AustLit

'No one had talked about fuel; what was the use of talking, anyway? But they all knew that engines which run on fuel have to run out of fuel sometime, and that the Egret just couldn’t keep on going for ever. They seemed to have been sitting in this plane, imprisoned, for days, waiting to die. Gerald just flew on and on as though he wanted to fly away to another world, almost as though he didn’t want to go down, almost as though he didn’t know how to go down.

When the Egret’s pilot dies suddenly mid-flight six teenagers, the only passengers on board, face a terrifying situation. Gerald has had some flying lessons, but he has never flown alone, and he has never landed a plane. Lost and afraid, they fly on as the fuel gauge drops and night closes in. Will they find a clear landing place? Could they land in the sea? If they do somehow land safely how will they find their way back to civilisation?'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Text Publishing edition).

The first of P.L. Travers's novels about the magical nanny, Mary Poppins.

When Katie Nana, the much-tried nanny to the Banks family of 17 Cherry Tree Lane, finally storms out in a huff, the wind blows in Mary Poppins and her carpetbag. The Banks children find that Mary Poppins is stern, vain, and usually cross – but also has a touch of magic about her.

I Can Jump Puddles is Alan Marshall's story of his childhood, a happy world in which, despite his crippling poliomyelitis, he plays, climbs, fights, swims, rides and laughs. His world was the Australian countryside early last century: rough-riders, bushmen, farmers and tellers of tall stories, a world held precious by the young Alan Marshall. (Source: Trove)

'This is a tale of corruption stretching from street corner SP bookmaking to the most influential men in the land - and the terrible personal cost of the power such corruption brings. John West rose from a Melbourne slum to dominate Australian politics with bribery, brutality and fear. His attractive wife and their children turned away from him in horror. Friends dropped away. At the peak of his power, surrounded by bootlickers, West faced a hate-filled nation - and the terrible loneliness of his life. Was John West a real figure? For months during the post-war years, an Australian court heard evidence in a sensational libel action brought by businessman John Wren's wife. After a national uproar which rocked the very foundations of the Commonwealth, Frank Hardy was acquitted. This is the novel which provoked such intense uproar and debate across the nation. The questions it poses remain unanswered…' (Publication summary)

'After ten years of happy marriage, Joy Miller, a young Australian woman, overcomes the reluctance of her husband to return to his native Germany. There she discovers the truth about his family background and his Nazi upbringing.' (Publisher's blurb)

A bush pilot is badly injured, leaving his young son to fly them both home.