Mende Smith

Emerald City Series Mende Smith

It is in this book that the spectrum of sexuality is "discovered." A Southland boy--Lukas Ulysses--is carried on the Metro bus to find Myra Doom when a tornado of identifying riddles hits full gale status. As Myra vows to rescue Lukas from the evils of junior high school bullies, she hides him in her bedroom closet to plan an escape. In their short adventure together, Lukas transforms into the girl he has always wanted to be, running away to the Emerald City, where she gets mixed up in a cloud of smack and broken dreams. After a new tragedy strikes, Myra promises never to bring home strays again. Myra manages to escape from her small world when Lula sees fit to move to a new town for a fresh start as if being the new kid at a new school was just a walk in the woods, further isolating Myra from her teenaged problems just long enough to make whole new ones.