A collection of great short stories that is passionate and honest about adolescence, emotions and relationships.
Recommended age: 13+
Fortune cookies – Christine Harris
June 28, 2010 — Debra
A collection of short stories with characters from a variety of cultural backgrounds.
Recommended age: 13+
Doomsday book – Connie Willis
June 28, 2010 — Debra
In 2048 Kivrin, a history student, travels back in time to an English village in the 14th century. Kivrin is accidentally sent back not to 1320 but to 1348 – right into the path of the Black Death. Soon, the entire village lies dying from the horrible bubonic plague that ravaged Europe.
Meanwhile, back in the future, her rescuers in Oxford battle their own deadly epidemic while trying desperately to rescue her. Plague dominates both centuries as the tension builds in this gripping novel of suffering and hope in a stunning blend of science fiction and historical reconstruction.
Recommended age: 14+
Unique – Alison Allen-Gray
June 28, 2010 — Debra
Dominic always thought he was the only child of his wealthy parents. That was until he found a photo of a brother who looked just like him. What is the secret surrounding his brother and why are people desperate to stop him finding out the truth? Set in the near future this is a gripping novel which explores the possibilities of genetic engineering and their effect on the individual.
Recommended age: 13+
Bye, Beautiful – Julia Lawrinson
June 28, 2010 — Debra
When Sandy’s father, a policeman, is transferred to a small town in W.A., Sandy knows she will never fit in. That is until she falls for Billy, the part-Aboriginal mechanic’s apprentice. But Billy’s not going to notice her, not after meeting her older sister, the beautiful and confident Marianne. Set in the 1960’s this is a story of secrets and heartbreak, of families and changing times.
Recommended age: 15+
Gossip Girl series – Cecily Von Ziegesar
June 28, 2010 — Debra
Enter the scandalous world of New York’s ‘Gossip Girl’, where everyone is beautiful, everything is fabulous, and jealousy and betrayal are everywhere you look.
Recommended age: 14+
Eye to eye – Catherine Jinks
June 27, 2010 — Debra
A clever story of what happens when a boy from a primitive society meets an almost-human computer on a crashed spaceship
Recommended age: 12+
Galax-Arena – Gillian Rubinstein
June 27, 2010 — Debra
Three children are kidnapped and taken to the galax arena where they are kept prisoner and become entertainers and pets for aliens.
Recommended age: 11+
The future trap – Catherine Jinks
June 27, 2010 — Debra
Paula is kidnapped and transported to a space colony 5000 years into the future. Her presence there could save an entire species. But what of her future back on earth? Is she trapped on Gnosis-10 forever? A compelling adventure.
Recommended age: 11+
Maphead – Lesley Howarth
June 27, 2010 — Debra
Maphead is a boy whose father is an alien and his mother a human being. This unusual, funny and moving story is about when Maphead meets his mother for the first time.
Recommended age: 11+
Portal bandits – Jim Schembri
June 27, 2010 — DebraThree teenagers. Two universes. One mission. Three school kids are asked to travel to a parallel universe and risk their lives in an interplanetary war.
Recommended age: 11+
The memory keeper’s daughter – Kim Edwards
June 27, 2010 — Debra
In 1964 a blizzard forces Dr David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son is born perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately realizes that his daughter has Downs Syndrome. In a split-second decision he asks his nurse to take his daughter away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. What follows is a fascinating and moving portrayal of two families and the devastating secret that shaped them both.
Recommended age: 15+
Out of the shadows – Sue Hines
June 27, 2010 — Debra
This story of friendship explores what it’s like to be gay and the effect of loss and guilt.
Recommended age: 15+
The simple gift – Steven Herrick
June 27, 2010 — Debra
Sixteen years old Billy steals a ride out of town on a freight train, to escape his abusive father. While living as a hobo, he meets Caitlin and ‘Old Bill.’ The thoughts and feelings of the characters are revealed in this free verse novel of love and friendship.
Recommended age: 15+
Borrowed light – Anna Fienberg
June 27, 2010 — Debra
An intense and emotional book that exposes the complex relationships within families and the sometimes painful decisions which love and sexuality can bring.
Recommended age: 15+
One night – Margaret Wild
June 27, 2010 — Debra
Gabe, Bram and Al are three friends, each with their own private suffering and each behaving badly. At one of their parties, Gabe and Helen come together, a night that will have long term consequences. Relationships between many different people are explored in this quickly read verse novel that you wont quickly forget.
Recommended age: 15+
Dogs – Bill Condon
June 27, 2010 — DebraThis is a powerful story about two teenage boys, their fathers and a greyhound. Conflict arises when the dog fails to perform well in its first races. This is a hard hitting and at times frightening novel about relationships, violence and the darker side of greyhound racing.
Recommended age: 15+
Chain of hearts – Maureen McCarthy
June 27, 2010 — Debra
At seventeen, Sophie is a mess. Her best friend is dead, her boyfriend has gone and she has dropped out of school. In desperation she is sent to live with her Aunt Fran. It is here that Sophie uncovers family secrets. From the cause of the rift between her mother and her Aunt Fran, to her Uncle Jimmy and the Vietnam War, and finally to the girl in the painting and the story haunting all their lives. An absorbing family saga.
Recommended age: 15+
Secret scribbled notebooks – Joanne Horniman
June 27, 2010 — Debra
Kate is in the final months of year 12. Her older sister Sophie, has just had a baby. The sisters live in an old guest house where they were left by their parents when they were very young. Kate meets Alex and falls in love for the first time. This is a wonderful story of Kate’s thoughts, feelings, memories and hopes at a turning point in her life.
Recommended age: 15+
This lullaby – Sarah Dessen
June 26, 2010 — Debra
Remy has no illusions about love. Her mother, a romance novelist, is working on her fifth marriage and her father, who she never knew, left her with just a one-hit wonder song to remember him by. Never without a boyfriend, Remy has a policy to move on before it becomes too serious. That is, until the summer before she starts college, when she meets messy, musician Dexter and her carefully built defenses begin to crumble.
Recommended age: 14+
Aliki says – Irini Savvides
June 26, 2010 — Debra
Aliki and her cousin Liza are best friends, but sometimes Liza wishes Aliki didn’t always get all the attention. Liza is on her way to Greece to collect their grandmother and bring her back to Australia to live. But the dark secret their grandmother carries with her threatens to tear their world apart. As the girls prepare for their final year of high school, the summer brings with it a sea of unanswered questions – questions that will affect the rest of their lives. A powerful novel about family secrets and forgetting.
Recommended age: 14+
Stop pretending – Sonya Sones
June 26, 2010 — Debra
Cookie’s world changes dramatically when her sister suffers a mental breakdown and ends up in a psychiatric hospital. This haunting verse novel reveals the impact her sister’s illness has on Cookie and her family. A very moving story.
Recommended age: 14+
When dogs cry – Markus Zusak
June 26, 2010 — Debra
The final book about the Wolfe family focuses on Cameron. His yearning for a girlfriend comes true, he gains the respect of his brothers and he finds something he is good at. An absorbing and emotionally powerful novel.
Recommended age: 14+
Fighting Ruben Wolfe – Markus Zusak
June 26, 2010 — Debra
Cameron and Ruben are brothers who know how to fight. When they are offered the chance to make some money from illegal boxing, they take it. A brilliant novel that is both tough and tender.
Recommended age: 13+
The Underdog – Markus Zusak
June 26, 2010 — Debra
The first in a series of books about Cameron and Ruben Wolfe, their family, their failings and their dreams. An honest and funny story about relationships and growing up.
Recommended age: 13+
The Sisterhood of the traveling pants – Ann Brashares
June 26, 2010 — Debra
As four best friends spend their first summer apart from one another, they share a magical pair of jeans. Despite being of various shapes and sizes, each one of them fits perfectly into the pants. To keep in touch they pass these pants to each other and share the adventures they have while wearing the pants
Recommended age: 13+
The killing of mud-eye – Celeste Walters
June 26, 2010 — Debra
A story of cruel bullying, which has terrible consequences, in a wealthy private school.
Recommended age:13+
Chasing Charlie Duskin – Cath Crowley
June 26, 2010 — Debra
Charlie is dreading spending another summer holiday with her father at her grandfather’s house in the country. It is the first year without her grandmother and she knows the other three teenagers in the town, Rose, Luke and Dave, will continue to treat her like a misfit. So when the beautiful and confident Rose starts being friendly, Charlie can’t believe her luck. Told from the viewpoints of Charlie and Rose in alternating chapters, this is an absorbing story about family, friendship and falling in love.
Recommended age: 13+
The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd
June 14, 2010 — Debra
Set in South Carolina in 1964, a time of racial violence and unrest, this is the story of 14 year-old Lily Owens. Since the age of four Lily’s life has been dominated by her abusive father and the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily’s beloved nanny Rosaleen, insults three of the town’s fiercest racists on her way to register to vote, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina–a town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household.
Recommended age: 14+
Rift – Libby Hathorn
June 14, 2010 — Debra
A complex and intriguing story about a religious cult and its impact on a small town.
Recommended age: 14+
Little Wing – Joanne Horniman
June 14, 2010 — Debra
A companion novel to Mahalia, Little Wing follows what happened to Emily, the teenage mother of the new born Mahalia, when she left the father, Matt, to take care of the baby. Suffering from post-natal depression we witness the depths to which Emily sinks, her great sadness. A friendship with Martin, a stay-at-home Dad and his young son, Pete, is the catalyst for her slow recovery.
Recommended age: 14+
Martyn Pig – Kevin Brooks
June 14, 2010 — Debra
Martyn Pig is 15 and has a miserable life. One night his Dad gets drunk and then mean. Martyn tries to protect himself and his father ends up dead. It was an accident, but who’s going to believe him, so Martyn decides to keep quiet. With his father out of the way and with the help of his friend, Alex, Martyn hopes for a better life. A cleverly plotted story which is at times darkly funny, suspenseful, tender and with a surprise ending.
Recommended age: 13+
Skellig – David Almond
June 14, 2010 — Debra
An unusual story about two friends who discover a strange creature in the garage and befriend it and take care of it. A hauntingly beautiful book.
Recommended age: 13+
Going off – Colin Bowles
June 14, 2010 — Debra
It’s tough being fourteen. Greg has lost his two best friends, his parents are getting a divorce and every-thing is looking black. He doesn’t think he can cope with his life any more. What is he going to do? A realistic and often funny story, about how it feels to be a teenager.
Recommended age: 13+
Deadly Unna! – Phillip Gwynne
June 14, 2010 — Debra
On one level this is a funny story about growing up in a football-mad country town, but on a deeper level it is also about families, racism and friendship. A great read. The sequel is called ‘Nukkin ya.’
Recommended age: 13+
A door near here – Heather Quarles
June 14, 2010 — Debra
Four children are forced to look after themselves when their mother, an out-of-work alcoholic, stays in bed for weeks. Desperate to stay together they try to keep their life a secret. A heartbreaking story.
Recommended age: 13+
Jetty Rats – Phillip Gwynne
June 14, 2010 — Debra
Hunter Vettori is 13 and loves fishing. In between hanging out with the Jetty Rats, helping his mum run the caravan park, which involves cleaning the men’s toilet block, he gets a job at the local funeral parlour and also has his first kiss. Hunter desperately wants to catch a record-breaking Mulloway. But most of all Hunter wants his Dad back, who was swept off the rocks while fishing five years ago. A fast, funny and moving novel.
Recommended age: 12+
So much to tell you – John Marsden
June 14, 2010 — Debra
Helicopter man – Elizabeth Fensham
June 13, 2010 — Debra
Pete and his Dad are on the run, running from the enemy, hiding from helicopters. Living in a garden shed they take shelter wherever they can. Pete knows his life is unusual but it is only when his Dad’s behaviour becomes really strange that he begins to ask questions. This is a wonderful story of a boy coming to terms with his father’s mental illness.
Recommended age: 11+
Mother’s Day – Anne Brooksbank
June 13, 2010 — Debra
Molly is torn between love for her father and love for her mother. Since her parents divorced she has been living with her father and his new wife. Now her mother is back and wants Molly to live with her. How can Molly choose between her two parents and could she leave Locky, her baby step-brother? A wonderful book which explores the complex emotions in split families.
Recommended age: 11+
Up on cloud nine – Anne Fine
June 13, 2010 — Debra
How did Stolly fall out of a top floor window? Ian is left wandering as he sits by Stolly’s hospital bed, willing him back to life as he remembers the life of his best friend. A funny and moving story about a remarkable boy.
Recommended age: 11+
Crossfire – James Moloney
June 13, 2010 — Debra
This is a story about Luke, who is in trouble at school and at home. It is also a story about guns. A compelling story that builds to a dramatic climax.
Recommended age: 11+
Indigo Blue – Cathy Cassidy
June 13, 2010 — Debra
Indigo Blue is a powerful, moving, and tender book about love, family, domestic violence–and feeling blue.
Recommended age: 11-14
Antonio S. and the mystery of Theodore Guzman – Odo Hirsch
June 13, 2010 — Debra
An unusual and entertaining story about a boy and his friendship with a once-famous actor.
Recommended age: 11-14
Someone like me – Elaine Forrestal
June 13, 2010 — Debra
Grade six is a year when Tas’s life changes forever. When new neighbors move into the farm next door, Tas finds a new friend in Enya, but there is secrecy surrounding her family. They have fled Northern Ireland to escape the violence, but it follows them, and Tas is caught in the middle.
Recommended age: 11-14
Nips XI – Ruth Starke
June 13, 2010 — Debra
Lan is an Asian-Australian and so are all his mates. When his school plans another multi-cultural day, Lan wants to do something that is typically Australian. He comes up with the idea of an Asian cricket team. But the boys have a lot to learn in a very short time. Can they get their act together before the big day? A great story!
Recommended age: 11-14
Leaving no footprints Elaine Forrestal
June 13, 2010 — Debra
Summer holidays at the beach. Henny and Kip become friends, although Kip has secrets that he keeps to himself. It is only after their boat is caught in a storm at sea and they must battle to survive, that Henny truly understands her friend.
Recommended age: 11-13
The Keeper – Rosanne Hawke
June 12, 2010 — Debra
Joel is always in trouble, especially at school. Although his Gran takes good care of him, Joel wants a dad in his life. So he puts an ad in the paper for a dad who must be “tough, like fishing, fighting and fun.” When Dev Eagle, a biker, answers the ad, Joel’s life changes dramatically.
Recommended age: 11-13
Sold – Patricia McCormick
June 12, 2010 — Debra
Lakshmi is a young, innocent girl living in the mountains of Nepal. When her stepfather tells her she must leave the village to work in the city to help her desperately poor family survive, she goes willingly. But Lakshmi has been deceived – she has been sold into prostitution – a nightmare from which there is no escape. This harrowing story, told simply in the words of Lakshmi, is one you won’t forget.
Recommended age: 15+
Go and come back – Joan Abelove
June 12, 2010 — Debra
Two white women go to live in a village deep in the rainforests of Peru. The story is told through the eyes of one of the tribe’s women. They find the ways of the white women strange and funny.
Recommended age: 13+
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