AustLit

'It’s midnight and I’m alone in the kitchen eating a cold potato scallop. Coach O'Call would say something like, ‘That’s not what I expect from a scholarship girl!’ because I have to be up for squad training in five hours and I’m not supposed to go near potato scallops, and—oh, yeah—it’s my fifth.

'Cat has recently started at a new school on a sports scholarship, and she’s feeling the pressure of early morning training sessions and the need for total commitment. Fanny loves to swim and she lives for racing, but family chores and low expectations for girls make it very hard for her to fit in even the occasional training session.

'Cat and Fanny have never met. They both live in the same Sydney suburb, but in different worlds, or at least different times: Cat in current-day Sydney, and Fanny in 1908. But one day, time slips and they swap places.

'As each girl lives the other’s life, with all the challenges and confusion it presents, she comes to appreciate and understand herself and the role of swimming in her own life.

'Narrated in alternating chapters by Cat and Fanny, Elsewhere Girls is a moving and funny story of two girls with a deep connection, one based on the Australian Olympic champion, Fanny Durack. It’s a fresh and engaging exploration of the challenges and pressures for young women growing up in the past and today.' (Publication summary)

'Clem Timmins can't wait to see her best friends after being apart all summer holidays. But when they get back together, things have changed. Bridge is boy-crazy and acting like a different person. Ellie is wearing a bra and having a real-life romance. Clem feels left behind. When she makes friends with Tom, suddenly everyone's gossiping about whether they're going to be a couple. Clem's got no interest in having a boyfriend. Or does she?

'At school camp, Bridge crosses the line and Clem has to ask herself - can she keep growing up with her friends when they're growing apart?

'This story of fitting in and falling out perfectly captures how it feels to balance on the edge of who you are and who you want to be.' (Publication summary)

'Mackenzie loves her life in the city. She’s in a band with her bestie, she’s just met a cute boy called Toby, and she doesn’t mind moving between her parents’ places each week. But then her mum decides to move away, and everything changes …

'1. When Mack moves to the country with her mum, she starts hanging out with music-mad Laura … and drifting apart from her old best friend, Immy. Are they destined to lose their friendship, especially when Mack’s old band is playing without her?

'2. When Mack decides to live with her dad in the city, she has to put up with his control-freak girlfriend moving in too! But maybe the upcoming Battle of the Bands competition – and getting to know the adorable Toby – will be enough of a distraction?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'With the help of a magical book, Noah Wriggle and his best friend Blue like to design weird and wonderful animal mash-up creations - and then bring them to life! But sometimestheir mash-imals love being alive just a little TOO much... In The Outstanding Octokey, a marmoset monkey is mashed up with an inky octopus, creating a swinging sucker! When Ocky escapes into the canteen, can Noah and Blue find him before he inks the entire school?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'With the help of a magical book, Noah Wriggle and his best friend Blue like to design weird and wonderful animal mash-up creations - and then bring them to life! But sometimes their mash-imals love being alive just a little TOO much... In The Speedy Spidersaurus, a scary T-Rex is mashed up with a tiny spider, creating an eight-legged dinosaur! But when Spidey gets loose at school, can Noah and Blue track him down before their teacher does?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'With the help of a magical book, Noah Wriggle and his best friend Blue like to design weird and wonderful animal mash-up creations - and then bring them to life! But sometimes their mash-imals love being alive just a little TOO much... In The Tumbling Tigerdillo, an armadillo is mashed up with a stripy tiger, creating a roaring roller! When Tig stows away on a camping trip, can Noah and Blue get him home in time?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'With the help of a magical book, Noah Wriggle and his best friend Blue like to design weird and wonderful animal mash-up creations - and then bring them to life! But sometimes their mash-imals love being alive just a little TOO much... In The Marvelous Moleon, a mini mole is mashed up with a creative chameleon, creating an disguised digger! But when Mollo digs his way in and out of art class, can Noah and Blue spot him before it's too late?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Two very different Grade 6 girls meet in their school sick bay. Meg is a loner. Grieving over the death of her father, and struggling with changes at home, she wears slippers to school and hides out in sick bay to avoid other kids. New girl Riley, is a Type 1 diabetic and already popular. She doesn't want to go to sick bay, but sometimes she has to if she's having a high or a low. As Meg and Riley are forced to spend more and more time together in the cramped sick bay room, they start to uncover each other's secrets and find the courage to be who they really are.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Nova Weetman explains how her new novel, Everything Is Changed, changed in its evolution and editing…'

'Clem is slowly rebuilding her life after a house fire destroyed everything. She’s about to start high school with her two best friends and she’s finally settled into living with her dad in their tiny flat. But when her mum unexpectedly moves in, Clem feels like there’s no space for her.

'Then she meets Matt, a funny and rebellious fourteen-year-old with family troubles of his own. When everything starts to unravel, Clem must decide which secrets to keep and which to share.' (Publication summary)
 

'If only we could all go back to the way it was before…Jake and Alex. Best mates. One terrible mistake. Two lives that will never be the same.Told in reverse, this powerful and gritty novel moves through the wreckage of a broken friendship, back to the moment when everything changed.' (Publication summary)

'I don't know if you've ever seen a house burn, but it's not like anything else ......

'Clem Timmins has lost everything - her clothes, her possessions, her house and her mum. Now living in a tiny flat with her dad, Clem has to start a new school and make new friends.

'On her first day, Clem tells Ellie that her mum died in a house fire and immediately regrets it when Ellie latches on and confides that her own mother is dying of cancer.

'When Clem receives a letter she doesn't want to read, it becomes clear she can't run from her past forever, especially when the truth appears right in front of her face.'

Source: Publisher's blurb

' A magnetic young adult novel about friendship, rivalry and the heartache of new love. Frankie and Joely are best friends. At the age of fifteen they share the things most teenage girls share. Until now … Staying with Joely’s relatives in the small town of Payne for their summer holiday, Frankie and Joely have grand plans. Frankie dreams of flirting with Joely’s cute cousins and working on her tan. Joely wants to escape her controlling mother and finally introduce Frankie to the people she loves. Neither of them expects to meet a boy who has plans of his own … Catch your breath on this novel from an unflinchingly honest Australian voice. ' (Publication summary)

'When it comes to netball, Edie Thomas is a natural. But she's only ever played for fun and to hang out with her netball-mad bestie Tess. But when she makes the state team, it looks like netball will be taking centre stage. Until a Edie drops out of the team when she scores a lead role in Romeo and Juliet opposite her long-time crush, Freddy. But will the school play be all that Edie dreams it will be? And will Tess ever forgive her for dumping netball? Edie begins to resent netball taking over her entire life. Will a cute distraction, in the shape of footballer hottie Finn, rekindle her passion for sport or will she quit netball for good? In this pick-a-path story YOU get to make Edie's decisions, and choose where her story goes. Follow your heart right to the end, or go back and choose all over again.' (Publication summary)

'It's the last day of school and Frankie Jones is looking down the barrel of a long, hot, boring summer with only her guitar for company until …

'1. She gets a surprise chance to go to London. She's dying to go – except that it will mean seeing her heartbreakingly cute British friend Jack again. Will things take up where they left off? Or can Frankie finally prove she's over him?

'2. Her dad invites her on a beach holiday. But when she discovers her dad's new girlfriend and her daughter Ellie are also coming on their trip, Frankie's not sure how she feels. Will she get to spend any time with her dad at all? Or will she be expected to hang out with Ellie, her new best frenemy?

'Follow your heart right to the end, or go back and choose all over again.' (Publisher's blurb)

'An atmospheric and chilling ghost story debut from a talented young adult author.

'If you haven't been to Gideon, you're lucky. It's this boring little town about two hours from the city.

'When Lily Frost's parents make her move from the only home and best friend she's ever known to a country town, things are dire. Lily knows no one – but someone seems to know her.

'Upon entering her new attic bedroom, Lily faints. Coming to, she's overcome by someone else's secrets – the girl who lived there before. Determined to uncover why, she is thrown into the path of cute local boy Danny, who just happened to be the girl's ex-boyfriend.

'After Lil finds out the girl mysteriously disappeared a year ago, she discovers that the one-street town holds more twists and turns than originally meets the eye.

'For Lil, life in this small town is about to get very interesting as she finds herself seeing things she thought belonged to the dead.' (Publisher's blurb)