Love You Two
Page 28
Thank you also to my publisher, Linsay Knight, whose unwavering trust in my ability to accomplish this was such encouragement to keep going. Her patience as deadline after deadline, and year after year, faded into the past, and her willingness to take on another ‘risky’ book about subject matters deemed ‘controversial’ at this point in time, are a testimony to her vision, her insights into life, love and humanity.
My thanks also to Emma Royan-Smith, Eva Mills and Kimberley Bennett who came on board as the years rolled on. Kimberley’s thorough and perceptive editing was very humbling and much appreciated. Many thanx to the cover designer who delivered such a powerful image. I felt I was looking at Pina the way I’d been seeing her in my imagination for years.
I also wish to acknowledge the many authors, filmmakers and poets whose work is mentioned in this book. As many young people and their families tell me, when the world around you denies you your place, people often turn to the world of art, writing, film, music and the internet to find themselves or to find parallels for their own situations. I hope this book also serves these purposes for many.
In particular, I wish to acknowledge C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series. I first read these as a child and they inspired me even then to ‘go beyond the wardrobe’ and find my ‘Narnia’. Eight years ago, as I began to develop this novel and spoke to young people about books that had inspired them, I began working with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I also became aware of C.S. Lewis’ own complex, contradictory life and relationships, which have too often been erased or ignored in order to construct a more respectable, simplistic version for a conservative Christian readership. Yes, unfortunately, the author himself has been ‘wardrobed’ for too long, even though his Narnia is now a wonderful film. I thank the biographer Michael White for finally piecing together the life of C.S. Lewis, his struggles and negotiations with the ‘wardrobe’, and the ‘Narnia’ he created for himself.
About the Author
Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli has gained international recognition as a leading writer, researcher, lecturer, consultant and activist in the issues of cultural diversity, gender diversity, sexual diversity, and family diversity in health and education. Senior Lecturer in the School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, she also enjoys working with young people in schools and is passionate about her work, social justice, and her incredibly supportive family and friends. Her first book for young adults, Tapestry, explored five generations of her family’s history in Australia and Italy. It was shortlisted by the Children’s Book Council of Australia and in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. She is also the author of Girls’ Talk, Boys’ Stuff, Someone You Know, and When Our Children Come Out.
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Version 1.0
Love You Two
9781742746098
Published by Random House Australia 2011
Copyright© Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli 2008
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Random House Australia Book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
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First published by Random House Australia in 2008
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry
Pallotta-Chiarolli, Maria.
Love You Two.
978 1 74166 071 5 (pbk.).
For secondary school age.
A823.4
Cover photograph courtesy Getty
Cover illustration © iStockphoto.com/xladybirdx
Cover design by Ellie Exarchos