Gary Lonesborough’s latest book, Good Young Men, is another stellar Australian coming-of-age story. In this novel, we follow the lives of three boys who used to be childhood friends but have since drifted apart. Together they struggle with the reality of living in small-town Australia as Indigenous and Queer people. The book’s most distinctive storytelling device is that it is broken up into three sections that follow the perspectives of each boy.

Kallum is returning to his small town after being expelled from his private school rugby scholarship. He’s wrestling with his father’s expectations and his sexuality. Jordy is the only ‘out’ kid at their school but has a boyfriend who is still closeted. Dylan watched his best friend’s murder by a cop and is reckoning with having to testify in the man’s trial. Elements of all Lonesborough’s other books can be found scattered throughout these three characters. The rollercoaster of emotions in the story is at times heartbreaking, at other times filled with hope. Throughout it all, the book never loses sight of its framing event – the murder of the fourth boy from this childhood friendship group by a white police officer.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who has enjoyed any of Lonesborough’s previous works or for people looking for young adult novels that unflinchingly tackle homophobia, racism and Black deaths in custody in our country. This is a poignant and mature coming-of-age story perfect for readers aged 14+.