I'm Not Really Here

‘A moving coming-of-age story with so much heart. For readers who enjoyed Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz and Heartstopper by Alice Oseman.’ BOOKS AND PUBLISHING

Gary Lonesborough is a Yuin man, who grew up on the Far South Coast of NSW as part of a large and proud Aboriginal family. Gary was always writing as a child, and continued his creative journey when he moved to Sydney to study at film school. Gary has experience in youth work, Aboriginal health, child protection, the disability sector (including experience working in the youth justice system) and the film industry, including working on the feature film adaptation of Jasper Jones. His debut YA novel, The Boy from the Mish, won the Booktopia FAB Debut Book Awards and the Ena Noel Award and was shortlisted for the CBCA Awards, the QLD Literary Awards, The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, the Indie Book Awards, the Adelaide Festival Awards, the NSW Premier’s Awards and was selected as a White Raven. It was published in the US in 2022 under the title Ready When You Are. His second novel, We Didn’t Think It Through, was published in 2023 and won the Marion ACT Book of the Year, was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and the Readings Young Adult Prize, and was a CBCA Notable Book.