AustLit

'Sophie's sweet plan is about to get complicated.

'Bad things come in threes, right? Apparently not for Sophie. It seems like everything in her life is turning sour. Her family's crumbling, her creative spark has fizzled, and school's unbearable now that her ex-boyfriend and best friend are sweet on each other.

'So when Sophie lands a summer job at Seaside Candy Co, she doesn't mind swapping beach days for lollipops and jellybeans. She has a plan: earn enough for a plane ticket to her dad in New Zealand and reboot her sixteenth year somewhere new.

'But the Sweetest Store on the Coast soon becomes a mixed bag of complications. Like Simon, the buttoned-up work rival she can't seem to get out of her head. Like trying to figure out if her boss's extra attention is professional or inappropriate. And what exactly does a co-worker know about Sophie's family that might just upend everything?

'Welcome to the Australian coastal town of Leftover Bay, where residents are navigating friendships and family, first love, and figuring out where they fit in the world.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A suspenseful mystery about a missing boy and a group of teenagers, one of whom knows something but isn't telling, from the award-winning author of Small Spaces.

'HENRY WEAVER IS MISSING
Three months ago, thirteen-year-old Henry disappeared from The Shallows during a violent storm, leaving behind his muddied mountain bike at the train station.

'MASON WEAVER IS TRAPPED
While Mason doesn't know who he is or what he's capable of, he knows the one thing binding him to this suffocating small town is his younger brother, Henry.

'CHLOE BAXTER WANTS ANSWERS
Why would Henry run away without telling her? One of Chloe's friends knows something and she's determined to find out the truth.

'As Chloe wades into dangerous waters and Mason's past emerges, a chilling question ripples to the surface: how far would you go to keep a secret?' (Publication summary)

'We don’t pick and choose what to be afraid of. Our fears pick us.”

'Tash Carmody has been traumatised since childhood, when she witnessed her gruesome imaginary friend Sparrow lure young Mallory Fisher away from a carnival. At the time nobody believed Tash, and she has since come to accept that Sparrow wasn’t real. Now fifteen and mute, Mallory’s never spoken about the week she went missing. As disturbing memories resurface, Tash starts to see Sparrow again. And she realises Mallory is the key to unlocking the truth about a dark secret connecting them. Does Sparrow exist after all? Or is Tash more dangerous to others than she thinks?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.