AustLit

'Archie is a sloth unlike other sloths. While all his family and friends like to…well…sloth – he likes to be active. He tries everything to make the other sloths active – tickling, attaching ropes to limbs to turn them into marionettes – but he just ends up getting told to go away. Silver lining though – in the deepest, darkest corner of the jungle Archie finds a whole bunch of new friends – others who are different to those in their groups. As Archie heads back to his own group, he discovers a way to use his uniqueness to save them all. ...'

;We asked Steven Lochran about his new adventure series, and he talked us through the process of writing it. The first book, The Riders of Thunder Realm is out now. ...'

'Tommy Bell is a young boy who has trouble at school, most of which he makes for himself. At the beginning of the book, he is kept in at lunch time because he failed a history test on the Gold Rush days. This led to him missing out on buying a doughnut at the tuckshop, which led to him kicking another boy who was eating a doughnut and stealing the aforementioned doughnut, which led to the necessity of running away and ‘wagging school’ for the rest of the day. ...'

'You may have met Tan and her BFF Gloria before, when they first appeared in Truly Tan. They have also featured in three other books, in which they have been Jinxed!, Spooked! and Freaked! Tan and Gloria have a detective agency. They are constantly alert to anything even slightly suspicious, and find that Grade four, dominated by Miss Dragone, the aptly named teacher, has mysteries galore. ...'

'Jimmy (James) Cook believes he is related to Captain Cook. At the very least, they both look good in a tricorn hat. It is history week in third grade and Jimmy decides to become an explorer and take over where his  namesake left off. The best place to start is Hawaii. ...'

'Just when I thought there wasn’t room in the Australian publishing industry for another children’s football series, I receive Young Gun, the first book in new sports series Football High. ...'

'Maggie Butt has just three goals for the new school year: make at least one friend, get an A for English and find a date for the Year Ten Dance. Sounds relatively straightforward, right? Life’s not quite that simple for the slightly delusional Maggie, as she lurches from major embarrassment to epic disappointment on a regular basis. But with enthusiastic support from her mother’s annoying new boyfriend (The Pain), Maggie begins to see the world from different perspectives. She has to deal with mean girls, tough teachers and an ugly, orphaned cat—amongst many other obstacles getting in the way of her ‘to do’ list. ...'