Curiosity leads Matt to try to unravel the confusing signals he observes: from the flowers put in the house for him and which Mrs Deverill says have beautiful colours but are all poisonous, to the black sinister cat Asmodeus and the farm helper Noah, who delights in hearing pigs squeal as they die!
SUITABLE AGES:
10 to 12 13 14
SIMILAR AUTHORS:
Sam Hutton, Chris Ryan, Charlie Higson, Joe Craig, Robert Muchamore, Andy McNab, David Gilman, Simon Lelic
Born a Zabbaleen, Aaron is forced to work with the rest of the men to scavenge rubbish off the busy streets of Cairo. Living with his abusive stepfamily and with the low price of recyclable goods scraping a living is much harder than it once was.
Origami Yoda is a finger pupper that gives wise advice. Tommy decides to investigate.
SUITABLE AGES:
10 to 12
PUBLISHED:
2011
PUBLISHER:
Amulet Books
ISBN:
9780810998773
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Origami
School
Read aloud
Puppets and puppet shows
Prophecies
Finger puppets
Friendship
Humour
AWARDS:
American Library Association Notable Books for Children 2011, E.B. White Read-Aloud Award: Middle Reader 2011
Beale, Fleur
Heart of danger
2011
9781869795436
TITLE:
Heart of danger
AUTHOR:
Beale, Fleur
Recommendation:
Recommended
Juno and her family arrive at their new home, but almost immediately danger threatens Hera and they move to Willem's protection in New Plymouth, the city Juno most hoped to avoid. Fairlands school is too like Taris, and Hilto's son Thomas is a pupil there.
Eighteen stories, all about love, and about all kinds of love. From the aching for the one you pine for, to standing up and speaking up for the one you love, to pure joy and happiness, these love stories run the gamut of that emotion that at some point has turned every one of us inside out and upside down. What is love? With this original story collection David Levithan proves that love is a varied, complicated, addictive, wonderful thing. (Publisher)
When an uprising in Baskul forces a small group of English and American residents to flee, their plane crash-lands in the far western reaches of the Tibetan Himalayas. There they find Shangri-La.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2012
PUBLISHER:
Harper Perennial
ISBN:
9780062113726
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Aeronautics - Accidents
Survival
Utopian fiction
Himalaya Mountains
Tibet
Discovery
Classics
Fenton, Corinne
Hey Dad, you're great
2014
9781922244864
TITLE:
Hey Dad, you're great
AUTHOR:
Fenton, Corinne
Recommendation:
Highly recommended
Photographs showing baby animals and their dads with a text that pays tribute to dad.
Tom Raines and his friends return to the Spire for their third year as superhuman government weapons, but the rules have been changed and Tom's training is put to the test.
Adated from Jared M. Diamond's The third chimpanzee. Having traced the ascent of humankind, Diamond turns his attention to its impact on the planet. After considering climate change, the extinction of species and the loss of Indigenous peoples, he concludes that the negative effects of the growth of human power have the potential to overturn the balance of nature. Despite the threat that humanity poses to its own existence, Jared Diamond declares that he is 'cautiously hopeful' because people can learn from the past.
Under the alias Girl Online, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog. Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever. (From publisher)
When Hana falls in love with a young interloper she encounters in her college class, the last thing she expects to learn is that he is part wolf.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2014
PUBLISHER:
Yen Press
ISBN:
9780316401654
GENRE:
fantasy
CATEGORY:
Graphic novel
THEMES:
Single parent families
AWARDS:
Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2015
Facey, A.B.
Fortunate life
2013
9780670076895
TITLE:
Fortunate life
AUTHOR:
Facey, A.B.
First published: 1981. Born in 1894, Facey lived the rough frontier life of a sheep farmer, survived the gore of Gallipoli, raised a family through the Depression and spent sixty years with his beloved wife, Evelyn. Despite enduring hardships we can barely imagine today, Facey always saw his life as a 'fortunate' one. A true classic of Australian literature, his simply written autobiography is an inspiration. It is the story of a life lived to the full - the extraordinary journey of an ordinary man. (Publisher)
Will Albright has finally achieved his dream of representing his home state of Victoria in cricket! But while playing at the MCG in a junior T20 competition may be a dream come true, it could fast turn into a nightmare if Will can't focus long enough to get his form together. (Publisher)
When Bella and her friends receive threatening emails demanding they act like 'real' girls they use their unique talents to once again solve the situation and sort out the bullies.
Wes and Corey have been friends for a long time, founded by their love of hating music and searching for music so good they can't hate on it. When they are booked into a summer jazz camp they quickly realise that due to the lack of females this is going to be a lame camp. Then they meet free spirited Ash, the stand out female in the whole camp.
Two hundred years ago, the first dinosaur was successfully cloned. Soon after, the human race realized they'd made a colossal mistake.The dregs of humanity have been driven into hiding, living in underground Compounds. Thirteen year old Sky Mundy's father was part of the inner circle of Compound leaders until five years ago he mysteriously disappeared. Now the time has come for Sky to try and track him down.
Saroo had become lost on a train in India at the age of five. Not knowing the name of his family or where he was from, he survived for weeks on the streets of Kolkata, before being taken into an orphanage and adopted by a couple in Australia.
For those who follow AFL this bright colourful, carefully constructed factivity book is the ideal accompaniment as fans of all ages can test their knowledge, learn new things and participate in some brain-tingling activities that focus on their favourite sport.
Her parents are worried by rumoured events in China, and May finds herself on her way to a new life in Australia. It is so different that May wonders if she will ever be able to love this new country.
SUITABLE AGES:
11 to 14
PUBLISHED:
2017
PUBLISHER:
Scholastic Australia
ISBN:
9781742990743
SERIES:
New Australian
GENRE:
historical
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Chinese in Australia
Ethnic groups - Children
Migration
Regional culture
Australia - Immigration and emigration
Tiananmen Square
AWARDS:
Younger Readers Book of the Year Award Notable Books 2018
The story features George, who is having a particularly bad day. When his mum tells him that there is a big bad mood hanging around him he goes looking and finds 'a curious fellow, rough like sandpaper and smelling of socks which REALLY needed changing'.
Day breaks over the town. Get up, everybody! It's time to go to school. For the old man too, it's time to wake up. The night was icy and he's hungry. His name? He doesn't know. This is the story of a person with no job, no family, no home - a nobody, who can't even remember what he was once named. But his day changes when he is noticed by a child.
When the unexpected moves in next door, anything can happen in Weave a Circle Round. Freddy doesn't want people to think she's weird. Her family makes that difficult, though: her deaf stepbrother Roland's a major geek, and her genius little sister Mel's training to be the next Sherlock Holmes. (From Amazon)
SUITABLE AGES:
13 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2017
PUBLISHER:
Tor
ISBN:
9780765386281
GENRE:
fantasy
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Adolescents
Family relations
Community life
Communities
Family relationship
Deafness
AWARDS:
Andre Norton shortlist 2018
Fletcher, Tom
There's a dragon in your book
2018
9780141376127
TITLE:
There's a dragon in your book
AUTHOR:
Fletcher, Tom
Recommendation:
Recommended
Tom Fletcher and Greg Abbott have created a fantastically interactive sequel to their bestselling There's a Monster in Your Book. Children will love stroking, poking and flapping the book to make magic happen as they turn the pages. Can they help Little Dragon find a way to stop the fire and fly off on her own adventure?
Marking the centenary of the first women winning the vote in the UK, this is the true and inspiring story of the extraordinary women and men who fought for the vote. It tells of daring deeds and unshakeable persistence, and comradeship and courage.
A wallaby and her joey are causing chaos in the garden! A big family of cousins, aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents must find a way to keep her out before she causes too much damage. But in the end, do they really want her to go?
1945: they have survived the Blitz, but when Simon, Patricia, Evelyn and Larry step through a magical library door, they walk into an enchanted kingdom of fresh adventure and danger.
The fire awoke like a dragon. Its flames licked the sky, and smoke veiled the sun. With a hungry crackle and an angry hiss, the cruel beast circled, trapping them. Until, through the smoke, knights appeared.
Goodbye Christopher Robin: A.A. Milne and the making of Winnie-the-Pooh
2017
9781509852000
TITLE:
Goodbye Christopher Robin: A.A. Milne and the making of Winnie-the-Pooh
AUTHOR:
Thwaite, Ann
This heart-warming and touching book recounts the true story that inspired the film Goodbye Christopher Robin.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2017
PUBLISHER:
Pan Books
ISBN:
9781509852000
CATEGORY:
Non fiction
THEMES:
Characters
Christopher Robin (Fictional character)
Parent and child
Biography
Authors, English
Children's literature, English
Characters (Narratives)
Paternal behaviour
Biographies
Elliott, Mick
Squidge Dibley destroys the school
2019
9780734419422
TITLE:
Squidge Dibley destroys the school
AUTHOR:
Elliott, Mick
Recommendation:
Recommended
Just when it seems like the school term has been turned into a prison term, a new kid arrives. A kid unlike any other kid at Craglands South. A kid named Squidge Dibley. He's small, quiet and strangely ... squidgy. And he's about to change everything. (Back cover)
Embark on 20 epic expeditions alongside Levison Wood, from the Silk Road and medieval pilgrimages to the Holy Land to Nellie Bly's trip around the world, and recent missions to the Moon and the Mariana Trench.
Kelly, Andrew Illus. Potter, Heather Jackson, Mark
Little Lon
2020
9781742035970
TITLE:
Little Lon
AUTHOR:
Kelly, Andrew Illus. Potter, Heather Jackson, Mark
Recommendation:
Highly recommended
Behind the grand buildings of the big streets was Little Lon. A working-class district of little houses and narrow lanes, bursting with life and the stories of the people who lived there. The poor of the time are not often celebrated in traditional histories, but Little Lon shows us something of the way people really lived. Based on the memories of Marie Hayes who grew up in Little Lon. (Publisher)
SUITABLE AGES:
5 to 10
PUBLISHED:
2020
PUBLISHER:
Wild Dog Books
ISBN:
9781742035970
GENRE:
historical
CATEGORY:
Picture book
THEMES:
Roads - Victoria - History
History
Poverty - History
Australian history
Culture
Living standards
Melbourne (Vic.) - Social life and customs - History
Melbourne (Vic.) - Social conditions - History
Housing
Cities
AWARDS:
Eve Pownall Book of the Year Award Notable Books 2021
Sally Morgan always wondered about her family: who they were; where they came from; what they were hiding. She asked questions, but received few answers. So Sally travelled to her grandmother's birthplace. What started as search for information became a pilgrimage that would change her life forever.
