AustLit

'TWO MISSING BACKPACKERS. ONE VAST OUTBACK.

'DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, taking care of his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers, Berndt and Rita, vanish from the area, he finds himself unofficially on the case.

'But why all the interest from the Federal Police when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast? Working in the organised crime unit has opened Walker's eyes to the growing drug trade in Australia's remote interior - and he becomes convinced there is more at play.

'As the number of days since the couple's disappearance climbs, Walker is joined by Rita's older sister. A detective herself with Berlin CID, she has flown to Australia - desperate to find her sister.

'Their search becomes ever more urgent as temperatures soar. Even if Walker does find the young couple, will it be too late?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'My body is strong.
My body can do amazing things.
My body is my own.

'Freedom is loving your body with all its "imperfections" and being the perfectly imperfect you! Love Your Body encourages young girls to admire and celebrate their bodies for all the amazing things they can do, and help girls see that they are so much more than their bodies.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Holly's second 'dadventure' is a screen-free challenge - Mum has packed her and Dad off to a log cabin in Fir Forest for five days with NO technology. There are other people camping in the woods, though - Zeb and his show-off dad who are camping 'properly' in tents and fishing for their dinner. Holly's dad is treating her like a baby and being more embarrassing than ever, but Zeb and Holly soon hit it off and enjoy exploring the forest together. A few days in Zeb's dad goes missing, and they discover there is a bear on the loose from the local safari park. It's up to Holly and her new friend to work together, save the day and prove themselves to their fathers - all without their phones or any tech gadgets!' (Publication summary)

'A heart-warming debut about finding out what love and life is all about.

'At seven years old, Millie Bird realises that everything is dying around her. She wasn't to know that after she had recorded twenty-seven assorted creatures in her Book of Dead Things her dad would be a Dead Thing, too.

'Agatha Pantha is eighty-two and has not left her house since her husband died. She sits behind her front window, hidden by the curtains and ivy, and shouts at passers-by, roaring her anger at complete strangers. Until the day Agatha spies a young girl across the street.

'Karl the Touch Typist is eighty-seven when his son kisses him on the cheek before leaving him at the nursing home. As he watches his son leave, Karl has a moment of clarity. He escapes the home and takes off in search of something different.

'Three lost people needing to be found. But they don't know it yet. Millie, Agatha and Karl are about to break the rules and discover what living is all about.' (Publication summary)

'Don Tillman is a forty-year-old geneticist with undiagnosed Aspergers. When he wants to find a partner, he approaches the project the only way he knows - systematically. He creates a questionnaire designed to find the perfect woman - a punctual, non-drinking, non-smoking female who will fit in with his regimented lifestyle. When Rosie appears on the scene, she fits none of Don's criteria - but she does turn his life upside down.'

Source: Wheeler Centre website,
Sighted: 28/05/2012

'Abandoned in a big city at the onset of winter, a hungry four-year-old boy follows a stray dog to her lair. There in the rich smelly darkness, in the rub of hair, claws and teeth, he joins four puppies suckling at their mother's teats. And so begins Romochka's life as a dog.

Weak and hairless, with his useless nose and blunt little teeth, Romochka is ashamed of what a poor dog he makes. But learning how to be something else...that's a skill a human can master. Fortunately - because one day Romochka will have to learn how to be a boy.' (Publisher's Blurb)

'Now that Materena is a big star with her radio talk show, Pito can't help noticing some changes in his wife. She's spending more and more time at work and with her girlfriends instead of coming home to cook for him. And why does a Tahitian woman need to know how to drive, anyway? He tries to shrug it off, but when Materena gives him the silent treatment and doesn't come home after a night of dancing, Pito has had enough! How is he supposed to fix things with Materena when she doesn't even give him a chance?

'Luckily for Pito, his opportunity comes when a threemonth-old girl named Tiare–rumored to be their son Tomatoa's daughter–is left on the Mahis' doorstep. Anxious to pull his weight and set things right, Pito embarks on a hilarious and noble mission to prove himself to his granddaughter, his wife, and–most importantly–himself. TIARE IN BLOOM is the heartwarming story of a couple facing big changes on a small island–and a love that outlasts it all.' (Publication summary)

'In Tahiti, it's a well-known fact that women are wisest, mothers know best, and Materena Mahi knows best of all–or so everyone except for her own daughter thinks. Soon enough, mother and daughter are engaged in a tug-of-war that tests the bonds of their love.' (Publication summary)

'Twenty years ago, when I first arrived on the plains, I kept my eyes open. I looked for anything in the landscape that seemed to hint at some elaborate meaning behind appearances.

'There is no book in Australian literature like The Plains. In the two decades since its first publication, this haunting novel has earned its status as a classic. A nameless young man arrives on the plains and begins to document the strange and rich culture of the plains families. As his story unfolds, the novel becomes, in the words of Murray Bail, ‘a mirage of landscape, memory, love and literature itself’.' (Publication summary : Text Classics)

'Even in death, Cassidy is larger than life.

'Charles Parnell Cassidy is a powerful politician. He's a backroom fixer generous, but also greedy and cunning. Martin Gregory is his disenchanted protégé who, having married Cassidy's daughter and become a success on his own terms, scorns his father-in-law.

'When the terminally ill Cassidy arrives in London to die, he makes Gregory the executor of his will and sets a complex trap by offering him the keys to a vast empire of wealth and corruption spanning Australia and Southeast Asia. With Cassidy's evil influence ever-present Gregory tries to unravel the old man's complicated obligations and debts, while struggling to ensure the security of his family.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).