AustLit

(Publication summary)

'It’s Christmastime, but Flick and Birdie are missing their Granny Aggie. To cheer them up, Mum and Dad invite the neighbours over to decorate gingerbread houses. All is going well until Mrs Mortlake brings up Christmas wishes, giving baby Birdie all the wrong ideas.

'How can Flick spread the joy of Christmas when a gingerbread person is biting the guests?' (Publication summary)

'The second book in a mystical and adventurous junior fiction series from acclaimed author Allison Rushby.

'From the moment Penny steps into her family's Hyde Park Square townhouse, she can sense something dreadful has happened. This is confirmed when she discovers her parents' laboratory in terrible disarray. Before she can find out any more, Penny is whisked away with her authoress aunt to Harewood Hall in the countryside, where a malicious maze is rumoured to be gobbling up servants. Miss Penny Dreadful has yet another mystery to solve. And nothing, absolutely nothing, is as it seems!' (Publication summary)

'An enquiring mind - and mystical mysteries to solve - adds up to adventure in the first book of the new junior fiction series from acclaimed author Allison Rushby.

'"Now, Miss Pickering." Miss Strickland turned to her pupil. "If you would be so kind as to close the door behind you, we will endeavour to discuss why your aunt, her publisher and her monkey have called upon us this afternoon."

'Forever in trouble for sketching in her notebook, Penny Pickering dreams of her famous authoress aunt turning up at her boarding school and whisking her away. So when Aunt Harriet appears at Miss Strickland's School for Girls of an Enquiring Mind and asks Penny if she would like to join her on an adventure, Penny knows exactly what to say - yes, please!

'Penny soon finds herself headed for Hampshire and a strange place called Mr Toddington's Museum of the Curious and Absurd where bewitched kittens are said to have a tea party at midnight.'(Publication summary)

'How is Flick going to hide a rainbow cat and a dancing dog from everyone?

'At the Pet Play Date, Flick and her little sister, Birdie, are helping local seniors group The Busybodies raise money for animals in need. There are some special pets waiting to find their fur-ever homes. But things turn wild when Birdie wishes to make the animals even more special in the hope that they will be adopted.

'How is Flick going to keep a rainbow cat and a dancing dog a secret when a pesky photographer is snapping lots of pics?' (Publication summary)

'Flick's got more than a running race to worry about when her little sister Birdie's in a wishing mood. How can she keep everything under control and avoid their secret getting out?

'It's school sports day and Flick is ready to race! So is Dad. He's been training for the parents versus teachers event. There will even be a news crew filming the day. But excitement often leads to baby Birdie making wishes and soon Flick's got more than a running race to worry about.

'How can she make sure her team wins fair and square when Birdie starts meddling with the most important event of the day?' (Publication summary) 

'Imagine if your baby sister could make wishes come true...The second book in a funny, magical new series for early readers.

'It's a big day. Flick is leading book club for the very first time. It doesn't help that her little sister is super cranky. Birdie is sick of being told she's not big enough to do things. She's making lots of silly wishes and being big is one of them.

'How can Flick do a good job at book club when there's a giant baby Birdie in the library?' (Publication summary)

'The first book in a magical and mischievous new series for early readers from beloved author Allison Rushby.

'Imagine if your baby sister could make wishes come true...

'Flick has just found out her little sister has a special gift. Birdie has wished for a super-fabulous unicorn party and it has magically appeared in their backyard! There's a rainbow slide made out of sour straps (surprisingly slippery), a ball pit full of marshmallows (never sticky), and a real-life unicorn (that poops cupcakes, of course).

'How can Flick stop the nosy next-door neighbour, Mrs Mortlake, finding out about her sister's magical gift when there's a super-fabulous party going on?' (Publication summary)

'A captivating supernatural mystery set in a house haunted by secrets from the past.

'Eleven-year-old Lolli must return to London and break a promise she made to herself — to never again enter the house in Spitalfields, an historic building managed by her family.

'There, Lolli must face up to what she saw in the house several years ago and make things right for two ghosts, one friendly and one decidedly not, and open her heart to people in both the living and twilight worlds.' (Publication summary)

'This story within a story within a story celebrates the creative art of storytelling. In London's Belgravia, Tamsin lives next door to Edie St Clair, famous author of the ‘London of the Bells' series of graphic novels. With the series' tenth and final novel overdue, Tamsin offers her idol help and discovers that Edie can literally draw herself into her stories. When Edie goes missing, Tamsin draws herself into the novel and lands in a world of unexpected danger. The stakes couldn't be higher in this gripping adventure.' (Publication summary)

'Flossie Birdwhistle is the Turnkey at London’s Highgate Cemetery. Seven years have passed since Flossie saved her country from a ghostly invasion during World War II. Since then, things have been quiet. That is, until Flossie’s nemesis, Hugo Howsham, reveals a secret the pair have been keeping – the keys of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries can be combined to make a Turnkey not only mortal, but immortal. When Hugo Howsham begins stealing keys, the other Turnkeys turn against Flossie, trusting her no longer. With family, friends and her cemetery in danger, can Flossie find the inner strength to protect everything she has ever cared about?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Do naught wrong by the mulberry tree, or she’ll take your daughters … one, two, three. Ten-year-old Immy and her family run away from their storm cloud of problems to a tiny village in Cambridgeshire, England. When they find an adorable thatched cottage to begin a perfect new life in, the only downside is the ancient, dark and fierce-looking mulberry tree in the back garden. And the legend that comes with it – the villagers say the tree steals away girls living in the cottage on the eve of their eleventh birthday. Of course, Immy thinks this is ridiculous. Then she starts to hear a strange song in her head … Allison Rushby’s new novel for middle-grade readers is a captivating, spooky mystery.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Flossie Birdwhistle is the Turnkey at London's Highgate Cemetery. As Turnkey, Flossie must ensure all the souls in the cemetery stay at rest. This is a difficult job at the best of times for a twelve-year-old ghost, but it is World War II and each night enemy bombers hammer London. Even the dead are unsettled. When Flossie encounters the ghost of a German soldier carrying a mysterious object, she becomes suspicious. What is he up to? Before long, Flossie uncovers a sinister plot that could result in the destruction of not only her cemetery, but also her beloved country. Can Flossie stop him before it is too late? 

Source: Back cover.

'When a brilliant high-school student is invited to join an international secret society, she leaves everything behind in pursuit of the high-stakes rewards it offers. When Miri discovers her boyfriend is also in the society, they must pretend they dont know each other, as the students are pitted against each other to push the boundaries of medicine using illegal self-experimentation. Miris experiment involves a new combination of specially timed drugs that could mean never needing to sleep again. As her experiment progresses, and she spends more and more hours awake, she finds that all is not as it seems. When the group realises that there is a secret fifth student experimenting alongside them, the stakes are raised dramatically. Now they must decide how far they will go to with their research...and some, it seems, are willing to go much farther than others. When it becomes clearer to Miri that the secrets in this society are deeper and more dangerous than she bargained for, she starts to question the true purpose of the secret society, and who lies behind it. Gripping and page-turning, The Fifth Room is a psychological thriller in which no one is to be trusted, not even yourself.' (Publication summary)

'Cooper can't believe that he and Molly are related, let alone twins. They are so different! He loves junk food. She calls it empty calories. He likes to crack jokes. She was born without a sense of humour. He's busy making plans for his gross-out tenth birthday party while Molly would rather take their dog, Jack, for a healthy walk.

'Their differences don't make sense. Until Molly tells him she's an alien who has been sent to protect Cooper and help him fulfil his destiny because one day he's going to save the universe. Cooper thinks Molly must be setting him up on some kind of prank TV show. Maybe she's got a sense of humour after all?

'But then intergalactic bounty hunters arrive in Peregrination (population: 203) and strange things start happening to Cooper. Either he's crazy or he really is in danger. And if he is in danger, so is the universe ...' (Publication summary)