AustLit

'By turns dark and light, funny and poignant, this unforgettable collection of stories takes us right to the heart of what it means to be young in today's world, from a CBCA award-winning author.

'We ran and slipped and swore and bumped into each other. Nick's phone beeped like a dying bird. If it died, we'd be in total darkness.

'Getting lost, falling in love, pushing boundaries, exploring the world - powerfully honest stories to make you think and feel, from the award-winning author of The Dead I Know and Changing Gear.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Merrick Hilton's done a runner. His folks think he's studying, but the real world has been calling for years and he can't ignore it any longer. A postie bike, a bedroll and a big sky - that's all he needs. But there's no telling how he'll handle roadkill, stolen oranges and unexpected romance, let alone the rough stuff. And in the real world nothing goes entirely as planned. Thankfully Victor - the old bloke Merrick meets on the road - knows a thing or two about broken bike chains. And broken hearts.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

'One, two, three, breath. When a juvenile detention exercise off the coast of the Kimberley goes wrong, sixteen-year-old Sparrow must swim to shore. There are sharks and crocs around him but the monsters he fears most live in the dark spaces in his mind. He's swimming away from his prison life and towards a desolate, rocky coastland and the hollow promise of freedom. He'll eat or be eaten, kill or be killed. With no voice, no family and the odds stacked against him, Sparrow has nothing left to lose. But to survive he'll need something more potent than desperation, something more dangerous than a makeshift knife. Hope.' (Publication summary)

'From the author of the award-winning The Dead I Know comes a tragicomic 'bromance' with an unexpected thriller twist, featuring a boy from the upper end of town who finds refuge and friendship pushing trolleys at the local supermarket and avoiding a troubling secret in his own past.

'Will went to private school, and Julian went to juvie. Will is running from a family secret, and Julian is running from the goat next door. The boys meet pushing trolleys, and they find a common enemy in the Westie hoons who terrorise the carpark.

'After a few close calls, Will has to nut up and confront his past. But on the way, he learns a few things about what it means to be a friend - and what it means to be family.

'The Way We Roll a rattling urban bromance made of plastic and stainless steel. Brace yourself.' (Publication summary)

'Stuff happens sometimes.

'Everyday stuff.

'At school, at home, with sport, with mates.

'For Fadi it happened when he got in trouble for tackling Jack at lunchtime.

'Spinning out of Jack by Tony Wilson, Fadi gets his own story. Fadi is big and strong and hasn't quite grown into his body. He's a gun on the rugby field where his strength and size is an advantage, and at home with his Islander family his size fits, but off the field and out of home he sometimes breaks things (people's science projects, Jack's arm - but that was an accident!). With the help of his uncle and cousins, Fadi learns to put some grace to his movement - and develop some seriously cool dance moves.' (Publication summary)

'Laurence Augustine Rainbow is born into an ordinary family, and seems set for an ordinary life. But as the world changes around him, so does the happiness of his own family.

'Unique, dark and ultimately uplifting, this is a beautiful story of one family - and one boy - trying to hold their heads above water in a world quietly gone mad.' (from the publisher's website.)

'Saturday night. Nowheresville.

'Adam Prince is smouldering. He has lived his whole life in Splitters Creek and knows every face at the hotel. At eighteen, the lack of air in his small-town home, a leaky old family and the rising damp of a future without hope are choking the fire of his life.

'Adam needs to escape. To fly. To break free of a life dogged by sorrow.

'But no matter how far he runs, will there always be gravity pulling him back?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Everyone feels better now that Gary Sleep and his dreadlocks have left school and scored a job. Everyone except Gary. Plumber's assistant is a long way from movie stuntman.

'And Kevin Daly the plumber is not a movie star. A grumpy man-mountain of muscle and hair, Kevin needs an assistant like a gas leak needs a spark.

'Together, Gary and Kevin could go up in a big way.

'A tragic-comedy about finding heart in yourself in the face of adversity; finding heart in the work you do and the people you meet, and fixing broken hearts. . . with silicone.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.