Tim only sees his father occasionally as he is separated from his mother and lives in another city.
SUITABLE AGES:
5 to 7 8
PUBLISHED:
2008
PUBLISHER:
Walker
ISBN:
9781406313840
GENRE:
family
CATEGORY:
Picture book
THEMES:
Fathers
Excursions
Paolini, Christopher
Brisingr
2008
9780385607919
TITLE:
Brisingr
FILM TITLE:
Eldest
AUTHOR:
Paolini, Christopher
The third book of the Inheritance Cycle.
SUITABLE AGES:
12 to 18
SIMILAR AUTHORS:
Trudi Canavan, Paul Collins, David Eddings, Raymond E Feist, Ursula K Le Guin, Anne McCaffrey, Naomi Novik, Philip Pullman, J. K. Rowling, Jonathan Stroud, J. R. R. Tolkien, Carole Wilkinson
This is Jack's story. Jack - prodigal son of the Boughton family, godson and namesake of John Ames, gone twenty years - has come home looking for refuge and to try to make peace with a past littered with trouble and pain.
It all starts when Chloe makes friends with Mr Stink, the local tramp. Yes, he smells a bit. But when it looks like he might be driven out of town, Chloe decides to hide him in the garden shed.
In this book, Danny will attempt to break the following records. Drumroll, please. Most armpit-farted verses of 'Old MacDonald had a Farm'!
SUITABLE AGES:
8 to 10
PUBLISHED:
2010
PUBLISHER:
Macmillan Children's
ISBN:
9780330509183
SERIES:
Danny Baker record breaker
GENRE:
humour
CATEGORY:
Young novel
THEMES:
Achievement
Humour
Records
Blume, Judy
Blubber
2014
9781481410137
TITLE:
Blubber
AUTHOR:
Blume, Judy
There was something about Linda that made a lot of kids in her fifth-grade class want to see how far they could go but nobody, Jill least of all, expected the fun to end where it did.
The shadow girl never imagined she'd live on the streets. After her parents mysteriously disappear, life with her uncle and aunt takes a sinister turn.
Madeleine Tully has just moved to Cambridge, England with her mother. Things are strange and different and become even weirder when she spots a corner of white, the edge of a letter, in a crack and a whole new world is opened up for her.
SUITABLE AGES:
12 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2012
PUBLISHER:
Pan Macmillan
ISBN:
9781742611396
SERIES:
Colours of Madeleine ; bk. 1.
GENRE:
fantasy
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Cambridge (England)
Missing persons
Science
Colour
Sorcery
Light
Comparative texts
AWARDS:
Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book 2013, Older Readers Book of the Year Award Notable Books 2013, WA Premier's Literary Awards shortlist 2013, Queensland Literary Award, Horn Book Best Books 2013, Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature
Felicia Ward is trapped in Level 2, a waiting room between Heaven and Earth. She spends her time in her pod in the Hive, downloading memories of what happened before she died, her friends and Neil, the boyfriend that she yearns for. Then Julian appears from her past and she learns about a rebellion that is happening in the Hive.
The latest ghost club member to join Angeline and Edgar in their ghost hunting is Dylan, but he is having trouble accepting that he really wants to be a ghost-catcher.
Hirsch is in exile from the city and his career seems to be in abeyance because he has given evidence against a corrupt officer and is suspected of being corrupt himself.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
SIMILAR AUTHORS:
Mark Billingham, Shane Maloney, Val McDermid, Martin Cruz Smith, Peter Temple
Having won Knit Fair UK Simon has been invited to New York to attend Knit Fair USA. Hence begins a lightweight romp through the Big Apple with the knitter himself, his parents, and mad mate 'innit' Gez who catches up with his American 'gangster' cousin Keith.
Jake, and his friends have arrived at the Robot Games. One of Jake's friends, Henry, is a cyborg. His systems start failing in the middle of the Games at the same time there are problems with the robot competitors. Is there a connection? The robot competitors take over the arena and imprison all humans. It is now up to Jake and his friends to save Henry and the whole human population. Can they solve the mystery in time?
Worldwide champions of human rights, from Harriet Tubman and Anne Frank to Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suui Kyi, share their dreams of freedom in words illustrated by artists from across the globe. (Back cover)
Looking back to an idyllic childhood, where children roamed freely, talking to the cows, climbing trees, looking at the splendid view across the hills to the sea, this sentimental picture book shows a childhood that is perfect: one that does not involve TV, or hand held devices, parents or cars.
SUITABLE AGES:
5 to 10
PUBLISHED:
2015
PUBLISHER:
Little Hare
ISBN:
9781760125554
GENRE:
stories in rhyme
CATEGORY:
Picture book
THEMES:
Summer
Children
Play
Australian poetry
Stories in rhyme
Verse stories
Australian literature
Farm Life
Outdoors
Family
Picture book for older readers
AWARDS:
Early Childhood Book of the Year Award shortlist 2016, Prime Minister's Literary Awards shortlist 2016
Shakespeare, Hamlet, Denmark, Betrayal. French's re-imagining of the play, Hamlet, from the perspective of his girlfriend, Ophelia will have wide appeal to a young audience. French's Ophelia is a strong, wiley young woman, aware of much of the machinations behind the scenes that beset those in power.
The narrator of this delightful story is afraid of the water and cannot swim. Grandpa tells him he must learn to swim if he is have big adventures like his and so takes him to the pool to learn. At the pool Grandpa recounts the tale of his big adventure, where he swam around the world.
SUITABLE AGES:
5 to 7
PUBLISHED:
2016
PUBLISHER:
Penguin Viking
ISBN:
9780670078172
GENRE:
humour
CATEGORY:
Picture book
THEMES:
Fear
Grandparents
Swimming
Humour
AWARDS:
Picture Book of the Year Award Notable Books 2017, Speech Pathology Australia shortlist 2017
When non-religious rebel Josh turns up at school, Yossi is asked to look after him, and while Yossi educates Josh on the ancient traditions of their race, Josh does some educating of his own.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2014
PUBLISHER:
Sleepers
ISBN:
9780987507013
GENRE:
issues
CATEGORY:
Novel
THEMES:
Boys
Jews
Coming of age
Homosexuality
Comparative texts
SIMILAR BOOKS:
Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Eleven-year-old Ebony's lonely life is filled with school, chores, minding her little sisters and treading carefully around her father. Her dad is the tiger, an alcoholic gambler who rules his family through physical and emotional abuse.
Princess Cora begins life impressing her parents with her blue eyes and pink toes, but almost immediately they are concerned for her royal role and her life is bound up with responsibilities that are dull as dirty bathwater. Cora endures her princess 'training' for some time until her polite frustration leads to a letter to an unseen fairy godmother. The solution to her woes is a crocodile.
Family, friends and furry creatures : my school project
2017
9781743816523
TITLE:
Family, friends and furry creatures : my school project
AUTHOR:
Pichon, Liz
Recommendation:
Recommended
Class 5F are building their family trees, interviewing their family members to find stories of their lives for this project. Tom creatively draws his baby picture when he forgets his photo.
SUITABLE AGES:
7 to 12
SIMILAR AUTHORS:
Michael Gerard Bauer, Pat Flynn, Jeff Kinney, Stephan Pastis
The diary of a wimpy kid by Jeff Kinney, Eric Vale super fail by Michael Gerard Bauer, Cartboy and the time capsule by L.A. Campbell, My totally awesome story by Pat Flynn, Timmy Failure: Mistakes were made by Stephan Pastis
When Poppy bids on a wild, beautiful brumby at an auction, she doesn't think about the consequences. Everyone believes she's crazy trying to take on a wild horse - although Poppy is sure she can help him.
In the land of Sempera, the rich control everything - even time. Ever since the age of alchemy and sorcery, hours, days and years have been extracted from blood and bound to iron coins. The rich live for centuries; the poor bleed themselves dry. Jules and her father are behind on their rent and low on hours. To stop him from draining himself to clear their debts, Jules takes a job at Everless, the grand estate of the cruel Gerling family. There, Jules encounters danger and temptation in the guise of the Gerling heir, Roan, who is soon to be married. But the web of secrets at Everless stretches beyond her desire, and the truths Jules must uncover will change her life for ever...and possibly the future of time itself.
The momentous day of February 13, 2008 is the setting of this tale as Maggie and her mother stand amongst the crowd eagerly waiting for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to say sorry to Aboriginal families for what was done to them in the twentieth century taking away their children as a matter of government policy.
SUITABLE AGES:
to 12
PUBLISHED:
2018
PUBLISHER:
National Library of Australia
ISBN:
9780642279033
GENRE:
historical
CATEGORY:
Picture book
THEMES:
National Sorry Day
Aboriginal peoples
Children, Aboriginal
Stolen Generations
Children
AWARDS:
Eve Pownall Book of the Year Award 2019, Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award 2018
Jess is allergic to the sun. She lives indoors in a world of shadows, peeking at other children from her curtained house. One night, she sneaks out. And there, just beyond the empty playground she's longed to visit, she discovers an impossibility - a magical garden made of ice.
When Kit Bridges moves to England to attend an elite equestrian boarding school, she struggles with grief from her mother's death and her fear of riding after a bad fall.
Ella is the new girl at school. She doesn't know anyone, she doesn't have any friends and she has a terrible secret. Ella can't believe her luck when Lydia, the most popular girl in school decides to be her new best friend - but what does Lydia really want?
Set in Stalinist Russia, where children are being killed and mutilated by a serial killer.
SUITABLE AGES:
15 to 18
PUBLISHED:
2015
GENRE:
thriller
CATEGORY:
Film
THEMES:
Murder
Torture
Historical
Mystery and suspense
Soviet Union - History - 1953-1991
Soviet Union
Book of the film
Bailey, Jenn Illus. Song, Mika
Friend for Henry
2019
9781452167916
TITLE:
Friend for Henry
AUTHOR:
Bailey, Jenn Illus. Song, Mika
Henry would like to find a friend at school, but for a boy on the autism spectrum, making friends can be difficult, as his efforts are sometimes misinterpreted, or things just go wrong, but Henry keeps trying, and in the end he finds a friend he can play with.
SUITABLE AGES:
5 to 7
PUBLISHED:
2019
PUBLISHER:
Chronicle Books
ISBN:
9781452167916
GENRE:
issues
CATEGORY:
Picture book
THEMES:
Autism
Social skills
Friendship
Social competence
Williams, Sean
Impossible music
2019
9781760637156
TITLE:
Impossible music
AUTHOR:
Williams, Sean
Recommendation:
Highly recommended
Music is Simon's life - which is why he is devastated when a ministroke obliterates his hearing. He resists attempts to help him adjust to his new state, refusing to be counselled, refusing to learn sign language, refusing to have anything to do with Deaf culture. Refusing, that is, until he meets G, a tough-as-nails girl dealing with her own newly experienced hearing loss.
In The Birdman's Wife, the naive young girl who falls in love with a demanding and ambitious genius comes into her own as a woman, an artist and a bold adventurer who defies convention by embarking on a trailblazing expedition to collect and illustrate Australia's 'curious' birdlife. (Publisher)
'I wish something would happen!' said Rachel. 'Something interesting!' She was bored. Bored with having a cold and having to stay in bed. Bored with the rain drumming on the roof. If only something unlikely or unexpected would happen for a change. Something exciting - something wonderful. 'Maybe it will!' her father said, 'And pigs might fly!'
