Good Young Men – Gary Lonesborough

No, that’s too weird and desperate. I delete the text and write, Discreet fun. The next step is to upload a photo. I angle the camera to get just my eye and some of my hair, and the rest of the frame is filled with the white pillow beneath my head. The flash goes off and I upload the photo to my page. My profile is created, and a grid appears on the screen. There are two squares that are actual photos of men’s faces, but most of them are either blank or pictures of cars or motorbikes.

One is a picture of the ocean. ‘Now what?’ I whisper to myself. I tap my thumb on the blank profile next to mine. There’s no name, just the eggplant emoji. In their profile it says: Looking for now. My phone pings and a red dot appears over the envelope symbol at the bottom of the screen. Someone has sent me a message and I didn’t even have to do anything.

I open my messages and I’ve received one from a guy called YNG. It’s a simple hey, but someone has messaged me. My heart is racing as I close the app. I’m absolutely terrified, but at the same time, this feels exhilarating. Naughty, secretive and thrilling. At midday, I hear Dad’s Laser arrive in the driveway. My time lying here thinking of doing silly things is over because I have to get out of bed now.

I have my driving test in half an hour. I don’t have time for a shower, so I just get dressed, put on my glasses and brush my teeth. Then I’m in the car with Dad, heading into town. It’s raining lightly today, which is fabulous. I envisioned doing my test on a clear, sunny day. Love that for me. ‘Remember your head checks,’ Dad says.

Also by Gary Lonesborough The Boy from the Mish We Didn’t Think It Through I’m Not Really Here OceanofPDF.com OceanofPDF.com First published by Allen & Unwin in 2026 Copyright © Gary Lonesborough 2026 Copyright © cover illustration, Dylan Finney 2026 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

Allen & Unwin Cammeraygal Country 83 Alexander Street Crows Nest NSW 2065 Australia Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100 Email: [email protected] Web: www.allenandunwin.com Allen & Unwin acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Country on which we live and work. We pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders, past and present. ISBN 978 1 76118 217 4 eISBN 978 1 92349 257 8 For teaching resources, explore allenandunwin.com/learn Cover & text design by Hana Kinoshita Thomson Cover illustration by Dylan Finney / Solid Lines Typeset by Midland Typesetters, Australia garylonesborough.com OceanofPDF.com For Matthew OceanofPDF.com Table of Contents DYLAN KALLUM ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN JORDY ELEVEN TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN FIFTEEN SIXTEEN SEVENTEEN EIGHTEEN NINETEEN TWENTY DYLAN TWENTY-ONE TWENTY-TWO TWENTY-THREE TWENTY-FOUR TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-SIX TWENTY-SEVEN TWENTY-EIGHT TWENTY-NINE THIRTY THIRTY-ONE THIRTY-TWO THIRTY-THREE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR OceanofPDF.com DYLAN As we step into the shopping centre car park, white spray-paint on the orange brick wall catches my eye.

Two council workers in high-vis shirts are on ladders, scrubbing away the words: WHITE POWER. OceanofPDF.com KALLUM OceanofPDF.com One It’s not my fault I got expelled from St Augustine’s – not really. The sun’s setting when I get off my train and walk along Redfern Street. The place is abuzz with adults heading home from work, older people dawdling, a man on a mat on the corner with writing on a piece of cardboard that says HELP PLEASE $. I’m on my way to Aunty Lisa’s house.

Aunty Lisa’s not actually my aunty – she’s an Aboriginal woman from Carraway’s Point who moved to Sydney years ago, and her house is the go-to spot for Kooris visiting from home. The weight of my duffel bag is killing me; all the books, clothes and shoes I could fit – my whole life as I knew it – burning into my shoulder.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 14f3c93a6b1c93e3
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,592,358 bytes (1.519 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781761182174, 9781923492578
• Pages: 221
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 360.6 minutes
• Total Words: 72,119
• Total Characters: 377,633
• Average Words per Page: 326.33
• Average Characters per Page: 1708.75

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