AustLit

'Kiva Meridan is a survivor.

'She survived not only Zalindov prison, but also the deadly Trial by Ordeal. Now Kiva’s purpose goes beyond survival to vengeance. For the past ten years, her only goal was to reunite with her family and destroy the people responsible for ruining their lives. But now that she has escaped Zalindov, her mission has become more complicated than ever.

'As Kiva settles into her new life in the capital, she discovers she wasn’t the only one who suffered while she was in Zalindov—her siblings and their beliefs have changed too. Soon it’s not just her enemies she’s keeping secrets from, but her own family as well.

'Outside the city walls, tensions are brewing from the rebels, along with whispers of a growing threat from the northern kingdoms. Kiva’s allegiances are more important than ever, but she’s beginning to question where they truly lie. To survive this time, she’ll have to navigate a complicated web of lies before both sides of the battle turn against her and she loses everything.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'From bestselling Australian author Lynette Noni comes a dark, thrilling YA fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Sabaa Tahir.

'Here at Zalindov, the only person you can trust is yourself.

'Seventeen-year-old Kiva Meridan has spent the last ten years fighting for survival in the notorious death prison, Zalindov, working as the prison healer.

'When the Rebel Queen is captured, Kiva is charged with keeping the terminally ill woman alive long enough for her to undergo the Trial by Ordeal: a series of elemental challenges against the torments of air, fire, water and earth, assigned to only the most dangerous of criminals.

'Then a coded message from Kiva’s family arrives, containing a single order: Don’t let her die. We are coming. Aware that the Trials will kill the sickly queen, Kiva risks her own life to volunteer in her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom.

'But no one has ever survived.

'With an incurable plague sweeping Zalindov, a mysterious new inmate fighting for Kiva's heart, and a prison rebellion brewing, Kiva can't escape the terrible feeling that her trials have only just begun.' (Publication summary)

'When Mae has to move house from the country to the city, she feels lonely and sad - until she discovers a beautiful place full of green in the centre of Paris.

'What she finds there sparks something special and beautiful that will make her feel much more at home. ' (Publication summary)

'The last person Zac expects in the room next door is a girl like Mia, angry and feisty with questionable taste in music. In the real world he wouldn't--couldn't--be friends with her.

'But in hospital different rules apply, and what begins as a knock on the wall leads to a note--then a friendship neither of them sees coming.

'You need courage to be in hospital; different courage to be back in the real world. 
In one of these worlds Zac needs Mia. And in the other Mia needs Zac.

'Or maybe they both need each other, always.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Twelve-year-old Ned Roach used to scavenge for scraps along the Thames riverbank. But the recent plague of child-eating bogles in London means that he's now working as an apprentice to Alfred Bunce, the bogler.

'Alongside Jem Barbary and (sometimes) Birdie McAdam, Ned must lure bogles out of their lairs so that Alfred can kill them. And this means spending a lot of time in the city's murky underground waterways - especially when Alfred is hired by the London Sewers Office to stamp out a deadly infestation.

'But times are changing. As magic and folklore give way to the machine age, Alfred begins to face an uncertain future - while Ned and his friends find themselves threatened by an enemy from their past who's even more dangerous than the bogles.

'Catherine Jinks captures the end of an era and the start of a technological revolution in her brilliant final instalment of the City of Orphans trilogy.' (Publication summary)

'Eleven-year-old Jem Barbary spent most of his early life picking pockets for a canny old crook named Sarah Pickles. Now she's betrayed him, and Jem wants revenge. He also wants to work for bogler Alfred Bunce, who kills the child-eating monsters that lurk in the city's cellars and sewers. But Alfred is keen to give up bogling, since he almost lost his last apprentice, Birdie.

'When numerous children start disappearing around Newgate Prison, Alfred and Jem do join forces, waging an underground war. They even seek help from Birdie, dragging her away from the safe and comfortable home she's found with Miss Edith Eames. Together they learn that there's only one thing more terrifying than facing a whole plague of bogles - and that's facing some of the sinister people from Jem's past ...' (Publisher's blurb)

'Cartwheel has moved to a place that is so strange to her that she no longer feels like herself. She creates a safe place under an old blanket, made out of memories and thoughts of home. As time goes on, Cartwheel begins to weave a new blanket, one of friendship and a renewed sense of belonging. It is different from the old blanket, but it is eventually just as warm and familiar. This story is for all who have experienced change. It is about learning new ways of speaking, new ways of living, new ways of being.'

(Publisher's blurb)

'Problem Child is another book about bullying, but this one has a significant difference from most others – it's told from the bully's point of view.

'Max Quigley and his best mate Jared form the most intimidating team in the school. Jared's the physical enforcer, while Max is the persuader, the "brains" of the operation, or so he believes. He manages to justify his behaviour as no more than observing the obvious shortcomings of the weaker students.

'Max's chief target is Triffin Nordstrom, the quiet bookish kid with the slightly odd mother. Triffin becomes the victim of a series of atrocities by Max, until in a final attempt by their parents to sort it out, they're thrown together against their will, in an experimental solution to their conflict. But they'll still never be friends – there's far too much history between them for that to ever happen. Besides, they're just too different.' (Publication abstract)