AustLit

'Jackson Sweeney is stewing in his tiny hometown, feeling stuck as he spends his days working at Al’s Takeaway and fending off homophobic losers. His childhood friend Marnie returns to Ginsborough on her family’s annual visit, but she’s reeling from a break-up and is determined to lie low. After all, nothing ever happens in this part of the world.

'But then one night an odd-looking stranger shows up: he has long black hair, a leather trench coat and the improbable name of Bootstrap. What’s more, he says he’s here to see the night Jackson Sweeney becomes a hero.

'Soon, Sweeney and Marnie find themselves swept up in an adventure they never could have dreamt of—with a fugitive from the future.

'Both a thrilling race against time and a witty contemporary love story, Bootstrap is the genre-bending new novel from the brilliant Georgina Young.' (Publication summary)

'Lona has dropped out of art school and no one is quite sure why, least of all Lona. It’s just that nothing in her life seems to make sense anymore, including art. She spends her days sneaking into the darkroom at her old school to develop photographs and her nights DJ-ing at the local roller disco.

'Her aimlessness terrifies her, but everyone else appears oblivious to her fears: her parents are bewildered by her sudden lack of ambition, her brother is preoccupied with his new girlfriend, and her best friend Tab seems to be drifting away. Even a budding relationship with a bass-playing, cello-shredding med student isn’t enough to shake her existential angst.