AustLit logo

AustLit

Deborah Abela Deborah Abela i(A17937 works by)
Born: Established: 1966 Sydney, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Female
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 y separately published work icon Bear in Space Deborah Abela , Marjorie Crosby-Fairall (illustrator), Melbourne : Walker Books Australia , 2020 19556896 2020 single work picture book children's

'Bear has plans to change his world, one space adventure at a time, and discovers just how far you can go with someone by your side.

'Bear is different. When he dreams of going into space, the other bears laugh. But Bear has plans to change his world, one space adventure at a time. In space he feels at home, but also alone, until something extraordinary happens. He discovers just how far he can go with someone by his side.

'A richly imagined story that celebrates difference, self-belief and the way friendship and acceptance can empower someone to build a better world.' (Publication summary)

1 Uncle Roderick's Advice for a Good Night's Sleep Deborah Abela , 2019 single work short story
— Appears in: Funny Bones 2019;
1 y separately published work icon Final Storm Deborah Abela , North Sydney : Penguin Random House Australia , 2019 16885440 2019 single work children's fiction children's fantasy

'Life is good for Isabella, Griffin and their friends. They’ve settled into New City, enrolled in school and are making new friends, including the charming and talented Aleksander Larson.

'But the city is facing a new threat – weather patterns are becoming erratic and fierce ice storms batter the city. The Bureau of Weather has been failing to predict these deadly blizzards, lives are in danger and unrest is spreading.

'When someone from Isabella’s past returns, loyalties are tested. Who is watching her from the shadows? Is there more to the ice storms than a broken planet? And can Isabella and Griffin’s friendship survive this furious final storm?  (Publication summary)

1 Constance Smallheart Deborah Abela , Iveta Vaicule (illustrator), 2018 single work short story children's
— Appears in: Kookie , no. 3 2018;
1 How to Be a Superhero Deborah Abela , 2018 single work children's fiction
— Appears in: Total Quack Up! 2018; (p. 1-22)
1 1 y separately published work icon The Most Marvellous Spelling Bee Mystery Deborah Abela , Sydney : Random House Australia , 2018 13982632 2018 single work children's fiction children's

'Just when India Wimple’s life is returning to normal after competing in the Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee, she’s invited to London for an international spelling showdown. But how can she go without her family? The Yungabilla community might have a solution!

'In London, India is reunited with her friends Rajish and Summer. They meet new spellers, and are invited to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen.

'But there is skulduggery afoot, with a series of mysterious mishaps. There is even talk of cancelling the competition altogether.

'India and her friends are determined to find out who the culprit is and get the spelling bee back on track.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 y separately published work icon Wolfie : An Unlikely Hero Deborah Abela , North Sydney : Penguin Random House Australia , 2017 9925884 2017 single work children's fiction children's

'I, The Wolf, am sick of being the bad guy. I’m taking over this book.

'Dear Readers,

'Fairytales are nonsense. They’re full of wolves pestering pigs and picking on sweet little girls in red hoods. But I would never do those things. I knit! I bake blueberry pie!

'You know what I really want to do? I WANT TO RESCUE A PRINCESS!

'And if I can’t? I QUIT!

'Yours sincerely,

Wolfie

'Wolfie may want to be a hero, but he’s about to discover that arguing with this book’s narrator is not the best way to improve his image…' (Publication summary)

1 A Perfectly Normal Thursday Deborah Abela , 2017 single work short story
— Appears in: Laugh Your Head Off Again and Again 2017;
1 y separately published work icon Wolf Story Deborah Abela , Connah Brecon (illustrator), Sydney : Random House Australia , 2017 10279884 2017 single work picture book children's

'I, The Wolf, am sick of being the bad guy. I’m taking over this book.

'Dear Readers,

I am formally resigning as the bad guy from all books from this day forth. I don’t want to be the one who huffs and puffs

and blows houses down, nor the one who gobbles up pigs. Yummy as they are.

For years, books have shown us wolves dressing up as grandmas, stealing sheep and picking on sweet, red-hooded girls. But

that’s just not me. I knit! I bake blueberry pie! I want to be the one who rescues a princess!

'Wolf may want to be a hero, but he’s about to discover that arguing with this book’s narrator is not the best way to improve his image…' (Publication summary)

1 1 y separately published work icon The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee Deborah Abela , Sydney : Penguin Random House Australia , 2016 9642584 2016 single work children's fiction children's

'India Wimple can spell. Brilliantly. Every Friday night, she and her family watch the Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee. When the Wimples suggest she enter the next Bee, India says she's not good enough but her family won't hear it and encourage her to sign up. There are plenty of obstacles to reaching the finals: something in India's past has made her terribly, horribly shy, and moving on to each round involves finding the money to make it happen. And finally, there's Summer Millicent Ernestine Beauregard-Champion, a spoilt rich girl who is determined to win and isn't afraid to step on anyone who gets in her way' (publication blurb).

1 Review : Hello! Deborah Abela , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time , May 2016;

— Review of Hello! 2016 single work picture book
1 Middle School : Going Bush Deborah Abela , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time , May 2016;

— Review of Going Bush James Patterson , Martin Chatterton , 2016 single work children's fiction
1 My Life and Other Exploding Chickens (My Life #4) Deborah Abela , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time , May 2016;

— Review of My Life and Other Exploding Chickens Tristan Bancks , 2016 selected work short story
1 Infected (Zombified! #2) Deborah Abela , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time , March 2016;

— Review of Infected C.M. Gray , 2015 single work children's fiction
1 2 y separately published work icon Teresa : A New Australia Deborah Abela , Parkside : Omnibus Books , 2016 8775437 2016 single work children's fiction children's

'Teresa and her family survived the bombing of their home and went hungry during the long siege of their island during the war. Life in peace time is still hard. Her parents want a better life, and so apply to migrate to Australia to find it. But after the long voyage to Sydney, there are more testing times ahead for Teresa as she tries to learn Australian ways, avoid the bullies and do well at school. She is not about to let anything stop her from making her family and her nanna back in Malta proud of her.' (Publication summary)

1 The Elf Flute (Lily the Elf); The Wishing Seed (Lily the Elf) Deborah Abela , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time , December 2015;

— Review of The Elf Flute Anna Branford , 2015 single work children's fiction ; The Wishing Seed Anna Branford , 2015 single work children's fiction
1 Review : Daisy Malone and the Blue Glowing Stone Deborah Abela , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time , July 2015;

— Review of Daisy Malone and the Blue Glowing Stone James O'Loghlin , 2015 single work children's fiction
1 Review : Blown to Rwanda (Banna and Bree #1); Blown to Mission Beach, Australia (Banna and Bree #2) Deborah Abela , 2015 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time , June 2015;

— Review of Banna and Bree Blown to Rwanda Karen Cross , 2014 single work children's fiction ; Banna and Bree Blown to Borneo Karen Cross , 2014 single work children's fiction
1 1 y separately published work icon New City Deborah Abela , North Sydney : Random House , 2014 7161861 2014 single work children's fiction children's fantasy adventure

'A new city offers a new life–but what kind of life will Isabella and her friends find? Isabella and her friends are nervous about what they'll find in the New City. It's inland and it's dry–far from the flooded city they've just left. Will their lives here be as luxurious and carefree as Xavier says? In fact, bleak, uncertain times have brought darkness and danger to New City. The city has been divided in two: the citizens who have, and those who the ruling Major General says have come to steal from them–the refugees who have fled the rising waters, who are imprisoned in a camp on the edge of the city. The kids of Grimsdon once faced sea monsters and evil harbour lords, but now they face new threats. From freakish weather events that whip up with little warning to the fierce misinformation that swirls around the city to the theft of their freedom, now they face the prison-like restrictions and control of the New City. Unlike the refugees, they're heralded as heroes. But what does the Major General really want from them?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 y separately published work icon Jasper Zammit : Soccer Legend Jasper Zammit Bindup Deborah Abela , Johnny Warren , Australia : Random House , 2014 6621398 2014 selected work novel children's

A compendium of the three Jasper Zammit novels.

X