AustLit

'LOTTIE is fascinated with death. She collects birds, lizards and other small dead animals she finds, trying preserve them, to hold onto the life they once had. Her aunt tries to put a stop to this worrying obsession, but her father can see a scientist’s mind at work, and he introduces her to the art of taxidermy.

'For Lottie, the beauty and tenderness she finds in her preserved creatures provide a way for her to feel close to the mother she lost.

'The Art of Taxidermy is an exquisitely imagined verse novel about sadness and loss, and the way art and beauty can help us make sense of it all.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Damien, Edith, Kenneth and Mary are residents of a single street whose lives are ordinary to the last degree and as such encompass addiction and domestic violence, quiet achievements and small acts of kindness and treachery. Jack and Mary, locked at uncomfortably close quarters on Jack's retirement, chafe and sulk and fret. Edith finds solace in her lonely life playing the pokies. Young Damien, terrified of his stepfather Marcus and the school bully, broods on revenge. And Kenneth, unhinged, wanders the streets. Lives intertwine and decisions are made. And the tension grows to its shattering climax.' (Publication blurb)