Abridged ed. Over a century ago James Barrie wrote a story about a boy who could fly and who never grew up; who had adventures on an island called Neverland and introduced us to characters like Wendy, Tinkerbell, Captain Hook and the croc with the clock!
SUITABLE AGES:
5 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2017
PUBLISHER:
Walker Books
ISBN:
9781760650254
GENRE:
adventure
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Pirates
Fairies
Classics
Read aloud
Birdsall, Jeanne
Penderwicks
2007
9780440867302
TITLE:
Penderwicks
AUTHOR:
Birdsall, Jeanne
SUITABLE AGES:
10 to 12
PUBLISHED:
2007
PUBLISHER:
Corgi Yearling
ISBN:
9780440867302
GENRE:
adventure
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Holidays
Single-parent families
Bail, Murray
Pages
2008
9781921351464
TITLE:
Pages
AUTHOR:
Bail, Murray
Recommendation:
Recommended
At dawn, two women leave Sydney to drive over the Blue Mountains, into the dry outback landscape and the home of the late philosopher Wesley Antill.
The hostile environment of the Australian desert is captured in words and illustrations in this superior picture book, telling both a story and giving factual information about the rare Australian mammal, the bilby.
Emma Vaile's parents go missing while they are away on a business trip and she is left to fend for herself in their eerie old house in New York. Worried not only by her parents' disappearance, she is frightened when she glimpses strange things out of the corner of her eyes.
Nina is tired of being told that she is nice all the time and one day she decides that she is going to be naughty. Instead of being helpful, polite and good at school, she throws tantrums, is rude when she visits her aunt and jumps on her desk and is disruptive in the playground.
Princess Sue is a feisty, Converse wearing, cluey princess. Sitting in her tower lamenting the slowness of her long awaited Prince, Sue is someone who knows the score.
This is the story of Laura who travels for years before returning to work for a travel-book publisher and Ravi who flees Sri Lanka after a tragedy.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2012
PUBLISHER:
Allen & Unwin
ISBN:
9781743311004
GENRE:
historical
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Voyages and travels
Travel
Sri Lanka
Refugees
Asia
AWARDS:
Indie Awards shortlist 2013, Prime Minister's Literary Award, Miles Franklin Literary Award 2013, West Australian Premier's Book Awards 2013, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, NSW Premier's Literary Awards
Jacko is a young kangaroo who, in the tradition of Jack, buys magic seeds instead of food from a sly dingo. The seeds develop into a massive beanstalk, which Jacko climbs to find a giant croc at the top.
When Casey Blue's victory at the Badminton Horse Trials earns her and Storm an invitation to the prestigious Kentucky Three Day Event, it is a dream come true. But that dream is about to turn into a nightmare.
SUITABLE AGES:
11 to 14
PUBLISHED:
2013
PUBLISHER:
Orion Children’s Books
ISBN:
9781444007978
SERIES:
One dollar horse trilogy bk 2
GENRE:
sport
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Horses
Leyson, Leon
Boy on the wooden box : how the impossible became possible . . . on Schindler's list
2013
9781471119675
TITLE:
Boy on the wooden box : how the impossible became possible . . . on Schindler's list
AUTHOR:
Leyson, Leon
Recommendation:
Recommended
15 year old Leon Leyson and his family were rounded up by Nazis and placed in unbearable circumstances; at times separated from each other, suffering hunger, exhaustion and extreme neglect and hatred. Oskar Schindler thought this young boy's life was of value and went to great lengths to ensure the survival of most of his family members.
Janet Frame's novel about Harry Gill, a moderately successful writer of historical fiction, awarded a fellowship to live and write in the Memorial Room, in French Riviera town Menton, is a satirical look at the cult of the dead author.
Rachel and Kirsty must use all their ingenuity and problem solving when naughty Jack Frost steals Luna the Loom Band Fairy's golden loom that ensures everyone can make wonderful loom band craft.
Jazmine Crawford doesn't make decisions. She doesn't make choices. She doesn't make friends. Jazmine Crawford only wants one thing: to be invisible. For Jazmine, it's a lot easier to take out her hearing aid and drift along pretending that nothing's wrong than it is to admit that she's heartbroken. (Publisher)
SUITABLE AGES:
13 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2013
PUBLISHER:
Cecily Anne Paterson
ISBN:
9781291259001
GENRE:
issues
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Deaf children
Bullying
Self-esteem
Suicide
Deafness
Self-confidence
Drama (Arts)
Theatre
Browne, Anthony
Frida and Bear
2015
9781406353990
TITLE:
Frida and Bear
AUTHOR:
Browne, Anthony
Recommendation:
Highly recommended
Frida and Bear love to draw. They each draw a shape and the other makes a picture. That's how they play the shape game. Why don't you play it too? (Book cover)
A family is like a cake - each family having different shapes and sizes, full of different ingredients, needing mixing carefully, having rules, and so on. And sometimes the cake does not turn out as everyone wants.
My family's changing : a first look at family break-up
1999
9780764109959
TITLE:
My family's changing : a first look at family break-up
AUTHOR:
Thomas, Pat
This deals with the basic problems and feelings accompanying a divorce.
SUITABLE AGES:
5 to 7
PUBLISHED:
1999
PUBLISHER:
Abaris Books
ISBN:
9780764109959
GENRE:
issues
CATEGORY:
Non fiction
THEMES:
Divorce
Jones, Cerberus
Four-fingered man
2015
9781760120283
TITLE:
Four-fingered man
AUTHOR:
Jones, Cerberus
When Amelia's parents decide to reopen a creepy old hotel, Amelia and her new friend Charlie quickly discover that the place is much more than it seems.
SUITABLE AGES:
8 to 12
PUBLISHED:
2015
PUBLISHER:
Hardie Grant Egmont
ISBN:
9781760120283
SERIES:
Gateway ; 1
GENRE:
science fiction
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Hotels, motels
McKenna, Martin
Crocodolly
2015
9781742990712
TITLE:
Crocodolly
AUTHOR:
McKenna, Martin
Recommendation:
Highly recommended
When feisty Adelaide begins to cook a cake, she finds that one of the eggs she cracks, opens up to reveal a baby crocodile. They fall instantly in love with each other, but a problem exists: she is not allowed to keep a pet.
For police officers Steve Fraser and Tess Ballard, a split-second decision saves the lives of fifty members of a cult - but also puts their careers on the line.
Tired from a grim war in America, Ross Poldark returns to his land and his family. But the joyful homecoming he has anticipated turns sour, for his father is dead, his estate is derelict and the girl he loves is engaged to his cousin.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2008
PUBLISHER:
Pan
ISBN:
9780330463294
GENRE:
historical
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Social customs
Cornwall (England)
Great Britain - Social life and customs - 1714-1837, House of Hanover
17 year old Nora Lopez lives in New York during the terrible year of 1977. The heat is scorching and there is a killer on the loose. But that's not all Nora has to face - her family is spiralling out of control, with her mother having difficulty paying the rent and brother Hector becoming uncontrollable and befriending drug dealers.
Captain McGrew's in need of a crew to assist him with hoisting the sails, digging for treasure, 'splooshing' down the poop deck and even squeezing lemons for his lemonade.
Because of his Tourette's syndrome, Sam is in near constant motion with tics and twitches and verbal outbursts. So, of course, high school is nothing but torment.
Otto, an ordinary German living in a shabby apartment block, tries to stay out of trouble under Nazi rule. But when he discovers his only son has been killed fighting at the front he's shocked into an extraordinary act of resistance, and starts to drop anonymous postcards attacking Hitler across the city.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2017
PUBLISHER:
Penguin Books
ISBN:
9780241277027
SERIES:
Penguin modern classics
GENRE:
historical
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Dissent
World War, 1939-1945 - Germany
Berlin (Germany) - History
Resistance
Gestapo
Film of the book
Reeder, Stephanie Owen
Marvellous Miss May: queen of the circus
2018
9780642279156
TITLE:
Marvellous Miss May: queen of the circus
AUTHOR:
Reeder, Stephanie Owen
The story of May Wirth, a tiny acrobat and equestrienne travelling with Wirths Circus around Australia and overseas in the early part of the twentieth century.
SUITABLE AGES:
8 to 12
PUBLISHED:
2018
PUBLISHER:
National Library of Australia
ISBN:
9780642279156
GENRE:
historical
CATEGORY:
Young novel
THEMES:
Wirth, May
Horse riding
Circuses
Entertainers
Biography
Horses
Performers
Australia - History -1901-1918
AWARDS:
Eve Pownall Book of the Year Award Notable Books 2019
When rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers threaten the tenuous alliance between Earth and Luna, android Iko joins up with a handsome royal guard to hunt down the rogue leader.
When siblings Susan, Max, Nell, Kate, and Jean tumble one by one through a glowing cobalt window, they find themselves outside their cozy home - and in a completely unfamiliar world where everything looks wrong and nothing makes sense. Soon, an ancient prophecy leads them into battle with mysterious forces that threaten to break the siblings apart even as they try desperately to remain united and find their way home.
A snowman left in the front yard of Birte Becker's Oslo house is the only clue to the woman's disappearance.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2017
GENRE:
mystery and suspense
CATEGORY:
Film
THEMES:
Murder
Missing persons
Detectives
Police - Norway
Crime
Film of the book
Liggett, Kim
Unfortunates
2018
9780765381002
TITLE:
Unfortunates
AUTHOR:
Liggett, Kim
Involved in a fatal accident, Grant Tavish is willing to face the consequences. But being a senator's son means getting away with murder - despite the headlines of "affluenza". During a cave excursion on the Appalachian trail Grant seizes the opportunity to take justice into his own hands by staging an accident and never coming back.
SUITABLE AGES:
14 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2018
PUBLISHER:
Tor Teen
ISBN:
9780765381002
GENRE:
horror
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Caves
Survival
Reluctant readers
AWARDS:
Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers 2020
French, Jackie
My name is not Peaseblossom
2019
9781460754788
TITLE:
My name is not Peaseblossom
AUTHOR:
French, Jackie
Recommendation:
Recommended
A fresh reinterpretation of A Midsummer Night's Dream by the Australian Children's Laureate.(Publisher)
