'Who drew on these tree trunks?' Charlie asked Max. 'They'll be in big trouble if Mum sees that!' Take a walk through the Australian bush with Charlie, Layla, Cooper and Max. As the children discover a world full of natural wonders, brimming with native flora and fauna, little Charlie's mind is focussed on one thing . . . Who, or what, has made those marks on the bark of the Scribbly Gum trees?
From Liane Moriarty, author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty, comes an unforgettable novel defined by her signature sharp wit, page-turning storyline, and lovable and eccentric characters. Sophie Honeywell always wondered if Thomas Gordon was the one who got away. He was the perfect boyfriend, but on the day he was going to propose, she broke his heart. A year later he married his travel agent, while Sophie has been mortifyingly single ever since. Now Thomas is back in her life because Sophie has unexpectedly inherited his aunt Connie's house on Scribbly Gum Island—home of the famously unsolved Munro Baby mystery. Sophie moves onto the island and begins a new life as part of an unconventional family, where it seems everyone has a secret. Grace, a beautiful young mother, is feverishly planning a shocking escape from her perfect life. Margie, a frumpy housewife, has made a pact with a stranger, while dreamy Aunt Rose wonders if maybe it's about time she started making her own decisions. As Sophie's life becomes increasingly complicated, she discovers that sometimes you have to stop waiting around—and come up with your own fairy-tale ending.
Twelve years ago, a predator terrorized Detective Denise Davidson's community. In the space of a few months, three young women vanished, and the case remains infuriatingly unsolved. Years of intensive police investigations have yielded no information, no hope-and no killer brought to justice. Although fear gripped the community just after the killings, time has healed some wounds. Many residents have moved on with their lives, and the names and faces of the lost women are fading into memory. But Davidson refuses to let complacency triumph over justice. She's not about to let go of her quest for answers. One evening, she takes note of a man sitting alone, watching women entering a popular night spot. His actions intrigue Davidson, and intrigue quickly evolves into suspicion. What is this man hiding? As her understanding of this man and his motives improves, she forms a dangerous bond with him. But even she cannot predict how that bond will lead to one horrific, fearful night when her world will be ripped apart at the seams. She then learns that he has a secret-one he's held close for twelve years. Together, they will plunge into the murky world of horror, lies, and sex. Now these unusual collaborators must unravel the mystery of the dramatic and terrible results of years of sexual deceptions. Are they clever enough to solve the riddle?
Five friends are feeling bored on a hot sticky day. Just when they think theyll never find anything fun to place, a simple gust of wind changes everything Jacaranda Magic is a unique rhyming picture book that celebrates imaginative play and highlights the value of boredom and nature in inspiring creativity.
Heidi the stick insect prepares for her first day of school in this “whimsical and warm” (Children’s Book Daily) picture book in the tradition of Where’s Waldo. Heidi is a stick insect, tall and long like the twig of a tree. It’s her first day at a busy bug school, where she hopes to learn and make new friends. But finding friends isn’t easy when no one can find you!
This coming-of-age story by multiple-award-winner Meg McKinlay is about loss and grief, dealing with change and fighting to hold on to what you can, while letting go of what you can’t. It’s 1979 and the sky is falling. Skylab, that is. Somewhere high above Frankie Avery, one of the world’s first space stations is tumbling to Earth. And rushing back with it are old memories. Things twelve-year-old Frankie thought she’d forgotten. Things her mum won’t talk about, and which her little brother Newt never knew. Only ... did he? Does he? Because as Skylab circles closer, Newt starts acting strangely. And while the world watches the sky, Frankie keeps her own eyes on Newt. Because if anyone’s going to keep him safe, it’s her. It always has been. But maybe this is something bigger than splinters and spiders and sleepwalking. Maybe a space station isn’t the only thing heading straight for calamity.
OUTNUMBERED Under an unstoppable barrage of artillery, brilliant U.S. cryptographers crack the Japanese top-secret code, revealing their chilling plans for a doomsday attack on Midway Island. OUTGUNNED The Navy's high command responds quickly, mobilizing all they have to counter-attack the massive Japanese firepower. But there is a mole among the code-cracking team-a ruthless, cold-blooded Nazi spy on orders to stop at nothing in aiding the Japanese. BUT NOT OUTSMARTED Enter Navy Lieutenant Todd Ingram-the man the mole didn't count on. As the Japanese ravage the South Pacific, Ingram must escape the onslaught-and stop a traitor who has the power to turn the tide of war toward the land of the rising sun. In the heart-pounding tradition of Eye of the Needle comes a thriller full of raw courage, non-stop action, and an unforgettable villain.
"This ... novel evokes the hardships and the glories of Sydney's past and tells the little-known story of those made homeless to make way for the famous bridge"--Back cover.
Storying Plants in Australian Children’s and Young Adult Literature: Roots and Winged Seeds explores cultural and historical aspects of the representation of plants in Australian children’s and young adult literature, encompassing colonial, postcolonial, and Indigenous perspectives. While plants tend to be backgrounded as of less narrative interest than animals and humans, this book, in conversation with the field of critical plant studies, approaches them as living beings worthy of attention. Australia is home to over 20,000 species of native plants – from pungent Eucalypts to twisting mangroves, from tiny orchids to spiky, silvery spinifex. Indigenous Australians have lived with, relied upon, and cultivated these plants for many thousands of years. When European explorers and colonists first invaded Australia, unfamiliar species of plants captured their imagination. Vulnerable to bushfires, climate change, and introduced species, plants continue to occupy fraught but vital places in Australian ecologies, texts, and cultures. Discussing writers from Ambelin Kwaymullina and Aunty Joy Murphy to May Gibbs and Ethel Turner, and embracing transnational perspectives from Ukraine, Poland, and Aotearoa New Zealand, Storying Plants addresses the stories told about plants but also the stories that plants themselves tell, engaging with the wide-ranging significance of plants in Australian children’s and Young Adult literature.
