AustLit

'Book clubs can last for decades or fizzle out after just a few months. Some have elaborate rules, and others are looser arrangements. Many of us are in one or, in some cases, multiple. So, what is it that makes a book club successful? And why do we keep seeking them out?' 

'Nova Weetman’s unforgettable memoir reflects on experiences of love and loss from throughout her life, including: losing her beloved partner, playwright Aidan Fennessy, during the 2020 Covid lockdown; the death of her mother ten years earlier; her daughter turning eighteen and finishing school; and her own physical ageing. Using these events as a lens, Nova considers how various kinds of losses – and the complicated love they represent – change us and can become the catalysts for letting go.

'This is a moving, honest account of farewelling a partner of twenty-five years, parenting teenagers through grief, buying property for the first time at the age of fifty, watching Aidan live on through his plays, and learning to appreciate spending hours alone with only the household cat for company. Warm and wise – and often joyful – Love, Death & Other Scenes ultimately focuses on the living we do after losses and what we learn from them.'  (Publication summary)

'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)

'With the help of a magical book, Noah Wriggle and his best friend Blue like to design weird and wonderful animal mash-up creations – and then bring them to life! But sometimes their mash-imals love being alive just a little TOO much …

'From tumbling tigers to eight-legged dinosaurs, Noah and Blue's creations always keep them on their toes! But will Noah and Blue let their imagination run a little too wild?'  (Publication summary)

'Fred has moved around her whole life, one small town after another, and never minded starting over. She’s always had her mum, her dad, and her love of roller derby. On the track she’s Fred or Dead, the star jammer, a gun at smashing through a line of bodies and scoring for her team.

'But Fred’s life has fallen apart, and now she can’t imagine ever putting her skates on again.

'On a road trip to Melbourne with her dad, Fred meets a bunch of people who think they know what’s best for her. And although Fred tries to avoid it, roller derby has a way of barging back into her life. A true jammer could push through anything, but Fred doesn’t know who she is anymore.

'What do you do when the thing that could save you is the thing that hurts the most?

'This moving story of broken bones and healing hearts is a must-read for Nova Weetman’s fans and will find her many new ones.' (Publication summary)

'Growing up in London, Michelle's interests frequently bumped up against expectations of girls which she pushed through, including her love of playing soccer and chess, and later, her passion for science and technology. Professor Simmons is well-known for creating the field of atomic electronics. Since 2000 she established the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology dedicated to the making of tiny atomic-scale devices in silicon and germanium. Her research group at the University of New South Wales is the only group worldwide that can create atomically precise devices in silicon. It was also the first team in the world to develop a working 'perfect' single-atom transistor and the narrowest conducting doped wires in silicon.

'In 2018 Michelle became Australian of the Year and is an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow. She is passionate about encouraging girls to pursue a career in science and technology: 'Seeing women in leadership roles and competing internationally ... gives them the sense that anything is possible'.'  (Publication summary)

'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)

'Clem Timmins can't wait to see her best friends after being apart all summer holidays. But when they get back together, things have changed. Bridge is boy-crazy and acting like a different person. Ellie is wearing a bra and having a real-life romance. Clem feels left behind. When she makes friends with Tom, suddenly everyone's gossiping about whether they're going to be a couple. Clem's got no interest in having a boyfriend. Or does she?

'At school camp, Bridge crosses the line and Clem has to ask herself - can she keep growing up with her friends when they're growing apart?

'This story of fitting in and falling out perfectly captures how it feels to balance on the edge of who you are and who you want to be.' (Publication summary)

'Mackenzie loves her life in the city. She’s in a band with her bestie, she’s just met a cute boy called Toby, and she doesn’t mind moving between her parents’ places each week. But then her mum decides to move away, and everything changes …

'1. When Mack moves to the country with her mum, she starts hanging out with music-mad Laura … and drifting apart from her old best friend, Immy. Are they destined to lose their friendship, especially when Mack’s old band is playing without her?

'2. When Mack decides to live with her dad in the city, she has to put up with his control-freak girlfriend moving in too! But maybe the upcoming Battle of the Bands competition – and getting to know the adorable Toby – will be enough of a distraction?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'With the help of a magical book, Noah Wriggle and his best friend Blue like to design weird and wonderful animal mash-up creations - and then bring them to life! But sometimestheir mash-imals love being alive just a little TOO much... In The Outstanding Octokey, a marmoset monkey is mashed up with an inky octopus, creating a swinging sucker! When Ocky escapes into the canteen, can Noah and Blue find him before he inks the entire school?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'With the help of a magical book, Noah Wriggle and his best friend Blue like to design weird and wonderful animal mash-up creations - and then bring them to life! But sometimes their mash-imals love being alive just a little TOO much... In The Speedy Spidersaurus, a scary T-Rex is mashed up with a tiny spider, creating an eight-legged dinosaur! But when Spidey gets loose at school, can Noah and Blue track him down before their teacher does?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'With the help of a magical book, Noah Wriggle and his best friend Blue like to design weird and wonderful animal mash-up creations - and then bring them to life! But sometimes their mash-imals love being alive just a little TOO much... In The Tumbling Tigerdillo, an armadillo is mashed up with a stripy tiger, creating a roaring roller! When Tig stows away on a camping trip, can Noah and Blue get him home in time?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'With the help of a magical book, Noah Wriggle and his best friend Blue like to design weird and wonderful animal mash-up creations - and then bring them to life! But sometimes their mash-imals love being alive just a little TOO much... In The Marvelous Moleon, a mini mole is mashed up with a creative chameleon, creating an disguised digger! But when Mollo digs his way in and out of art class, can Noah and Blue spot him before it's too late?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Two very different Grade 6 girls meet in their school sick bay. Meg is a loner. Grieving over the death of her father, and struggling with changes at home, she wears slippers to school and hides out in sick bay to avoid other kids. New girl Riley, is a Type 1 diabetic and already popular. She doesn't want to go to sick bay, but sometimes she has to if she's having a high or a low. As Meg and Riley are forced to spend more and more time together in the cramped sick bay room, they start to uncover each other's secrets and find the courage to be who they really are.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Nova Weetman explains how her new novel, Everything Is Changed, changed in its evolution and editing…'

'Clem is slowly rebuilding her life after a house fire destroyed everything. She’s about to start high school with her two best friends and she’s finally settled into living with her dad in their tiny flat. But when her mum unexpectedly moves in, Clem feels like there’s no space for her.

'Then she meets Matt, a funny and rebellious fourteen-year-old with family troubles of his own. When everything starts to unravel, Clem must decide which secrets to keep and which to share.' (Publication summary)
 

'If only we could all go back to the way it was before…Jake and Alex. Best mates. One terrible mistake. Two lives that will never be the same.Told in reverse, this powerful and gritty novel moves through the wreckage of a broken friendship, back to the moment when everything changed.' (Publication summary)

'I don't know if you've ever seen a house burn, but it's not like anything else ......

'Clem Timmins has lost everything - her clothes, her possessions, her house and her mum. Now living in a tiny flat with her dad, Clem has to start a new school and make new friends.

'On her first day, Clem tells Ellie that her mum died in a house fire and immediately regrets it when Ellie latches on and confides that her own mother is dying of cancer.

'When Clem receives a letter she doesn't want to read, it becomes clear she can't run from her past forever, especially when the truth appears right in front of her face.'

Source: Publisher's blurb