AustLit

'School event? Ball game? Nana is there. But who will cheer on Nana after she takes a tumble? A sweet and spirited intergenerational story.

'Nana cheers the loudest at her grandson’s basketball game. She dances in the aisles at the spring concert. She yells at the umpire that he needs to get his eyes checked when he doesn’t call the strikes her grandson pitches. But when this go-go-go grandmother takes a tumble trying to get a front-row seat at the basketball game, it’s her grandson who roots her on in her recovery. Author Ann Stott celebrates our families’ biggest fans in a lively first-person narrative from the grandchild’s point of view. Andrew Joyner’s illustrations are as energetic and upbeat as Nana, who sparks much comic action, purse by her side. Filled with humour and heart, this tale will have readers – especially grandparents and their grandchildren – whistling and woo-hoo-ing!'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'Jack and Alex meet almost every morning in the sandbox at the playground. Jack likes trucks – big ones. Alex likes dolls – pink ones, with sparkles. And tutus. But Jack doesn’t want to play dolls, and Alex doesn’t want to play trucks. Luckily for Jack and Alex, the day is saved with a little bit of compromise and the easy acceptance that characterises true friendship... What about dolls who drive trucks?

Jack and Alex meet almost every morning in the sandbox at the playground. Jack likes trucks big ones. Alex likes dolls, pink ones, with sparkles! What will they play together?'

Source: Trove.

'A celebration of inspirational women from all over the world and throughout history, told in Marcia Williams' much-loved comic-strip style.

'Join Marcia Williams as she celebrates incredible women from around the world and throughout history. From writers to warriors and astronauts to activists, discover their awesome stories and be amazed by their achievements. Featuring Cleopatra, Boudicca, Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I, Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Florence Nightingale, Marie Curie, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Frida Kahlo, Wangari Maathai, Mae C. Jemison, Cathy Freeman and Malala, and packed with facts, quotes and jokes – hip, hip, hooray!' (Publication summary)

'Lady Helen has retreated to a country estate outside Bath to prepare for her wedding to the Duke of Selburn, yet she knows she has unfinished business to complete. She and the dangerously charismatic Lord Carlston have learned they are a dyad, bonded in blood, and only they are strong enough to defeat the Grand Deceiver, who threatens to throw mankind into chaos. But the heinous death-soaked Ligatus Helen has absorbed is tearing a rift in her mind. Its power, if unleashed, will annihilate both Helen and Carlston unless they can find a way to harness its ghastly force and defeat their enemy.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Summer, 1812

'After the scandalous events at her presentation ball in London, Lady Helen has taken refuge at the fashionable seaside resort of Brighton, where she is training to be a Reclaimer with the covert Dark Days Club.

'As she struggles to put aside her genteel upbringing and take up the weapons of a warrior, Helen realizes that her mentor, Lord Carlston, is fighting his own inner battle. Has the foul Deceiver energy poisoned his soul, or is something else driving him towards violent bouts of madness? Either way, Helen is desperate to help the man with whom she shares a deep but forbidden connection.

'When Mr Pike, the hard bureaucratic heart of the Dark Days Club, arrives in Brighton, no one is prepared for the ordinary evil he brings in his wake. He has a secret task for Helen and Mr Hammond, and the authority of the Prince Regent. They have no choice but to do as he orders, knowing that the mission will betray everyone around them and possibly bring about Lord Carlston's annihilation.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Combining Jane Austen's high society and Cassandra Clare's supernatural underworld, Alison Goodman's Lady Helen trilogy will delight fans of historical fiction and fantasy. Now readers can enjoy an exclusive insight into Lord Carlston's world and his initial perceptions of much-loved heroine Lady Helen in this novella. London, April 1812. Lord Carlston, a man of dubious reputation and infuriating manners, has recently returned from the Continent. He is in London to assess whether Lady Helen Wrexhall has inherited her mother's Reclaimer abilities, which would mark her as a protector of society. These abilities would also take Lady Helen from the glittering ballrooms and bright lights of her first Season into a world of demonic creatures and deadly power. Not the usual aspirations for a young lady in Regency society... Perfect for longstanding fans and readers new to the series, the novella also includes a chapter from The Dark Days Club, so you can experience the same scene from Lady Helen's point of view.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'London, April 1812. Lady Helen Wrexhall is set to make her debut at the court of Queen Charlotte and officially step into polite Regency society and the marriage mart. Little does Helen know that step will take her from the opulent drawing rooms of Mayfair and the bright lights of Vauxhall Gardens into a shadowy world of missing housemaids and demonic conspiracies.

'Standing between those two worlds is Lord Carlston, a man of ruined reputation and brusque manners. He believes Helen has a destiny beyond the ballroom; a sacred and secret duty. Helen is not so sure, especially when she discovers that nothing around her is quite as it seems, including the enigmatic Lord Carlston.

'Against a backdrop of whispered secrets in St James's Palace, soirees with Lord Byron and morning calls from Beau Brummell, Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club is a delightfully dangerous adventure of self-discovery and dark choices that must be made ... whatever the consequences.'

source: Publisher's blurb.

'A thought-provoking collection of short stories and poems exploring the rights and freedoms we can enjoy in the twenty-first century... and those for which we still need to fight.

'A selection of the world's finest writers for young people - in conjunction with Amnesty International UK - explore the rights and freedoms still lacking in today's society, covering issues such as gender equality, race hatred, surveillance, identity and freedom of speech. ' (Publication summary)

'From multi-award winning author-illustrator Bob Graham comes a tender, touching story of family life, perfect for sharing when a new baby is on the way. Francie and her mum, who is expecting a baby girl, are driving home from Grandma's in the heavy rain. When they're still far from home, they stop for a picnic. And as the car steams up, Francie presses her little finger on the window, spelling out "Daddy" and "Mummy" and leaving one space free, ready and waiting for the name of her soon-to-be sister... A beautifully observed celebration of the way inspiration can, and often does happen in the most ordinary and unlikely of places. ' (Publication summary)

'VIOLET MACKEREL loves Clover Park. She especially loves to collect acorns from under the big old OAK TREE. But the OAK TREE is going to be cut down. Violet does NOT think this is a good idea! The OAK TREE is important. It is worth trying to SAVE. And Violet hopes her POCKET PROTEST will be just the thing to save it.' (Publication abstract)

'Fourteen-year-old Alexander Altmann doesn't need to look at the number tattooed on his arm. A10567: he knows it by heart. He also knows that to survive Auschwitz, he has to toughen up. When he is given the job of breaking in the commander's new horse, their survival becomes intertwined. Alexander knows the animal is scared and damaged, but he must win its trust. If he fails, they will both be killed.'

Source: Publisher's blurb. 

'The story of a Jewish girl sent to Auschwitz with her family. She falls in love with the wrong boy - the German son of the camp commander.

'Hanna is a talented pianist, and the protected second daughter of middle class Hungarian Jews. Relatively late in World War II the Budapest Jews were rounded up and sent to Auschwitz. Hanna and her mother and sister are separated from her father. Her mother becomes increasingly mentally ill until she too is taken away somewhere. Her sister Erika is slowly starving to death.

Hanna is quite a naive 15-year-old but when presented with the opportunity to play piano for the camp commander, she is desperate to be chosen. She goes each day under guard to the commander's house and stands waiting in case the commander should want some music.

Also living in the house is the commander's son, Karl. A handsome young man who seems completely disengaged from what is happening around him. Hanna hates him as he sits drawing in the music room. But the longer Hanna goes to the house, the more she realises there are other things going on. Secret things. Karl may not be the person she thinks he is. Before she knows it she has fallen in love with the wrong boy.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The Reckoning destroyed civilisation and humanity has had to rise from the ashes. But there are now people with abilities - Flyers, Firestarters, Rumblers - and society is scared of them. The government calls them Illegals. Ashala Wolf protects a group of Illegals. They hide together in the Firstwood and she'll do anything to keep them safe. When Ashala is captured, she realises she has been betrayed by someone she trusted. Now she only has herself. But when Neville starts digging in her memories for information, she doubts she can protect her people forever...will the Tribe survive the interrogation of Ashala Wolf?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'"There were only eleven of them, like eleven sisters all the same age in a large family. Because it was such a very small class, they had a very small classroom, which was perched at the very top of the school - up four flights of stairs, up in the high sky, like a colony of little birds nesting on a cliff. 'Today, girls,' said Miss Renshaw, 'we shall go out into the beautiful Gardens and think about death."'

'In the Gardens they meet a poet. What follows is inexplicable, shocking, a scandal. What really happened that day? Is 'the truth' as elusive as it seems? And do the little girls know more than they are letting on?' (From the publisher's website.)

'A broken, old bus appears one morning, sad as a whale on a beach, right outside Stella's house. On the front of it, held up with packing tape, is a hand painted sign... "Heaven".

'For Stella, this decrepit old vehicle is special -this bus is "ours" - a place for everyone to be together: hold meetings, play games and share stories. But one day, the bus is towed away and Stella must fight to save not just the bus, but everything the community has worked so hard to create.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Ella is in charge of this book, and she will tell you something right now. There are NO BEARS in it. Not even one. Ella wants to tell you a story -- a story with absolutely no bears. You don't need bears for a book. You need pretty things like fairies and princesses and castles and maybe funny things and exciting things. In Ella's kind of story, there are no bears in the village or the castle or the deep dark forest or faraway lands. But there might be . . . a monster! Riffing on well-known fairy-tale themes, this fun, offbeat story is perfectly matched by playful illustrations with a running visual joke that will keep even bear lovers smiling.' (Publication summary)