Cirrus@Austlit

'I have so many super-amazing and IMPORTANT things to write about! I’ll tell you all about them: CLUB TROPICANA here we come! Matilda and I can’t wait to play mini golf and see SPLASHY pools and SLIPPERY water slides!!! My new SPARKLY bathers will look AMAZING in the water! But the water is too SPLASHY and kind of SCARY! Now Matilda has made some new friends and they love the BIG POOL! I need to be BRAVE and make this the BEST holiday ever!'

Source : publisher's blurb

'In a small town, everyone is watching ... Secrets, scandal and betrayal in 1950s small town Australia: the stunning new novel from bestseller Belinda Alexandra.

'She had thought Shipwreck Bay was simply a remote town where people were bored senseless with their little lives. Now she saw its virtuous facade hid something darker, more sinister.

'Rebecca Wood takes the role as postmistress in a sleepy seaside town, desperate for anonymity after a scandal in Sydney. But she is confronted almost at once by a disturbing discovery - her predecessor committed suicide.

'To add to her worries, her hopes for a quiet life are soon threatened by the attentions of the dashing local doctor, the unsettling presence of a violent whaling captain and a corrupt shire secretary, as well as the watchful eyes of the town's gossips. Yet in spite of herself she is drawn to the enigmatic resident of the house on the clifftop, rumoured to have been a Nazi spy.

'Against the backdrop of the turbulent sea, Rebecca is soon caught up in the dangerous mysteries that lie behind Shipwreck Bay's respectable net curtains.' (Publication summary)

'I have so many super-amazing and IMPORTANT things to write about! Ill tell you all about them: I REALLY love making fairy gardens with my BFF, Matilda. My class is decorating cakes for the Foodie Fun Fair!!! I want my group to do a FAIRY cake with a HOUSE and a PLAYGROUND But all my group does is argue . . . Somehow I have to convince everyone that my cake idea is the best!' (Publication summary)

'I have SO many super amazing and IMPORTANT things to write about! I will tell you all about them: My family and I are going camping at Dragontail Creek!!! My BFF, Matilda, is also coming with us. But there are strange noises in the night. And we found some interesting tracks in the dirt!!! Could there be a dragon in our campsite??? One thing is for sure, it is time for Matilda and I to go dragon catching! Olivia x'   (Publication summary)

'England, 1939 Talented pilot Skye Penrose joins the British war effort where she encounters her estranged sister, Liberty, and childhood soulmate Nicholas Crawford, now engaged to enigmatic Frenchwoman Margaux Jourdan.

'Paris, 1947 Designer Christian Dior unveils his extravagant first collection to a world weary of war and grief. He names his debut fragrance, Miss Dior, in tribute to his sister, Catherine, who worked for the French Resistance.

'Present day Australian fashion conservator Kat Jourdan discovers a secret wardrobe filled with priceless Dior gowns in her grandmother's vacant cottage. As she delves into the mystery, Kat begins to doubt everything she thought she knew about her beloved grandmother.

'An unspeakable betrayal will entwine all of their fates.

'The Paris Secret is an unforgettable story about the lengths people go to protect one another, and a love that, despite everything, lasts a lifetime.' (Publication summary)

'I have so many super-amazing and important things to write about! Ill tell you all about them: Its nearly Christmas Day! I cant wait!!! But Ive made a HUGE mistake! I sent our Santa letters to the wrong address! What if Santa cant find us??? I need a plan to make sure Santa doesnt miss us!!! And maybe even set some Santa traps too. I want to make this the best Christmas.'  (Publication summary)

'I have so many super-amazing and IMPORTANT things to write about! I'll tell you all about them: Our school had some musicians come and visit.

'They played different instruments and it sounded awesome!

'So now we want to make our own musical instruments and put on a show.

'But somebody keeps breaking our instruments! Who could it be? We need to find out who is doing it.

'This show needs to be super amazing! Olivia X' (Publication summary) 

'I have so many super-amazing and IMPORTANT things to write about! 

'I'll tell you all about them:

• Its Recycling Week at school!!!
• Matilda and I have made box cars.
• Our idea is so super-amazing that our whole class is going to make box cars so we can have a race!!!
• But why hasnt Bethany made a box car? And why is she acting so sad? Sounds like she might need my help.

'Matilda and Olivia to the rescue! Olivia' (Publication summary)

'I have so many super-amazing and IMPORTANT things to write about! Ill tell you all about them: Our school chickens need new homes!!!! Ive made some plans for the best chicken house, so they can live with me But when the chickens come home with me and my friends, their eggs seem to disappear We have to solve the mystery of the missing chicken eggs!!! Im going to get to the bottom of this chicken mystery! Olivia x'  (Synopsis)

'I have lots of super-amazing and IMPORTANT things to write about! And I'll tell you ALL about them: Our school is having a super-awesome science fair!!!!

'The best group will win the TOP PRIZE. But there's a new girl, Bethany. She doesn't think my ideas are any good. . And what is that TERRIBLE smell in our classroom? Pee-yew! So, should we make gooey slime? Exploding volcanoes? Or maybe a time machine! I can't WAIT to decide!!!

'This is going to be the best (and messiest) project ever! Olivia.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'I have so many super-amazing and IMPORTANT things to write about! Ill tell you all about them: Everyone at school is doing super-amazing tricks on the play equipment. We are going to perform an UNBELIEVABLE acrobat show. An awesome Circus Skills Workshop has come to town! They will teach us wild gymnastics tricks. But theres something wrong with my BFF Matilda. Why doesnt she want to do the trapeze with me?And how will we do our acrobat show if Matilda doesnt want to be in it? I have to work out a way to make this show the best show ever! Olivia x'  (Publication summary)

'I have so many super-amazing and IMPORTANT things to write about! 

I'll tell you all about them: 
* My dog, Bob, is friendly and cuddly. He is a PERFECT puppy (almost). Sometimes he gets into mischief. 
* He loves to chew things! Especially Dads slippers.Then he buries them in the garden! 
* Bob eats and eats AND EATS! He even steals snacks off the table. (I dont mind when he eats my broccoli though!) 
* He is BOUNCY and JUMPY and chases CATS! Eeek! 

'I have to invent a way to keep Bob out of trouble! 

'Olivia x'  (Publication summary)

'I have so many super-amazing and IMPORTANT things to write about! I'll tell you all about them: I've got a brand-new bedroom-yay! My best friend Lucy moved away last week and I really miss her. I'm planning LOTS of cool inventions (I'm pretty sure some will work too!) Someone keeps sneaking into my room but I DON'T KNOW WHO! There's a new girl at school called Matilda. She looks fun . . . but why does she act so mysteriously all the time??? I'm going to find out exactly what's going on!' (Publication summary)

'It's 1922 in the Manhattan of gin, jazz and prosperity. Women wear makeup and hitched hemlines - and enjoy a new freedom to vote and work. Not so Evelyn Lockhart, forbidden from pursuing her passion: to become one of the first female doctors. Chasing her dream will mean turning her back on the only life she knows: her competitive sister, Viola; her conservative parents; and the childhood best friend she is expected to marry, Charlie.

'And if Evie does fight Columbia University's medical school for acceptance, how will she support herself? So when there's a casting call for the infamous late-night Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway, will Evie find the nerve to audition? And if she does, what will it mean for her fledgling relationship with Upper East Side banker Thomas Whitman, a man Evie thinks she could fall in love with, if only she lived a life less scandalous? ' (Publication summary)

'1874: Only days before she is to leave the foundling home where she grew up, Agnes Resolute discovers that, as a baby, she had been abandoned with a small token of her mother: a unicorn button.

'Agnes always believed her mother had been too poor to keep her, but after working as a laundress in the home she recognises the button as belonging to Genevieve Breckby, the beautiful and headstrong daughter of a local noble family. Agnes had seen Genevieve once, in the local village, and had never forgotten her.

'Despite having no money, Agnes will risk everything in a quest that will take her from the bleak moors of northern England to the harsh streets of London, then on to Paris and Ceylon. As Agnes follows her mother's trail, she makes choices that could cost her dearly. Finally, in Australia, she tracks Genevieve down. But is Genevieve capable of being the mother Agnes hopes she will be?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'An epic new novel as memorable as the scent of lavender, from one of Australia's most compelling storytellers.

''Nothing is wasted, Simone. the love we give never dies.'

'At fourteen, Simone Fleurier is wrenched from her home on a Provencal lavender farm and sent to work in Marseille. Her life there is hard and impoverished, but Simone discovers the music hall and a dream: to one day be a famous dancer and singer. But when war threatens, Simone makes a decision that will lead to great danger - yet ultimately prove that love, just like wild lavender, can grow in the least likely of places ...

'Belinda Alexandra has created a tale of passion and courage that moves from the backstreets of Marseille to the grand music theatres of Paris, from the countryside of Provence to decadent pre-war Berlin and jazz-age New York. Wild Lavender is a feast for the senses that will live on in the imagination long after the book is closed.' (Publication summary)