AustLit

'Iris Hollow and her two older sisters are unquestionably strange. Ever since they disappeared on a suburban street in Scotland as children only to return a month a later with no memory of what happened to them, odd, eerie occurrences seem to follow in their wake. And they’re changing. First, their dark hair turned white. Then, their blue eyes slowly turned black. They have insatiable appetites yet never gain weight. People find them disturbingly intoxicating, unbearably beautiful and inexplicably dangerous.

'Now, ten years later, seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow is doing all she can to fit in and graduate high school – something her two famously glamorous globe-trotting older sisters, Grey and Vivi, never managed to do. But when Grey goes missing, leaving behind only bizarre clues, Iris and Vivi are left to trace her last few days. They aren’t the only ones looking for her. As they brush against the supernatural, they realise that the story they’ve been told about their past is unravelling and the world that returned them seemingly unharmed ten years ago, might just be calling them home.' (Publication summary)

'A dazzling, inventive, and thought-provoking new novel from the ingenious author of Jennifer Government and Lexicon.

'Gilly, Talia, Anders, and Jackson are astronauts captaining a new and supposedly indestructible ship in humanity's war against an alien race. Confined to the ship for years, each of them holding their own secrets, they are about to learn there are threats beyond the reach of human ingenuity--and that the true nature of reality might be the universe's greatest mystery.

'In this near future, our world is at war with another, and humanity is haunted by its one catastrophic loss--a nightmarish engagement that left a handful of survivors drifting home through space, wracked with PTSD. Public support for the war plummeted, and the military-industrial complex set its sights on a new goal: zero-casualty warfare, made possible by gleaming new ships called Providences, powered by AI.

'But when the latest-launched Providence suffers a surprising attack and contact with home is severed, Gilly, Talia, Anders, and Jackson must confront the truth of the war they're fighting, the ship that brought them there, and the cosmos beyond.' (Publication summary) 

'Two sisters. One dangerous secret. Twenty-four hours to uncover the truth.

'Seventeen-year-old Tempest was born into a world of water. The most skilled diver on the Equinox Reef, she searches drowned cities with her older sister Elysea, seeking out old world treasures to trade for Notes. After Elysea mysteriously drowns, Tempest scavenges the ruins alone, driven to collect enough Notes to buy her sister's life for 24 hours, and to finally learn the secret she had kept until her last breath.

'However, once revived, Elysea convinces Tempest to break her out of the Palindromena research facility and they embark on a dangerous journey to discover the truth about their parents' death. But they're pursued by two Palindromena employees desperate to find them before Elysea's time is up and prevent them from uncovering the secret behind the revival process and the true cost of restored lives.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In 1920, at seventeen years of age, Maddie Bright takes a job as a serving girl on the Royal Tour of Australia by Edward, Prince of Wales. She meets the prince's young staff and the prince himself— beautiful, boyish, godlike. Maddie might be on the adventure of a lifetime. Sixty-one years later, Maddie Bright is living a small life in a ramshackle house in Brisbane. But an unlooked-for letter has arrived in the mail and there's news on the television from Buckingham Palace that makes her shout back at the screen. Maddie Bright's true story may change. In August 1997, London journalist Victoria Byrd is tasked by her editor with the job of finding the elusive M.A. Bright, author of the classic war novel of ill-fated love, Autumn Leaves. It seems Bright has written a second novel and Victoria has been handed the scoop.

'Written with real warmth and wit, these evocative strands twist across the seas and over two continents, intersecting with the lives of Edward and Princess Diana, two of the most hated and loved figures of the twentieth century. The True Story of Maddie Bright is a novel that tells stories and reveals truth; a novel that considers the inescapable ties of mothering, friendship, duty and love.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Adele loves being one of the popular girls at Keziah Christian Academy. She knows the upcoming semester at school will be great with her best friend Delia at her side. Then Delia dumps her for a new girl with more money, and Adele is forced to share a room with Lottie, the school pariah, who doesn't pray and defies teachers' orders. As they share a copy of Jane Eyre, Lottie's gruff exterior and honesty grow on Adele, and together they take on bullies and protect each other from the vindictive and prejudiced teachers. When a boy goes missing on campus, Adele and Lottie must work together to solve the mystery, and in the process learn the true meaning of friendship.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington is one of Quadara's most skilled thieves, but when she steals an unexpectedly valuable package from a messenger she is soon entangled in a conspiracy that leads to all four of Quadara's queens being murdered. With no other choices and on the run from her former employer, Keralie teams up with Varin Bollt, the Eonist messenger she stole from, and together they race to discover who has killed the queens. But when dark secrets threaten their reluctant partnership and put everything at stake, Keralie and Varin must use all their daring to stay alive and untangle the mysteries behind the nation's four dead queens.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

"Don't trust him. It wasn't me.

"It couldn't have been me.

"Meet Evie, a young woman held captive by a man named Jim in the isolated New Zealand beach town of Maketu. Jim says he’s hiding Evie to protect her, that she did something terrible back home in Melbourne.

"In a house that creaks against the wind, Evie begins to piece together her fractured memories of the events that led her here.

"Jim says he’s keeping her safe. Evie’s not sure she can trust Jim, but can she trust her own memories?"

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Tom Hope doesn’t think he’s much of a farmer, but he’s doing his best. He can’t have been much of a husband to Trudy, either, judging by her sudden departure. It’s only when she returns, pregnant to someone else, that he discovers his surprising talent as a father. So when Trudy finds Jesus and takes little Peter away with her to join the holy rollers, Tom’s heart breaks all over again.

'Enter Hannah Babel, quixotic smalltown bookseller: the second Jew—and the most vivid person—Tom has ever met. He dares to believe they could make each other happy.

'But it is 1968: twenty-four years since Hannah and her own little boy arrived at Auschwitz. Tom Hope is taking on a batttle with heartbreak he can barely even begin to imagine.' (Publication Summary)

'Ever since Esther Solar’s grandfather was cursed by Death, everyone in her family has been doomed to suffer one great fear in their lifetime. Esther’s father is agoraphobic and hasn’t left the basement in six years, her twin brother can’t be in the dark without a light on, and her mother is terrified of bad luck.

'The Solars are consumed by their fears and, according to the legend of the curse, destined to die from them.

'Esther doesn’t know what her great fear is yet (nor does she want to), a feat achieved by avoiding pretty much everything. Elevators, small spaces and crowds are all off-limits. So are haircuts, spiders, dolls, mirrors and three dozen other phobias she keeps a record of in her semi-definitive list of worst nightmares.

'Then Esther is pickpocketed by Jonah Smallwood, an old elementary school classmate. Along with her phone, money and a fruit roll-up she’d been saving, Jonah also steals her list of fears. Despite the theft, Esther and Jonah become friends, and he sets a challenge for them: in an effort to break the curse that has crippled her family, they will meet every Sunday of senior year to work their way through the list, facing one terrifying fear at a time, including one that Esther hadn’t counted on: love.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Henry has the Perfect Pet - a duck call Spot - who thinks he's found the Perfect Present for Henry's Birthday. But when the big day comes, Henry's grandparents arrive with a Perfect Present of their own - a strange and wobbling box - with something inside that could change things between Spot and Henry forever...

'This dearly loved duo returns in a heart-warming tale about never letting good friends go...' (From the publisher's website.)

'Maudie's world revolves around Maudie. Bear's world also revolves around Maudie—he is as patient and solid as a rock. Maudie is so confident of Bear's love she makes little effort to deserve it. Bear's remedy for loving Maudie is to love her some more.

'Jan Ormerod's minimal text and Freya Blackwood's inspired illustrations perfectly capture the intricate relationship between parent and child. This is the ultimate of reassuring stories— it shows that a parent's love is inexhaustible.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Rossamund has exchanged Winstermill and the dangerous life of a lamplighter for Brandenbrass and an even more dangerous life as factotum to the aristocratic monsterslayer, Europe. Fear and self-doubt must wait, however, as he plunges headlong into the fulgar's day-to-day life of political manoeuvring, high-society parties and well-paid monsterhunting. But whispers and rumours about her new factotum place Europe herself in danger, and now Rossamund and the Branden Rose will face the ultimate battle against their enemies, the black-hearted schemers who would destroy them both.' (Trove record)

'When Delia Bennet - author and domestic advice columnist - is diagnosed with cancer, she knows it's time to get her house in order. After all, she's got to secure the future for her husband, their two daughters and their five beloved chickens. But as she writes lists and makes plans, questions both large and small creep in. Should she divulge her best culinary secrets? Read her favourite novels one last time? Plan her daughters' far-off weddings?

'Complicating her dilemma is the matter of the past, and a remote country town where she fled as a pregnant teenager, only to leave broken-hearted eight years later.

'Researching and writing her final Household Guide, Delia is forced to confront the pieces of herself she left behind. She learns what matters is not the past but the present - that the art of dying is all about truly living.' (Publisher's blurb)

"Rossamund Bookchild is finally becoming a lamplighter. Sworn into the Emperors service, his duty is to light the lamps along the Emperor's highways, and protect all travellers from the ferocious bogles that live in the wild. But he's found it no easier to fit in with the lamplighters than he ever has - always too small and too meek, his loneliness continues no matter how hard he tries to succeed. But when a haughty young girl, a member of a suspiciously-regarded society of all women teratologists is forced upon the lamplighters for training, Rossamund might no longer be the most despised soul around." (Source: Series website)

'"For as long as anyone can remember, mermaids have swum through our stories and splashed through our dreams. . . . " Where did these mythical creatures come from? What if they were real? 
'"Mermaids Most Amazing" provides a comprehensive introduction to these beloved creatures, rendered in beautifully evocative, folk art-style collages and illustrations. You'll meet the fish-tailed goddesses of ancient Polynesia; crafty water sprites of the Pacific Northwest; fake mermaids from British carnivals of the 1800s; and the dugong, whose human-like features and behavior have been mistaken for mermaids by sailors throughout the ages. 
'Including several legends perfect for reading aloud, as well as maps of the mermaid world, "Mermaids Most Amazing" is a must-read for mermaid fans of all ages. Who knows what strange (and real) creatures you just might find?'  (Publication summary)

'Kathleen is facing old age alone. Between her selfish children - 'Brain' and his straying wife, and daughter Shamrock and Shamrock's hubby the 'Big Developer' - there is no longer a place for her. But Passing Downs Old People's Home is still not the place for a woman like Kathleen. She is not ready for that and they're not ready for her.

''I've skipped the grandma years,' Kathleen said. 'The four ages of women: bimbo, breeder, baby-sitter, burden. I've cut and run. Wasn't going to tell a soul but I've decided cutting and running is what it's all about.''

Source: Publisher's blurb (House of Books ed.)