AustLit

'Lucy has to clean her room—without using magic. Only, every time Lucy returned from a well-earned break from cleaning up, she found her room tidier than ever. Lucy soon begins to think her house might be haunted…by a ghost who loves cleaning.' (Publication summary)

'Edward is Katie's best friend. They do everything together, but best of all, they love playing in the old summerhouse.

'One day Mum comes hurrying down and grabs Katie by the hand, leaving Edward all alone.

'Edward knows Katie will come for him, so he settles down and watches what happens through the window …' (Publication summary)

'Charlotte Chaplin is a city girl. She's cool and stylish and her best friend is Sarah, the Prime Minister's daughter. Her life is perfect.

'That is until her parents get divorced and Charlie is dragged to the sleepy town of Gulgong in the middle of nowhere.

'There's nothing to do - or so Charlie thinks. Things start to heat up when she makes an unlikely friend: Ruby, the daughter of a man wanted for burglary.

'Charlie and Ruby, with a little technological aid and some friends in high places, must catch the real thief and clear Ruby's dad's name before he's sent to gaol.

'A lively, fast-paced mystery with vivid characters and an atmospheric country town setting.' (Publication summary)

'Nine-year-old city newspaper seller Roddy becomes involved in the infamous Battle of Brisbane in 1942: when American and Australian servicemen fought against each other, rioting in the streets of the city for two days.

'When Roddy helps an American serviceman who’s been involved in the fighting, he never expects that the battle will become covered up – a wartime secret. Never to be reported in the newspapers he sells. Or that his actions will result in a new life for him after the war – all the way to the USA.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Lucy’s mum is always busy, going to this meeting and that, leaving Lucy alone in their old house with one strict rule: NO MAGIC.

'Lucy doesn’t mean to conjure the giant green slug. She only wanted a friendly kitten to keep her company.

'Now, with the help of a talking spellbook and a grumpy cat called Thomas, she must race to get rid of the slug before it eats the prized cabbage garden of the witch next door — and before her mum gets home.

'A lively,  entertaining story for young readers.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Can a dragon make the toymakers' luck change? Can a dragon pull Santa's sleigh? And will the dragon family get their Christmas feast? Find out in these three entertaining, original stories for Christmas, gorgeously illustrated, featuring everyone's favourite magical creatures: dragons! Great for sharing aloud or for children to read by themselves.' (Publication summary)

'Two beautiful traditional Scottish fairy tales, The Selkie Bride and In the Kingdom of the Seals, are brought to enchanting and haunting new life by two creators who are themselves eerily linked to the magical world of the shape-shifting selkies, who are seals in the water and humans on land. For Kate's ancestors were the McPhees, who, legend says, are descended from the union of Dougal McPhee and his melancholy selkie bride, while Fiona's McDonald ancestors, lairds of the Western Isles, have a strange connection to the McPhees as well, a connection she only discovered while working on the book!' (Publication summary)