AustLit

'From the dream duo of Australian middle-grade comes this time-slip novel that explores the early life of Kate Kelly, sister of the infamous Ned.

'Kate and Ruby live in the High Country in Victoria. They're both daring, quick-thinking and prepared to break the rules, and they're both brilliant horse riders-they'd probably be great friends. But they live in different times, 145 years apart.

'While galloping through the mountains, Kate rides headlong into a thrilling experience that transports her from 1878 to the future, where she meets Ruby. Kate and Ruby return to 1878, where Kate is secretly taking supplies to her brother Ned and the rest of the Kelly Gang, who are in hiding from the police. Together the girls work to confuse the police and keep the gang from being found and arrested. But the looming disaster makes things less clear-cut for Ruby. They're about the have the ride of their lives!

'Outlaw Girls is an exciting, fast-paced time-slip novel, narrated by both Ruby and Kate, about family, friendship, loyalty and betrayal, the complexity of right and wrong, and working out what matters most.' (Publication summary)

'It’s the start of 2020 and Harper is filled with anticipation about being in the final year of Riverlark Primary. She wants a leadership role, the comfort of her friendship group, and to fly under the radar of Riverlark’s mean-boy.

'But one by one things go wrong. When Harper’s best friends are made school captains they are consumed by their roles, while her own role — library captain — is considered second-rate. Then something major throws life off course: her parents take overseas jobs as nurses in a war zone. Harper moves in with Lolly, a grandmother she barely knows — and her five pets, vast collection of old trinkets and very different expectations.

'Just as Harper is getting used to Lolly, the pandemic arrives, and her goodbye year is nothing like she’d hoped it would be. Strange things are happening: she wakes in the night in odd places, fixates on an old army badge that seems to have a mind of its own, and on a visit to the school library during lockdown she’s convinced she’s seen a ghost.

'Who is haunting her?

'Can she get through the anxiety of the pandemic without her mum and dad? And will Harper find a way to be happy with her goodbye year?

'The Goodbye Year explores all the trickiness and confusion of the end of primary school and a new stage of life that looms with all its uncertainties and possibilities.' (Publication summary)

'Aussie STEM Stars is an inspiring children’s series that celebrates Australia’s experts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

'The fourth book is about Gisela Kaplan, one of Australia’s leading bird and primate scientists, whose love for animals has seen her care for and rehabilitate numerous species.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'It’s midnight and I’m alone in the kitchen eating a cold potato scallop. Coach O'Call would say something like, ‘That’s not what I expect from a scholarship girl!’ because I have to be up for squad training in five hours and I’m not supposed to go near potato scallops, and—oh, yeah—it’s my fifth.

'Cat has recently started at a new school on a sports scholarship, and she’s feeling the pressure of early morning training sessions and the need for total commitment. Fanny loves to swim and she lives for racing, but family chores and low expectations for girls make it very hard for her to fit in even the occasional training session.

'Cat and Fanny have never met. They both live in the same Sydney suburb, but in different worlds, or at least different times: Cat in current-day Sydney, and Fanny in 1908. But one day, time slips and they swap places.

'As each girl lives the other’s life, with all the challenges and confusion it presents, she comes to appreciate and understand herself and the role of swimming in her own life.

'Narrated in alternating chapters by Cat and Fanny, Elsewhere Girls is a moving and funny story of two girls with a deep connection, one based on the Australian Olympic champion, Fanny Durack. It’s a fresh and engaging exploration of the challenges and pressures for young women growing up in the past and today.' (Publication summary)

'Wren feels like she's stuck in a loop, sketching her dead brother over and over again - until the moment a new face appears on the page, and Wren is chilled to find that it looks like the new girl at school, Adie, who arrives the next day.

'Adie is back in Melbourne with her volatile artist dad. In the house where she spent her childhood, memories arrive like an abstract painting, fleeting and fragmented.

'Juliet remembers every little detail about her classmates and the things they said or did when they were kids, but to them she's anonymous - can she put herself in the picture for once, now that Adie's back?

'Milo wants Wren to fall in love with him, and he's being coached by Daniel, his oldest friend, who he's only ever talked to online. But will Wren ever see Milo that way when she has to watch him get bullied every day by the notorious Ben?

'Ben is trying out for the waterpolo team, and his dad is stepping up the swimming training and the pressure tenfold. Something has to give. And when Ben gets angry, someone has to pay the price.

'A sketch brought to life. A painting that causes accidents. A map to happiness. A drawing that bears witness to a friendship long forgotten. An image shared without permission. As the lives of these Melbourne teenagers intertwine, images could bring them together, and tear them apart. ' (Publication summary)

'Summer is trying to recover from a tragedy, but it seems impossible when her family is falling apart around her. Having an extraordinary best friend like Mal helps a little, but Summer's secret source of happiness is a link to the past: one very special guitar. Now her dad's plan to save them is turning Summer's life upside down again. The next thing she knows, they've moved to the other side of the world. In Australia, Summer makes an unlikely friend, who seems to be magically connected to her guitar. Is this for real? Has a mysterious boy been sent to help Summer? Or could it be the other way around? ' (Publication summary)

'Junior spy/inventor extraordinaire, Eliza Boom, is back with a BLAST (well, more of a FIZZ actually), as she finds herself on a fizz-tastic adventure to reveal the truth about her suspicious next-door neighbour, Mrs McNice and her mysterious, humming, 'fizz-buzzing' house. Will Eliza's inventing super-skills have enough fizz to save the day? Stuffed with silliness and mayhem, doodles and disasters – this book is perfect for engaging young readers.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Eliza Boom is having a blast. With her best friend (well, dog) Einstein, she's on a mission to catch a spy – and banish the class bully while she's at it. All in a day's work for Eliza Boom, assistant inventor … and wanna-be junior spy. With silliness and mayhem, doodles and disasters – this book is perfect for engaging younger readers.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'During a Melbourne heatwave, Hannah's family life begins to distort beyond her deepest fears. It's going to take more than a cool change to fix it, but how can a girl who lives in the shadows take on the task alone?'

'Feeling powerless and invisible, Hannah seeks refuge in the two anarchists of her life: her wild best friend, Chloe, and her eccentric grandmother, Essie, who look like they know how life really works.'

'But Hannah's loyalty to both is tested, first by her attraction to Chloe's older brother, and then by Essie's devastating secret that sheds new light on how the family has lost its way.'

'Even if Hannah doesn't know what to believe in, she'd better start believing in herself.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Kass Kennedy is in the spotlight, thanks to her Dad. He plans on selling her soul to the Devil - or at any rate to Simon Cowell when she finds herself pushed into an X-Factor audition. Kass could just say no, but her dad's manic-depressive mood swings are a constant worry and he has her in an emotional half-Nelson. Just when things couldn't get worse, Kass falls for a gorgeous older boy, also named Cass. She's amazed when he appears to like her, but it turns out this boy is her best friend's long-term crush. What's a girl to do? Everything Kass thought she understood starts to fall apart and the only person she can turn to ...grumpy Simon Cowell (literally in her dreams|). She might not be able to sing her way out of a paper bag, but Kass discovers that she isn't a choker when it comes to sorting out real life.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.