My Wonderful Disgrace

By Angourie Rice and Kate Rice

Reviewed by Alison McCaffrey

The school ball is the ultimate dream for many high schoolers – fancy clothes, the date they’ve always dreamed of, feeling like it’s time to leap from school into adulthood. Amy has been dreaming of hers for ages, and when Leo Prince agrees to be her date it seems like everything is falling into place.

Until one moment of silliness with her best friend sets off a chain of events that will change everyone’s lives. Including Choc-Top the goat.

From mother and daughter duo Angourie Rice and Kate Rice comes their second book, My Wonderful Disgrace. The night where everything that could go wrong, does, is slowly and dramatically pieced together through the dark humour and wry commentary of Amy’s journal entries, text message chains, emails, school newsletters and interview excerpts. Unrequited love comes from many different directions, manipulation and inappropriate behaviour aren’t where you think they’re going to be, and questionable decisions seem to make total sense in the moment. As their perfect night begins to unravel, the entire class of year twelve students are left wondering what, exactly, is happening, and what else could possibly go wrong? Then they continue celebrating through it all with the unabashed enthusiasm only teenagers seem able to summon under the most dire and unusual circumstances.

Cliques and stereotypes abound, playing the parts they were made for as each page turn brings anticipation of what else could happen, making us feel like we’re right there next to the students watching the events of one horrendously fascinating evening unfold. With a good dose of teenage melodrama, a dash of chaos, a sprinkle of disgust, a smattering of humility, and a pinch of abject horror for good measure, My Wonderful Disgrace embodies everything it feels like to be at the tail end of high school.

For age 14+

Teacher Notes

Walker Books Australia 2026

Angourie Rice

Kate Rice