Will Kostakis

A book within a book about giving up everything for love and family. Harvey's father Ba has decided to leave his Dad and so they get on a plane to Sydney from Perth to stay at this grandmother's flat over a cafe in Sydney. Harvey is bisexual and discovers some things about his Ba he'd rather not know, re-connects with his great-grandmother ( only to find out she has Alzheimer's) and incurs the wrath of his feisty grandmother working at her cafe part-time. All the while trying to work out who he wants - is it Bradley the Grindr hook up or Isabelle, the barista at work?
Sotiris is 17 and has just had his first book published but instead of being on top of the world, a mistake means he loses the plot and it is not until he meet Jem that life begins to look up.
The reader then discovers that Sotiris ( who becomes Sam Baker for later version of the book) and Jem are actually Harvey's Ba and Dad, and Sotiris has left Jem because he is trying to write the story of them and can only do so when he is away from Jem.
The whole book itself is then semi-autobiographical of Will K ( i.e. gay Greek boy) so the reader can see bits of Will K's life in both the story of Harvey and Sotiris.
Was engrossing but somewhat unresolved at the end. I felt the book just stopped. Great writing and wonderful descriptions of the Sydney cafe life.… (more)

Was put off reading this book by the lame cover but its actually quite good - an older readers Percy Jackson. 16 year old Connor is hiding from his ex- best mate in an old boys school in Sydney when he stumbles on a trap door. Opening the door leads to a hidden room with a locked chest inside. While hiding and trying to work out if he can open the chest, a girl rushes in and does so and suddenly he is thrust into a world of living statues, gods and the end of the world scenarios - sound familiar?
Liked how Connor is gay so there's no romantic entanglement between him and the girl Sally (but later some with a "gorgeous boy" at a ball). A couple of twists that I didn't see coming and so I will be reading the second one to see how all the problems Connor faces are resolved. For older students due to language and mature content.… (more)