AustLit

'Odo and Eleanor did not set out to find their destiny. At best they were hoping for eels. the comical anticlimax if the opening tells us that we are once again in the hands of masters : that this new, somewhat medieaval-tasting series will live up to the reputation of this talented duo - one working from Sydney, one from Adelaide - for providing topical, well-written entertaining fantasy and unobtrusively modelling high ethical standards.' (Introduction)

'Play Like a Girl is an empowering new series that takes the reader into the world of women's Aussie Rules football and explores the lives of four of its members - Sarah, Hanh, Rainbow and Lucy - all members of the Millsborough West Girls Football Team.' (Introduction)

'From the world of The Keepers, Lian Tanner has drawn out a fantastic start to a new series. The Rogues are Duckling, Lord Rump, and Pummel. I love the names Tanner chooses for her characters. ' (Introduction)

'Why do some books simply take off while others, arguably better written languish on shelves? Nevermore appears to be the next Harry Potter, if we are to believe the press, falling into the first category.' (Introduction)

'European. American and Australian ex-patriots living in Pakistan have much to fear in time of political, social, religious and racial tensions. Liana's father is Australian, her mother is Pakistani. both are devout Christians working in rural village surroundings. so Liana attends an international school as a boarder.' (Introduction)

'Untidy Towns reads like an ode to many of Australia's country towns- for all their faults, they provide a sense of security, a safety and a camaraderie difficult to find else-where. They are the 'untidy' towns of the title, perhaps ironically, the same towns whose signs advertise their contribution to the 'tidy towns' competition.'(Introduction)

'The Fifth Room is an absorbing YA mystery thriller, the mystery centred on the fifth room in a secretive medical research centre that is housed in a remote underground bunker in Denmark. Who, if anyone, is in that room and what is going on behind its door?' (Introduction)

'Wilder Country was first encountered in Mark Smith's debut post-Apocalyptic novel,  The Road to Winter (2016). It is the hinterland of fictitious Angowrie, a coastal town in southern Australia where snow falls on the ranges in winter. After a pandemic had ravaged the country and left small pockets of survivors to fend for themselves, the morals of a civilised community have crumbled.' (Introduction)

'Recently there has been a run of books about terminally ill teenagers who are angelic and brave. The one is different. It is written from the view-point of the main character, Adam Auttenberg, who is not heroic. He's a seventeen year-old boy who's lived with a benign brain tumour for most of his life. Without warning the tumour starts to grow. The novel begins with Adam back in what he calls his second home - the hospital. And the news gets worse. He is diagnosed with three month to live. Adam is a kind, sweet character, with a self depreciating humour.' (Introduction)