A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard

This wonderful story is told by Skip, a sensitive and artistic young boy who runs away from home at the beginning of the book and finds himself homeless in a big Australian city. He is befriended by Billy, a slightly grizzled older man, who is a companion to Skip and an ally against the big city.

When the war starts and the bombs start falling, Skip and Billy search each other out amongst the devastation, and along the way find Max, a six year old boy who has lost his mother. The little band of outcasts travel together to find a place that is safe, a place where they can wait for a good time to look for Max's mother. They end up in an abandoned fairground, living rough in the ghost train, and it's here that they meet teenager Tia, and her baby.
The group fight internal and external battles, brought on by war, fear and love and all the while the danger is getting closer.

From the title to the very last page, this book can only be described as beautiful. It's also warm, funny, hopeful, tragic and thought-provoking, but beautiful is the word that was in my head as I turned the last page.

Age group 12+
Published by Templar Publishing 
01/05/2011