The child of Jehovah's Witnesses, Krystal was forbidden from ever reading Harry Potter, a rule she broke at the age of 10 when she stole a copy from the local library and smuggled it into her bedroom. She's been an avid reader ever since. Since escaping Townsville in 2011, Krystal has lived in Sydney and Amsterdam where she worked as a magazine editor and foreign correspondent for Hijacked, one of Australia's largest youth culture websites. She has also edited Sydney's Blitz magazine, and was shortlisted for the Queensland Young Writers Award. OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS, Krystal's debut novel, was published to great acclaim. A Semi Definitive List of Worst Nightmares is her second novel. Follow Krystal at krystalsutherland.com or on Twitter: @km_sutherland

A funny, moving love story about facing fears hand in hand - one snake/spider/potentially unstable fourth-floor balcony at a time. From acclaimed author of OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS, Krystal Sutherland.

A funny, moving love story about facing fears hand in hand - one snake/spider/potentially unstable fourth-floor balcony at a time. From acclaimed author of OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS, Krystal Sutherland.

Esther Solar's family is . . . unusual. Her father hasn't left the basement in six years. Her brother is terrified of darkness.
Esther isn't afraid of anything - because she avoids pretty much everything. Elevators are off limits, as are open spaces, crowds, family pets, birds, needles, haircuts, dolls and mirrors.

But when Esther is pickpocketed by her cocky old classmate Jonah Walker, Esther and Jonah become surprising friends. Jonah sets a challenge: every week they must work their way through the world's fifty most common phobias. Skydiving, horse riding, beekeeping, public speaking, reptilehouses - they plan to do it all.

Soon their weekly foray into fear becomes the only thing that keeps them tethered to reality, and to each other. But each is keeping a secret from the other, a secret that threatens to rip them apart.