Aussie Kids Books

Here is a teaser from my young adult manuscript Exposed! It was well received on my Instagram page so I thought I'd post it here too. (For background, Exposed is about 16-year-old Skeeter, who starts having strange flashbacks about drowning and becomes obsessed with the need to know how her heart donor really died. In this scene, Skeeter is meeting her heart donor's parents for the first time). My gaze falls on a large framed photo on the side table, of a girl with long hair

This beautifully written own voices young adult novel is narrated by Anna Chui, who is in Year 11 at school. Anna’s teachers are telling her to put more effort and thought into her studies and what she wants to do after school, but they don’t know that at home, Anna is left to assume responsibility for her two younger siblings, while her father works long hours at the family restaurant, and Ma stays in bed for long periods of time. Anna is looking for signs in the shadows and

Sixteen-year-old Nate is struggling to stay afloat as he attempts to avoid getting beaten up at school and tries to fly under the radar of his dad's quiet menace at home. He quietly observes the way his dad treats Nance and his twin half-brothers, without finding a way to outwardly voice his concern. Nate writes his thoughts in a notebook, which provides some solace amongst the raw confusion of his daily life. Through his writing he creates for himself a kind of alternative r

I felt like I needed a splash of sunshine yellow during these cold winter months - and this stack of yellow books from our home collection makes me think of summer. If you also feel like a burst of yellow cheer then grab a copy of one of these books! HotDog 2: Party Time!, by Ahn Do My kids all love this series of books about the friendly and funny sausage dog Hotdog and his two best friends Kev and Lizzie. Perfect for new readers, with lots of humour, colourful storylines wi

This is a compelling story of friendship between two unlikely characters. Angie is undoubtedly one of the most unforgettable and enduring characters you will encounter in YA fiction. We view her through the eyes of 13-year-old Seymour, who is lonely and bored and quickly becomes captivated by Angie – who is all confidence and sparkle, with her silver lace and satin and a little flying horse tattooed on one shoulder. In Seymour’s eyes, it seems possible that she could “reach h

If you enjoy a fast-paced read, set against the background of a beautifully constructed world, then you will love this young adult novel! The reader is immediately drawn into a future landscape, where global warming and flooding has forced the population to construct islands to live on, and to scavenge flooded cities under the sea just to survive. The most compelling feature of this future world is that the dead can be revived for 24 hours, and our protagonist, seventeen-year