AustLit

'It’s winter 1999 and Harry is homeless in Bondi, with seagulls for company and just a small plastic bag containing all his possessions. When the girl on board the bus sees him, lonely and cold in the bus shelter that he calls home, she thinks about how she can help him. She decides to write him a symphony.

'So begins a poignant and gritty tale of homelessness and shelter, of the realities of loneliness and hunger, and the gestures of care and friendship that can transform the struggles of daily life. This is the story of two people - one a young woman struggling to find her place in an alien world, one an older man seeking refuge and solace from a life in tatters. Both outcasts in the world, they have dreams of a better future and nurture hope for the possibilities of what can be. Will she write him a symphony? And does it matter?

'An uplifting and heartbreaking story that demands empathy. Amid the struggles to belong and fit in, we are reminded that small acts of kindness matter. And big dreams are possible.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A story of one girl 's struggle with herself, her life and her family. And the story of a family's struggle with a daughter/sister they can never hope to understand. She lies in the bed and she is sick. Sicker than she's ever been before. But with the sickness comes a pain and in that pain she finds a glory. And it's the glory that gets her through. When her body heals and she is out of the hospital and home with her family, she finds she needs to seek out a new glory, a stronger glory. She finds it in starvation. But her family, her friends, and her teachers intrude, and she decides she needs a different life, one where her glory is truly safe.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.