Melbourne Teens - Stories

Before Admirer X and Menorah, twelve-year-old Elijah Silverman loves books, mysteries and the certainty that every puzzle has an answer. At Oakfield, he expects difficult classes, a brilliant library and very little peace and quiet. He does not expect things to start disappearing.

As suspicion spreads through the Year Seven dormitory, Elijah finds himself drawn into his first real mystery.

Elijah sometimes feels as though he doesn't belong. He's still in the closet, and he is the only Jewish boy in the whole dorm. During the end of the school year, Elijah's friends make him feel included when they gift him a Jewish ornament, a menorah, to hang from the Christmas tree in the common room. When it goes missing overnight, the consequences threaten to spoil the holiday spirit for everyone. As Elijah pieces together what happened, he discovers more than one truth.

Sometimes the brain fails and the heart is left to pick up the pieces. Tyson, the son of a heartless politician and an abusive control freak, has survived four suicide attempts, and has now been committed to a psychiatric ward. With severe anger issues, unhealthy behaviours and a tendency to self-harm, Tyson's terrific treatment team fights a difficult battle. Another boy in the ward, Vladimir, suffers from schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress. Tyson thinks he's perfect.

At an all boys' boarding school, closeted Elijah finds on his bed a strange love note. A small poem. It's not a very good poem, but apparently another boarder at the school is in love with him! On the other side of the paper is an amazingly detailed sketch of the four of them - Elijah and his friends Reggie, Tiger and Owen. When a second poem and sketch sets a recurring precedent, Elijah enlists the help of his friends as he becomes increasingly obsessed with finding whoever is leaving him these cryptic, artistic symbols of love.

Four queer boys from very different backgrounds come of age together in their final school years, learning what it truly means to love and to hate, to cry and to laugh, to struggle and to succeed.