AustLit

'“From the moment I got here, I’ve wanted to set the whole of Brisbane on fire,” reflects Andrew, the protagonist of Melanie Saward’s debut novel.'(Introduction)

'Unforgettable characters, chaotic family life and an intriguing ghost story combine in this funny, absorbing tale of a family who inherit a mansion on the other side of the world.

'I know what an endsister is,' says Sibbi again.
We are endsisters, Else thinks, Sibbi and I. 
Bookends, oldest and youngest, with the three boys sandwiched in between.

'Meet the Outhwaite children. There's teenage Else, the violinist who abandons her violin. There's nature-loving Clancy. There's the inseparable twins, Oscar-and-Finn, Finn-and-Oscar. And then there is Sibbi, the baby of the family. They all live contentedly squabbling in a cottage surrounded by trees and possums...until a letter arrives to say they have inherited the old family home in London.

'Outhwaite House is full of old shadows and new possibilities. The boys quickly find their feet in London, and Else is hoping to reinvent herself. But Sibbi is misbehaving, growing thinner and paler by the day, and she won't stop talking about the mysterious endsister. Meanwhile Almost Annie and Hardly Alice, the resident ghosts, are tied to the house for reasons they have long forgotten, watching the world around them change, but never leaving.

'The one thing they all agree on - the living and the dead - is never, ever to open the attic door...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Vega’s best friend Bonnie is dying of cancer. They share the secret of Vega’s ability to enter objects with her consciousness. When Bonnie dies Vega extends her consciousness into the corpse. A consideration of friendship between young women, and of the nature of loss.

'Claire lives in an ordinary world where everything is whole. But inside Claire is broken. The silvery notes of her music box allow her an escape from her grief into a dream-world, into Clara's world.

'Clara's world has always been broken. She finds broken things to swap at the markets; she walks the treacherous route past the brown river where lone dogs prowl; she avoids the seamy side when she can, but with powerful people pulling the strings, it's not always possible.

'Which world is real?

'Claire's and Clara's paths are set to collide, and each has much to lose - or gain.' (Publisher's blurb)

'India can see the future, and Poppy has a past. And when they discover old letters in the school attic it seems destiny has a plan for them. Who is the mysterious Swoosie? What does she have to do with Poppy's high-school sweetheart parents, and India's mum? Meanwhile plans for the reunion of the class of '89 are underway, and there's a lot of bad hair going round.

'Does the past have the power to change the future and can the future heal the past? India and Poppy are about to find out.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Everything I know about love I learned in one short year. Somehow I'd coasted along all my life and then I fell in love twice, bam bam, just like that, and it left my heart spinning...

'Ruby-lee is cynical about love; after all, she's watched her sister Shandra call off her wedding three times a week. But when Shandra volunteers her to babysit her friend's seven month old baby, Ruby-lee discovers just what love means. First she's overcome by powerful feelings for tiny Maisy, then she starts spending time with Maisy's dad, Spence. She even begins to imagine a future together, as a family. But where will Ruby-lee's fantasies lead? And what sort of trouble could they get her into? When it looks like Ruby-lee might lose everything, she has to discover what love truly is to find her own heart.' (Publication summary)

'Tilly, Zara and Mieke have always spent each summer together at Indigo Bay. But this year Tilly and Zara will have to spend the first week together without Mieke. Tilly isn't sure how she'll get along with golden girl Zara. Mieke has always been a buffer between them.

'But what Tilly doesn't know is that Zara is battling hidden demons, and has her own concerns. Will they survive this summer unscathed?' (Publisher's blurb)

'Undine thinks she could be happy living in a world where Stephen is still alive. Back in the real world, Trout could be happy too - as long as he doesn't think about Undine's disappearance, or why her shadow appears in his photographs. Phoenix is new in town, a drifter, passing through with his conjuring tricks. But they can't keep drifting forever, and one hot summer night their worlds collide. Coincidence or confluence? Illusion or reality? Trout isn't sure he wants an answer and Phoenix isn't telling. All Undine knows is that she must find a way to return home. Someone is calling her name. Sister, come to me...

'In the spellbinding conclusion to the Undine trilogy, the girl and the magic must become one to quell the darkness forever.' (Publication summary)

'Trout walks the streets at night, obsessing over Undine and the events in the Bay, haunted by the image of his own death. In his search for answers he is drawn back to the chaosphere and to Max, who may hold the key to Undine's magic. But can he trust the mysterious Max? Undine promised her mother that she won't use her magic in her final year of school, but her father, Prospero, thinks her promise is dangerous. Against the idyllic background of Corfu, home of her father's ancestors, conflict rages inside her and Undine must answer the most important question of all: is she the magic, or is she the girl?' (Publication summary)