Stories

In the summer of 1993, a group of high school friends in a small town are forced to grow up overnight when love, bigotry, betrayal and mystery rain down on them in equal amounts.

With a wedding on the horizon, CJ Abelló and Owen Liston are determined to make it a celebration their guests will not soon forget. The months leading up to it are full of emotional events and travel. Come join them as they share their journey with friends and family.

Carlton Henderson, who at the age of 12, lost his father in a shipping accident, and for two years, he and his mother Elizabeth, struggled to survive. With the assistance of Carlton's uncle, his father's brother, Jayden - (Jay) and wife Jacqueline - (Jacq), who are owners of three Cray fishing boats in North- East Tasmania, Carlton spends his weekends and holidays working on the lead Cray boat with his Uncle and Aunt, while completing his high school education, then University to study Marine Science and Applied Science.

With a large family, and very little income, Edwin and Archie are sent to Australia to start a new life, with just some belongings, a small amount of stock, and a very small amount of money.

When the ship lands at Ceduna in South Australia, the brothers manage to buy a farm, some food, basic supplies, a horse and wagon, and they head off on their new life.

CJ has spent his first few months in Washington, D.C. living with his father and surrounded by a group of gay men who have become his mentors.

As he begins his sophomore year in high school at School Without Walls, the traumatic events at the end of summer linger. And over the next few months, he begins to explore his new life with visits to Chicago, Miami, and New York City.

Six years after Tristan saw his boyfriend kissing a woman on the subway, they meet again by unlikely chance.

Liebe, a young girl living in the Florida Keys with her two fathers, helps clean a beach and in the process learns how dangerous plastic can be for the oceans and the animals who live in them.

Cameron MacKenzie and Kevin Stolz had been best friends and almost brothers their entire life. When a series of bad things happens to their families, the boys find themselves getting closer than they ever considered before.

Michael feels trapped. In his poor, conservative hometown. In his dead-end job. In caring for his grandfather. Everything changes when he meets Eric, the new curator for the railroad museum. Carefree and refreshingly confident, Eric guides Michael to places he's forgotten, reminding him that it may not be too late to follow his dreams.

40,000 words.