AustLit

'A heartfelt story of one girl’s determination to save her beloved home and the lyrical companion tale to The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn.

'When Melodie Rose is abandoned on the doorstep of Direleafe Hall, she realises she must be a ghost. Strangely, she is not sad. With the three other ghostly girls who haunt the school and a gloomy crow on her shoulder, Melodie has never felt more at peace. Finally there is a place for her to call home.

'So when a lady in white arrives with plans to flatten her beloved school, Melodie Rose must act fast to save all she holds dear. But what can one powerless ghost do?

'The Ballad of Melodie Rose is a life-affirming tale of belonging, being brave and being seen.' (Publication summary)

'Aster attends a school for gifted kids, but she doesn’t think she’s special at all. If she was, her mother wouldn’t have left. And if she isn’t careful, everyone else will leave her too.

'Each day Aster must do a good, right thing – a challenge she sets herself, to make someone else’s life better. Nobody can know about her ‘things’, because then they won’t count. And if she doesn’t do them, she knows everything will go wrong.
Then she meets Xavier. He wears princess pajamas and has his own kind of special missions to make life better. When they do these missions together, Aster feels free…but if she stops doing her good, right things will everything fall apart?' (Publication summary)

'When Juno Jones's (Former Kid Who Doesn’t Like Reading), first-ever favourite book goes missing, she convinces Miss Tippett to turn their classroom into a courtroom so she can present her evidence, unmask the culprit and—more importantly—get her book back!

'With her list of possible suspects ranging from friends to foes (both human and alien), Juno is sure it’s only a matter of time before the truth is revealed. But as the case unfolds, this book sleuth discovers that not everything is as it seems …'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Wonder Quinn is a lonely orphan who lives in the attic of Direleafe Hall with only a gloomy crow for company. Every year she watches the other girls return to school, hoping to find a friend among them. And every year her heart breaks when she doesn’t.

'So when a fiery new girl befriends her in class, Wonder’s dreams seem to be coming true. Mabel Clattersham is outspoken, kind and, most importantly, unafraid of the awful Georgiana Kinch.

'But as the girls grow closer, Wonder discovers her friend has a list of strange wishes: Throw a pie, leap into the sky, break someone’s heart…

'What is Mabel’s big secret? And why is she in such a hurry to finish her list? Can Wonder protect her heart from being broken all over again?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Muttonbird Bay Primary is once again under threat of closure, and Juno Jones is pretty sure the Alien Lizard Men are involved. But that’s not all ... Shy Vi is missing, Miss Tippett is acting VERY strangely, and everyone keeps turning to Juno Jones to solve the mysteries. And then, suddenly, Perfect Paloma needs Juno’s help ...

'To solve these cases Juno Jones will need to become a Mystery Writer!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A DISASTER HAS HAPPENED! Muttonbird Bay School might be closing. I mean, FOREVER.

'Juno Jones loves her school, but the Men in Suits want to close it down! And there's only only one thing Juno and her classmates can do to stop it... READ! Which is perfectly fine for people like Perfect Paloma, Smelly Bella and Genius George, but Juno Jones is a kid who doesn't like reading.

'It might take the unthinkable to make it happen – to save her school, Juno Jones will need to become a WORD NINJA!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A seagull above

'Said, “See, look here, loves, I’ve winged my way further than you!”

'A soaring brown hawk

'Said, “Hey, you two dorks, See me stick to the clouds here like glue!'

'From the illustrator who brought you The Racker Racker Club and The Dress-Up Box comes a picture book about a pack of arrogant characters in a race to the top, and a duck who cleverly brings them back to reality.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When Maddy discovers a love note scrawled on the toilet cubicle wall at work, she decides to go on a quest to find out who wrote it and to see if, just maybe, it was intended for her.

'This sweet Christmas holiday romance set in Hobart, Tasmania, is just the thing you need to ease into the festive season this year. BYO cup of hot chocolate and slice of cake!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Sixteen-year-old Therese lives in a small town on a small island. Her Aunt Kath calls her Tiger. Her friends call her Resey. The boy she loves calls her Champ. She’s a lot of different things for a lot of different people. Therese has always had her feet on the ground. She’s running through high school, but someone in her life is about to fall … And when he does, her perfect world falls with him. For the first time in her life, Therese can’t stand being on the ground. Girl Running, Boy Falling is a raw read about a girl and boy—who are beautifully flawed.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

'On Christmas Day, Connie Chase opens the twenty-fifth door on her advent calendar, eating the last chocolate as she tries to swallow the memory of her former love, Viggo MacDuff. His dazzling green eyes are everywhere; from the Christmas tree to the promise of eternal love in a sprig of mistletoe, Connie sees only her hopeless gaze reflected back at her, trapped inside an all-too-shiny bauble. When she finds that even Christmas festivities can’t erase the pain of her first heartbreak, she begins to tell her love story to her best friend Jed.

'Unwrapping each piece as they go on adventures together, Connie realises how she let her internal struggles control her, accepting behaviour that she believed she deserved. Connie explores both friendships and romantic relationships, discovering the strength of her voice and the power of her individuality as she reveals her most vulnerable self.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'You said we could write anything we wanted. The first thing that came into our minds. Blue fish, red fish, green fish...

'Clementine Darcy is floundering. She wants to be the kind of fish who swims to the swish of her own fins - upstream, not simply carried along by the current.

'But she is finding the swirling waters of school and home difficult to navigate: her friendship group is splintering, her brother Fergus won't leave his room, her sister's life is not as perfect as Clem thought...and then there's the New Boy, who is dapper and intriguing, but hiding secrets of his own. Clem is desperate for everyone - including herself - to be happy, but she discovers that her idea of helping doesn't always work as well as she imagined.

'Can Clem be the girl she wants to be? Will she learn to accept that there are things she can fix and things she cannot? Will she find a way to know the difference?' (Publication summary)

'The shadows have always been there, but only Lena can see them, not her parents. At least, so she believes. She also believes the shadows had nothing to do with her mother’s recent disappearance. They seem to be almost benign.' Then Lena finally discovers the truth (Lois Tilton, Locus Online).

'Cat Connolly is a Thyla now. She's not sure where her life is heading, but she knows she doesn't want to go back to the human world.

'But all is not well among the shapeshifters. The treaty between the Thylas and the Sarcos is causing tension and the malevolent Diemens are still on the hunt.

'Then into Cat's life wanders someone who should be an enemy but acts like a friend - and everything changes again. She discovers more about shapeshifters and Diemens, about Tessa, and about her own heart.

'Vulpi continues the story of Tasmania begun in Thyla. It is the story of how the shapeshifters were created, and a clue to what they might become. It is the story of what happened to Cat, and about the decisions we all must make as we learn how to be.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'My name is Tessa. I am strong. I am brave. I do not cry. These are the only things I know for certain.

'I was found in the bush, ragged as a wild thing. I have no memory - not even of how I got the long, striping slashes across my back. They make me frightened of what I might remember.

'The policewoman, Connolly, found me a place in a boarding school and told me about her daughter, Cat, who went missing in the bush. I think there is a connection between Cat, me, and the strange things going on at this school.

'If I can learn Cat's story, I might discover my own - and stop it happening again.' (From the publisher's website.)