Her best friend Celia keeps disappearing, her absent father suddenly reappears, and her communication with her mother consists entirely of wacky notes left on the fridge.

On top of everything else, because her English teacher wants to rekindle the "Joy of the Envelope," a Complete and Utter Stranger knows more about Elizabeth than anyone else.

Elizabeth lives in a suburb of Sydney, Australia, with her mother and her dog, a collie named Lochie.

She does not fit in at Ashbury and she has an awkward relationship with her father (who left Elizabeth's mother when she was pregnant and moved to Canada with another woman and her son), who has just been reintroduced into her life in a permanent way.

But mainly, her concerns revolve around her best friend, an awkward, free-spirited girl named Celia Buckley who has run away from home without leaving any details as to her whereabouts.

Added to this are the barrage of letters that Elizabeth constantly receives from various societies and clubs, each pointing out her faults and generally bringing her down.

Elizabeth notices that Celia does not seem like the same person anymore and that her and Saxon don't seem good for each other - they make a suicide pact that luckily, is unsuccessful.

Elizabeth finds much needed comfort and friendship in Christina, who has been having serious problems of her own after she had sex with her boyfriend, Derek, and the condom broke.

[2] The Sunday Telegraph in the United Kingdom also gave it a positive review, stating: "Altogether funnier, cleverer and more wide-ranging than others of its genre.

A lot happens – some good things, quite a few sad – but the characters have a depth and complexity that make them credible portraits of today's teenagers.

Dreaming of Amelia (The Ghosts of Ashbury High in the US), the third companion novel, was released late 2009 in Australia, and 2010 elsewhere.