PLEASE DON'T HUG ME

A funny-serious own-voices story about what happens when you stop trying to be the person other people expect you to be and give yourself a go.

Erin is looking forward to Schoolies, at least she thinks she is. But things are not going to plan. Life is getting messy, and for Erin, who is autistic, that's a big problem. She's lost her job at Surf Zone after an incident that clearly was not her fault. Her driving test went badly even though she followed the instructions perfectly. Her boyfriend is not turning out to be the romantic type. And she's missing her brother, Rudy, who left almost a year ago.

But now that she's writing letters to him, some things are beginning to make just a tiny bit of sense.

Kay Kerr is a former journalist and community newspaper editor who is now in her early thirties. She had the extraordinary experience of receiving an autism spectrum diagnosis while writing this novel. After completing a first draft, Kay realised that her protagonist, Erin, was also on the spectrum, and this was the story she had been trying to tell.

PLEASE DON'T HUG ME looks at coping with some of the biggest challenges a young person can face before reaching adulthood. We believe it will appeal to readers of THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, and LOOKING FOR ALASKA.