Pip is a young girl living in a hot, dusty, mining town. She misses her best friend, and her mother’s boyfriend is stealing their happiness at home, so she spends her time at the waterhole. One evening she finds a small, sick dragon, and knows she has to save him. It is a magical tale, though it feels completely realistic. Is about friendship, family, safety, loss, loneliness, and hope. It deals gently with domestic abuse, is heartwarming, and with a beautiful sense of place.
This is a companion novel to the lovely, middle grade WWI story, The Skylarks’ War. We follow a number of characters, children, adults, a dog, English and German, in the years leading up to and through WWII. It is, I think, a little less dark than the first; a moving, thought-provoking look at the impact of both world wars on individuals, families, communities and countries. Sweet, gently sad, funny, and hopeful.
All the love, friendship, loyalty, humorous antics (Fred and George!), imaginative detail, and magic expected of the whole series, with increasing teenaged angst levels. Harry is a bit painful to be with in this book, but other characters, and the thrill of the journey are more than enough to make up for it.
We’re back for more colourful, sweet, imaginative, daring adventures with Morrigan and her friends. As Morrigan begins to learn more about being a wundersmith, a nasty illness is infecting wunimals, bringing fear and confusion for Nevermoor. Complete with librarians, this is a fun episode in a delightful series.
Just like Roald Dahl, Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, David Walliams writes about kids turning the tables on ‘nasty grown-ups terrorising children’. Walliams makes up words that taste terrible on my tongue and creates so much naughtiness that kids will love all his books! Me? I’ll leave these books, that disguised like lollies, to the kids, and hope they don’t use these pranks and come after me. These books are silliness and all good fun and should be gifts for every occasion… and just because! They are very popular so we have a lot of David Walliam books at all our libraries. If they aren’t on the shelf, ask the staff to reserve a title, or try our ebook collection.
I read so much and the stories can start blending together especially when authors all hop on a trending theme. When I find an author trying something different I get very excited! Wonderscape is an adventure, blending science, technology, time travel, history and gaming. Hard to believe and difficult to do but Jennifer Bell is very talented and pulls it all together brilliantly. I am hoping this turns into a series of amazing adventure stories. Arthur, Ren and Cecily would never have been friends in the real world but when they become trapped in the future their lives depend on teamwork and they become friends real fast. And don’t get me started on the bad guys in this book! We have lifelike androids, weapons disguised as beauty products, historical heroes that I know and some I would like to know more about, and also ethical dilemmas that make me very angry. I encourage everyone to visit Jennifer’s website to play the Wonderscape game. Readers 10yrs+ are going to devour this book… so I had better hurry up and get it back on the ebook library shelf! Travel with wonder my friends!
Do you believe that spending time on art and music could lead humanity to destruction? And imagine living a life reduced to speaking only 500 words! Horror!! The icecaps have melted and the survivors are subsisting in a place called Ark where they blindly follow the rules of John Noa and punishment is banishment to the wilderness and starvation. Letta is the apprentice to the Wordsmith who has to reduce the permitted spoken words to 500, removing words such as hope, beauty and thank you, and then he goes missing. A desecrator named Marlo, who incites people against the laws, needs her help, and Letta begins to question her life. Letta’s world continues to change in the next book The last word. For readers 12 years+. And if you like this type of post-apocalyptic world I recommend Paolo Bacigalupi’s Ship Breaker series.
Three 13 year old girls, with different backgrounds and personalities, find themselves sharing a hospital room. They see something from the window that sets off a chain of events that changes them all. A thoughtful coming of age story, more middle grade than young adult, about privilege, strength, and being ourselves.
If you know award-winning Australian comedian Magda Szubanski, you can imagine how much fun one of her children’s book characters will be. Timmy, a hot to trot Shetland pony, thought he was sooooo special, but really he was just a rude, lazy and cranky celebrity until he was upstaged by Tony the show pony. And then Timmy did a poo on Saffron’s hoof! Timmy has been brought to life by Australian comics artist, Dean Rankine, whose work has appeared in KidZone, Mania, Krash and Wacky But True. This is the beginning of a hilarious series for readers 7yrs+ that you might shudder at but your kids are going to roar with laughter. Trust me!
All 14 year old Jane Doe has to do is stand on the foundation stone in the centre of the Cradle Sea to heal the Gods’ labyrinth, The Manor, and defeat the immortal being, Roth, before he takes over all the Otherworlds. Not a lot really! But first she has to face deadly booby traps, a carnivorous, soporific forest, a runaway train, vicious tin skins and an army of leatherheads, huge snakelike tadpoles and the grip of spectres. She’s accompanied by the trickster, Hickory, and Violet, she as remembers being eight years old, not old enough to kiss! Jane wants her mum and dad! This book can kill in so many gross ways. Indiana Jones meets the video game Sonic the hedgehog in this action packed adventure story. Author, Jeremy Lachlan, is from Griffith, here in Australia! I’m getting back to the action right now in the second book, The key of all souls, right now! Suitable for 12yrs+ readers. Available as paperback, ebook and eaudio so we have everybody’s reading needs covered!
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