AustLit

''GREETINGS. AM LOOKING FOR A MAJOR CRIME TO SOLVE. PLEASE INFORM ME OF ANY RECENT MURDERS, KIDNAPPINGS OR JEWEL HEISTS IN THIS AREA.'

'Clara wants to be a famous detective with her own TV show. She can read claw marks, find missing feathers and knows morse code and semaphore.

'There's just one problem. She's a small scruffy chook, and no one takes her seriously.

'But when she teams up with Olive, the daughter of the local policeman, they might just be able to solve the crimes that have been troubling the town of Little Dismal.

'A puzzling and hilarious mystery from bestselling author, Lian Tanner.' (Publication summary)

'Magic, mayhem and a ruthless, ghost-eating demon feature in this exciting conclusion to The Rogues from the award-winning author of the highly-acclaimed Keepers series.

'The Harshman brought his fist down on the arm of the Faithful Throne, and roared to the sleeping people, 'I … Am … Margrave … Now.'

'Having escaped the salt mines, Duckling, Pummel, Sooli and Otte return to the Strong-hold to find out who is responsible for raising the murderous Harshman. But with Grafine von Eisen ruling as Regent, all that awaits them is the dungeon and the executioner's axe.

'The children must hide in the Strong-hold's stone walls, while Sooli walks the path of death, searching desperately for clues. And when the Harshman arrives, turning friends and allies against each other, time is running out.

'With no one on their side but a cat, a ghost, and a chicken who has forgotten her true identity, the children must use all their wits - and all their magic - to defeat the Harshman before he becomes unstoppable.'  (Publication summary)

'A very Australian story of drought and renewal, of family, of imagination and of the power of hope.

Ella lived in the red-dirt country
where the earth was as dry as old bones
and it hadn't rained 
for years
and years
and years.

One night, Ella dreamt of the ocean…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Our 2018 short story anthology features stories from the ten finalists in the 2018 Tasmanian Writers’ Prize, as selected by Robbie Arnott, James Dryburgh and Lian Tanner.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Duckling and Pummel are trying to take the Young Margrave to a place of safety, far away from the dreadful Harshman. But they have enemies they don't know about, and all too soon they find themselves captured. Their witchery should save them—but their witchery has gone, vanished. How will they get it back? A vividly exciting trilogy set in the same world as the Keepers, with all new characters, in a brilliant fantasy-adventure.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Pummel is a farm boy who has arrived in the city of Neuhalt seeking work. But things are different in the city—if you see ghosts or believe in magic, you are guilty of the crime of disloyalty. The devious Lord Rump and his granddaughter, Duckling, need a disposable boy, and Pummel fits the bill perfectly. Lord Rump's machinations take both children into the enchanted castle of Neuhalt and before long they are entwined in a plot to kill the heir to the Faithful Throne, the Young Margrave. If they want to protect the Young Margrave, and save themselves from an awful death, Duckling and Pummel must learn to use the magic that no one else believes in.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The thrilling conclusion to the Hidden series: a vividly exciting fantasy-adventure by a master storyteller.

'We are F-Fetchers, And here we stand-'
The mens eyes swivelled towards her.
Gwin stopped singing for long enough to say, in a wobbly voice, 'If you're going to k-kill us, you should know who we are.'

'Gwin is a Fetcher. With her Papa and her blind twin brother Nat, she travels the countryside of West Norn, bringing moments of joy to its downtrodden people through song, acrobatics and story. But ever since her mama died, it's been hard to keep the joy alive.

'Proud and defiant, Fetchers have always been hunted by the Devouts for preserving the old ways. So when the devious Brother Poosk captures Gwin's papa, Gwin knows she must do her utmost to rescue him - whatever the cost.

'Meanwhile, the Oyster's crew, together with the Sunkers, lay siege to the Citadel. But without their Sleeping Captain, can they ever win against the ruthless might of the Devouts? And with all that's stacked against them, can Petrel, Fin, Sharkey and Rain bring light back to such a dark world?' (Publication summary)

'Sharkey was born on a fortunate tide, and everyone on the giant submersible Rampart knows it. He's a hero, a future admiral, beloved by the ancestors. The trouble is, it's all based on a lie, and now Sharkey is thirteen, the whole thing has begun to fall apart. He's been a fake hero for years, but when tragedy strikes, he must become a real one. And he has no idea how to go about it...

'Meanwhile above water, Petrel, Fin and the crew of the Oyster are on a mission, a mission to defeat the Devouts and bring knowledge back to the world, a mission they have no idea how to carry out. When the Captain of the Oyster comes up with a plan, Fin and Petrel have no choice but to accompany him - no matter how ridiculous or how dangerous the plan seems ...

'Can the Sunkers and the Ice Breakers put aside their differences and work together? Or will the Devouts finally catch up with them all? ' (Publication summary)

'Petrel leaned on the rail, watching the ice cave and stamping her feet for warmth. The berg came closer. That's when she saw him. Laid out on the ice like a dead fish, with a scattering of snow covering his face. A boy, where there should have been nothing but the memory of winter. A frozen boy.

'Twelve-year-old Petrel is an outcast, the lowest of the low on an ancient icebreaker that has been following the same course for three hundred years. In that time, the ship's crew has forgotten its original purpose and broken into three warring tribes, the Cooks, the Officers and the Engineers. Everyone has a tribe except Petrel, whose parents committed such a terrible crime that they were thrown overboard, and their daughter ostracised.

'But Petrel is a survivor. She lives in the dark corners of the ship, trusting no one, speaking to no one except two large grey rats, Mister Smoke and Missus Slink. That is, until a boy is discovered, frozen on an iceberg, and brought onto the ship. No one knows where he has come from, and when he recovers consciousness he claims to have forgotten even his name. The tribes don't trust strangers; they haven't seen one for three hundred years. But Petrel saves him and hides him away in the forgotten corners of the ship, hoping he will be her friend.

'What she doesn't know is that for the last three hundred years, the ship has been guarding a secret. A secret that could change the world. A secret that the boy has been sent to destroy, along with the ship and everyone on it...' (Publisher's blurb)

'A young woman, Claire, is bemoaning the lack of love and romance in her life. An old woman, Marj, is suffering the loss of it following the death of her husband. When the two women meet, in the most unusual of circumstances, the result is a clever and humorous story in which the ancient Greek myth of Persephone in the Underworld collides with Mills and Boon-style romance fiction of the most syrupy variety.'

Source: ABC Radio National website, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/airplay/
Sighted: 02/01/2007

'It might seem like a pretty small change, getting a new girl in the class. But this is the way I look at it: it's too late to stop Mum and Dad splitting up. It's too late to stop Mum selling our old house that I've lived in since I was about three minutes old. It's too late to stop Dad moving in with his disgusting new girlfriend. But that's it. I've had enough. I'm not going to put up with any more changes, not even small ones. Ever! That's why I've declared my life a Change-Free Zone!' (Publication summary)