paul Griffin


‘[An] absorbing young adult novel…Despite the grim setting, the characters are richly and lovingly drawn with smart-mouthed, determined Mim a particular delight. At the core of the book is the idea that things (and people) are not what they seem. It’s nothing new as a concept, but it’s executed with winningly original style, wit and heart. Think Underbelly meets Hating Alison Ashley.' Big Issue


Vikki Wakefield’s first novel walks the tightrope between fate and human agency...All I Ever Wanted is a thoughtful and impressive début, and Wakefield a talent to watch.' Australian Book Review


‘I could almost feel the boredom and wilting heat and madness and ugliness of Australian suburbia wafting off the pages! All I Ever Wanted is an entertaining, touching, pitch-perfect and darkly funny read.’ Leanne Hall


‘A beautifully-written account of one young girl trying to claw her way out of the circumstances into which she was born…It’s a story about daring to dream and the transformative power of hope.’ Sunday Tasmanian


‘This is one book you won’t want to finish and one that will linger with you for a long time. The Melina Marchetta comparison was warranted. This book is an instant classic.’ Mostly Reading YA