Gary Crew

On a scorching hot summer day in Preston, Australia, Spike and Bubba go for a swim in the old water tower which casts a long dark shadow across everything in the area.

The Watertower

Shaun Tan

The use of a Viewmaster-like object found while scavenging at the dump results in teenaged Tristan seeing surprising images and leads to unforeseen consequences.

The Viewer

Trying to solve the mystery of a 1629 shipwreck, teenager Steven Messenger disappears without a trace.

Strange Objects

Steven Woolman

Watertower

Philip Neilsen

Edward Britton

Aaron Hill

On holiday with his parents, fifteen-year-old Damon is bored. His parents drag him to an art gallery, but after cruising around for a while, he returns to his hotel room to play his gameboy. Bored by the repetitive nature of the games, he falls asleep. But it is then that the artwork Damon has tried so hard to ignore comes to life, even going so far as to affect his reality. When Damon wakes, he is altered by the power of creativity, which even he can no longer deny.

Damon

A boy listens to his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father (all veterans) talk of a memorial tree planted in 1918, and finds out the city council is planning to cut it down.

Memorial

A heartbreaking fable about nature and our relationship with it, and about the inevitable cycle of life. And then, as if on cue, the baby shaped its mouth into a perfect circle, drew breath into its cheeks and, curling its tiny tongue upon its bottom lip, breathed the long soft sound of wind in the trees. This is a tale of storms and bushfires and wild bees. It is a tale of an old couple and an unexpected gift from the bush. A gift they must one day return . . .

The Boy Who Grew Into a Tree

Bruce Whatley

Children's picture storybook based on an historical incident. In 1890, the British East India passenger liner 'Quetta' struck an uncharted rock in the Torres Strait and sank. Over 150 men, women, and children lost their lives, but one of the survivors was an unidentified baby girl. A custody battle erupted when both the ship's Captain and a young Ceylonese steward wanted to adopt her.

Quetta

Few people know that boys as young as ten years old were transported to Australia as convicts early last century. Even fewer know that a special boys' prison, Point Puer, was built for them at Port Arthur, Tasmania. EDWARD BRITTON tells the gripping, shocking story of the suffering and triumphs of two teenage convicts with very different characters, hopes and fears.

Book for older children about mysterious happenings in New Canaan, a place cut off from the world by sea and swamp. Written by the author of TStrange Objects', the 1991 Children's Book of the Year for Older Readers.

A Book of Antipodean Hours

No Such Country

Sarah narrates a tale of her life with 'Mama', a woman who takes in babies for profit, and as these babies mysteriously disappear, Sarah's suspicions are aroused.

Mama's Babies

'I can't say I'm sorry. It had to happen. I've written to my mum and dad. Maybe they'll care. I don't know.' THE INNER CIRCLE is the unforgettable story of two teenage boys' struggle for personal identity - against the odds of prejudice and the indifference of the world.

The Inner Circle

Annotation. What drew the boys into the cornfield that day? Bravado? Stupidity? Or was it more? Was it really to discover the truth behind the disappearance of that Pinchly kid... the one who went in, and never came out?

Corn Field

The night the first wild child was captured, I was woken from my sleep by the sound of car doors slamming. I opened my eyes; lights were flashing across the ceiling of my bedroom. I sat up at once, and there, holding the lace curtain of my window, was my sister Julia. "They've caught one," I whispered. "Haven't they?" She took her hand from the curtain and turned away. "They get us all, sooner or later," she said. Then she vanished into the darkness of the hall. But who could live with wild children and not be affected? And what changes might their dark secrets bring about in the lives of others? This award-winning novel was described as 'a superb representation of contemporary Australian writing' by the SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (USA).

Angel's Gate

In 1894, Stephens Island, New Zealand, was paradise. This true story, told by an old man to his grandson, reveals how one innocent event can change the balance of nature forever. Includes factual information about Stephens Island. A sophisticated picture book. Suggested level: primary, intermediate.

Cat on the Island

Leigh Hobbs

Leo is the neglected son of the disgustingly vain (and talentless) trapeze duo, the Glittering Gargantuos. He spends his time with his only friends, the circus lions. When his parents decide to use him as a prop to liven up their act, Leo is totally embarassed. But a slip-up reveals Leo's true star quality. Suggested level: primary.

Leo the Lion Tamer

Libby Hathorn

Meet Venny -- a tall, good looking sixteen year old Australian boy who hates schoolwork and just wants a good life and a flashy car. Meet Saffron -- a bright, artistic orphan, living a sophisticated life of luxury with her great-aunt Beatrice in New York. Laugh and cry with these unlikely but likeable pen friends. Fast cars, exotic locations, dreams, confessions, tragedy and an engaging love story. Neighbours and Hollyoaks meet real life.

Dear Venny, Dear Saffron

An astonishingly original novel for adults from the multi award-winning children's author, Gary Crew 'I lived many lives beneath that piano ... I heard ten thousand stories in that space. there I was privileged to observe, to gather - and not only gather, to concentrate within myself - so much that is usually denied a child of my age. As a result, I have, you might say, grown.' So says Augustus trump - a dwarf destined to be a circus freak. Cursed by nature as he is, Augustus is nevertheless blessed with a determination to survive, and more than survive, to grow. this growth, both in stature and in spirit, is brought about by a second blessing - his divine voice: an instrument so sublime that even the stars pay heed. Because no-one knows better the agonies, the violence and the love that inform the poetic than Augustus trump: dwarf, protégé, man. tHE ARCHItECtURE OF SONG is a truly magical, unique novel of beauty, imagination and song, with a cast of dark, surprising characters who will enchant and delight you, just as the songs of Augustus trump enchant and transform them.

The Architecture of Song

A dazzling novel about writers and writing, love and loss ... the first adult novel from this multi-award-winning children's writer Charlie Bloome wants to be a writer. twenty-three years old, he is studying literature and living with his gamine partner, Alice - 'Lootie' - who plans to be a teacher and is less than supportive of Charlie's dreams. Into their lives comes the flamboyant Sebastian Chanteleer, an ageing but internationally acclaimed children's writer. Upon meeting, Lootie and Chanteleer establish an immediate bond. As the children's writer makes his presence felt in the younger couple's lives, Charlie struggles to come to terms with his own past and identity, and with what is happening to Lootie. Does Charlie have what it takes to be a writer? Does Chanteleer represent the best or worst a writer can be? And what happens to those caught up in a writer's world? Gary Crew has crafted a compelling and superbly written study of passions and ambitions, and an insider's look at the creative process and the foibles and delusions of those who practise it.

Gary Crew

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