AustLit

'Tommy Bell has been sent to work on his grandparents' farm for the school holidays. He doesn't want to go, but when he discovers an old bushranger's hat hidden in a cave, everything changes. Suddenly he is sent back to the gold rush days and finds himself face-to-face with the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt! At first, the life of a bushranger seems full of thrills and adventure. But Tommy soon learns that it is full of danger as well...' .(Publication summary)

'Tommy Bell is happy when the popular new kid at school wants him to join his gang. His new friend is trouble but he's not half as much trouble as the bushranger that Tommy meets when his magic hat takes him back to the gold rush days. Tommy finds himself in the middle of a horse robbery, a police chase and a prison escape!' (Publication summary)

'Tommy Bell, Bushranger Boy is a series featuring Tommys time travelling escapades that take him face-to-face with some of Australias most notorious bushrangers. The hero of the series, Tommy Bell, lives in regional NSW in contemporary times but is able to travel back in time to the gold rush days by wearing an old bushranger's hat that he discovered on his grandfather's farm. Each book brings Tommy and his friends up close and personal with one of the outlaws - sometimes as accidental accomplices and other times as victims. With each adventure there is plenty of danger and excitement: armed hold-ups, sieges, frauds, shoot-outs, police chases, jail-time and much more.While the series' main focus is the bushranging adventures, each book contains a parallel story from Tommy's twenty-first century life that tests his friendships and develops his character.While Tommy and his friends are fictional, each bushranging adventure in the series is based on a true story. Book 3 - The Gold Escort Gang-When Tommy Bell finds himself caught in a struggle between two friends, he decides to take a break from it all and escape...back to 1862! Tommy's magic cabbage-tree hat sends him back once again to the gold rush days, when he stumbles into more trouble than he left behind. Face-to-face with the dangerous Frank Gardiner and his mates 'Flash Jack' and Ben Hall, Tommy learns about the value of true friendship...and about how it feels to be part of one of most infamous robberies in Australia's history!' (Publication summary)

'Tommy Bell’s safe outback holiday on a farm with Martin and Combo is turned upside down when Martin finds a pair of magic old bushranger’s boots. This time, when Tommy’s cabbage-tree hat sends him back to the past, his friend Martin is right there beside him.

'The boys join their new friend, Harry, and his gang on a long cattle-droving expedition across Outback Australia. For once it seems as if a journey to the past might be pure, fun adventure, without any risk of running into bushrangers. But why did Harry lie about his past? And who are the ‘thievin’’ McKenzies? It looks like Tommy and Martin’s ‘Outback Adventure’ might be more dangerous than they expected ...' (Publication summary)

'School camp can be fun, but not when it's run by a nasty bully who picks on Tommy Bell and his friends. But when Tommy's magic cabbage tree hat takes him back in time to meet up with Ben Hall and his gang, Tommy discovers that even in the gold rush days there were bullies ... and they were on both sides of the law! They also really knew how to make trouble ... '(Production summary)

'Captain Thunderbolt's girlfriend, Mary Ann Bugg is clever, kind and strong. So why does she stick around with Captain Thunderbolt, when trouble follows him wherever he goes? Can Tommy help rescue her from prison?' (Publication summary)

'When Tommy goes on a trip to an Outback farm with his friend Martin, he thinks that his biggest problem will be Francis, his former friend who has gate-crashed the holiday. He doesn’t expect to run into his old enemy, Frank Gardiner. Frank is on the run from the law and will do anything to keep Tommy from revealing his true identity. And Tommy is about to learn why the bushranger is so desperate to stay out of jail!'  (Publication summary)

'When Tommy Bell’s father’s car breaks down on a road trip, Tommy and Martin are stranded overnight in a motel room in a strange country town. Things get even weirder when Tommy finds himself roaming the deserted streets on a moonlit night, way back in 1869. But wait – is that an armed robbery in progress? And who is that masked man?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.