AustLit

'Dear Goannas,

'You are invited to play a friendly exhibition game against the Euclid Street Primary School Sharks next month.

'Melek’s Australian Rules Football team dream is about to come true. She becomes the captain of Goannas footy team with Miss as their coach. 

'Just when Melek finds players other than her best friends and lets boys play, there’s another problem.

'They don’t have money for uniforms. Luckily, the co-captains of design, Tien and Lily, have the most delicious idea ever for a fun-raiser. 

'A funny and adventurous story about what it takes to be a team and a captain.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'8 year old Melek always finds answers. Some are under her super hijab. For others she needs the help of newcomer Tien who draws fantastic worlds as an escape, dress-ups-guru Lily or even soccer-mad Zac who NEVER agrees with her. Melek wants to start her own Aussie Rules girls’ football team. Unable to find a book character in a hijab for the Book Parade, Melek writes her own, with illustrations by awesome Tien. Their classroom has Fab Science projects, a Rainbow Reading Chair and a Corridor of Characters. Plus Zac’s Reading Rat. Melek solves all problems, even rescuing Zac in the pool. And luckily her fashionista mother designs club colour-coded hijabs for footy fans.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Sleuth Quinn is on ‘The Ghan’, booked to celebrate a ‘real’ wedding at the sunrise breakfast stop out in the desert at Marla. But things go wrong. Are they clues?

'The train manager has devised an Agatha Christie role-playing mystery to attract international fans. Themed tourism is trending. Agatha Christie fans joke about ‘Murder on the Orient Express’.

'Intriguingly, the ‘Wed, Then Dead on The Ghan ’ scenario offers opportunities to ‘dress up’ , find clues and act out the mystery while seeing wildlife and the stark eco-beauty of the desert.

'Quinn deals with Scandinavian Book Club members passionate to see ‘kangaroos’, opal fraud, missing indigenous [sic] artifacts, inheritances and the mystique of long distance train travel.

'Plus performing a wedding for the descendant of one of the original Ghans. ‘Wed, Then Dead on the Ghan’ is not quite what the roleplaying tourists expected. Fiction becomes fact.

'Quinn, a celebrant with style and a few obsessions, but a good heart, solves quirky problems, mysteries and the occasional murder.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Eight scripts, designed for high-school students, including:

• 'Vote Yes or No: Vida Goldstein'
• 'Not Just a Refugee'
• 'Acting Parts of Speech'
• 'Water on Trial'
• 'Q.V.H.'
• 'My Robotics Homework Problem'
• 'Anorexia: Body Rescue Kit'
• 'Bowling Them Over: Fashions in Cricket'

• Goodbye and Hello
• My Friend
• Figure It Out
• Spoilsport (Monologue)
• Granny Smith's Apples
• The Ned Kelly Myth on Trial
• The Right Writer
• The History T.V. Game Show
• The Guyra Census Taker's Impossible Task

'All stories link to the curriculum theme of ‘Like Me’.

'School, home, family and where you fit concerns eight to ten year olds. Wanting to be like everybody else is common, but… we are all different. So a sense of humour helps.

'And diverse viewpoints, even a cat, insect or a Reading Dog. The stories provide this experience.

'Issues of handling differences, death, bravery, names and imaginative problem solving, using fun. Family issues such as fostering & visit day and where you fit in a changing family or school. All stories have been widely used.

'A special collection from multi-award winning, Australian children’s author, Hazel Edwards.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'All stories link to the curriculum theme of ‘Like Me’.

'School, home, family and where you fit concerns eight to ten year olds. Wanting to be like everybody else is common, but… we are all different. So a sense of humour helps.

'And diverse viewpoints, even a cat, insect or a Reading Dog. The stories provide this experience.

'Issues of handling differences, death, bravery, names and imaginative problem solving, using fun. Family issues such as fostering & visit day and where you fit in a changing family or school. All stories have been widely used.

'A special collection from multi-award winning, Australian children’s author, Hazel Edwards.'

source: Publisher's blurb.

'My Daddy says there’s a man fixing the tiles on our roof. But I know why there’s a noise. There’s a hippopotamus on our roof getting ready for Christmas. And he’s excited just like me! A hilarious Christmas-themed celebration in the best-selling picture book series, There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

''I buried my father, married my sister and sorted the missing will.'

'Quinn, a celebrant with style and a few obsessions but a good heart, solves quirky problems, mysteries and the occasional murder at weddings, funerals and naming ceremonies in her country town.

'Ex-actor with a great voice who writes eulogies to die for! Not forgetting a few quotable 'Quinn's Laws of Relativity'. A romantic, but asexual, Quinn lives with her long term partner Art who runs community Channel Zero.

'The workstyle of a celebrant is never routine. Fake I.D. Fraud. Fights, even to the death, over wills and inheritance ... Mislaid rings. Lost bride. Food poisoning. Clients of varied ages and cultures are well looked after. Even vintage millionairess Flora with the much younger lover who might be a con-artist.

'Quinn solves most problems but not always in the expected way.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Melek always finds answers, some are under her super hijab. For others she needs the help of newcomer Tien who draws fantastic worlds as an escape, or the dress-ups-guru Lily, and sometimes even soccer-mad Zac who NEVER agrees with her. Melek solves all problems, even rescuing Zac in the pool. And luckily her fashionista mother designs club colour-coded hijabs for footy fans. When it's the Book Character Parade, Melek can't find a book with a girl character in a hijab. With the help of her school friends, Melek makes one. Then Melek's next challenge is to arrange an Aussie Rules Girls' football match.' (Publication summary)

'Not Just a Piece of Cake' takes the reader behind the books. This quirky memoir shares the diverse workstyle of a long term author, who also has a family.

'Collaborating with illustrators, performers, co-authors and even family. Heart tugging fan mail. Literary speed dating with characters. Dealing with the Plateau of Boredom and the Map of Serendipity. But also sharing 'the process of the process of writing' and why storytelling matters culturally, and personally. And why a 6 year old knew she wanted to be an author.' (Publication summary)

'Edith Cowan overcame a violent past, dedicating her life to social and political reform, and eventually became the first woman elected to Australian parliament.' (Publisher's abstract.)

'Trevelyan Quest Edwards wore out two pairs of boots in five months. He walked THRU the Appalachian Trail of 2,184 miles northwards from Atlanta, Georgia to Mt Katahdin in Maine (USA). Quest is his real middle name. A Darwin based, Australian life-saver and ex-cartographer, 'Walkabout' was the Trail name he was given. Trail Magic shares his minimalist (minus digital devices) philosophy. Travelling light is the way to go. At one stage, he nearly gave up, but the support of friends kept him going. Enjoy the scenery, wildlife and friendly Trail Magic helping of strangers, to whom he dedicates this book.' (Publisher's blurb)