Cirrus@Austlit

'What I Wish I’d Known is a regular series where we ask some of our favourite people in the book industry to reflect on their careers. In this instalment, authors share some of the unexpected and useful things they’ve learned along the way about writing for kids.'

'The wry humour and mystery-solving of Friday Barnes meets the magic of TikTok sensation The House in the Cerulean Sea in this spooky, madcap, hilarious school camp adventure!

'A run-down camp in the woods.

'No phone reception.

'Ten students with untested powers . . .

'Celine is seeing conspiracies everywhere. Fionn has a bad premonition about the colour blue. Mr Berg is horrified at the camp's questionable safety standards. Something is definitely not right at Camp Buttress.

'This hilarious and quirky new novel by Anna Zobel will keep you guessing as the students and their teachers try to solve the mystery - and survive.' (Publication summary)

'Little Gem is settling into her life at Ellsworth Pining with the help of Ghost Henry and her other friends. Everyone is preparing for the Midsummer Festival and Little Gem is in charge of the special effect for the Midsummer play. But when Little Gem's magic starts to go wrong and she receives several mysterious letters, Gem is worried that the festival is going to be a disaster! Will Little Gem be able to work out who is sending the letters and regain her confidence before opening night?' (Publication summary)

'Sometimes getting a little lost can help you discover who you really are . . .

'When a travelling spell goes terribly wrong, Gem finds herself in a strange, empty house, outside a strange, colourful town. She's certainly not in Witchcraft School any more. In fact, she's not even in the right time any more.

'But everyone in Ellsworth Pining thinks Gem has arrived to be their new village witch, no matter how many times Gem tries to tell them she's not. And after getting to know the town, making new friends - some real and some more ghostly - and solving some problems in her own unique way, Gem thinks her new situation might not be so bad after all.

'Will she even want to find the right spell to take her back home?' (Publication summary)

‘They’re both my mums.’
‘But which one’s your real mum?’

'When Nicholas wants to know which of Elvi’s two mums is her real mum, she gives him lots of clues. Her real mum is a circus performer, and a pirate, and she even teaches spiders the art of web.

'But Nicholas still can’t work it out! Luckily, Elvi knows just how to explain it to her friend.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A catastrophe of good and bad manners and the girl stuck in the middle.

'When Izzy Winkle – The Most Grateful Girl in the World – enters a competition to find The Most Ungrateful Girl in the World, she is plunged into a hidden society of secret agents, brave pigeons and warring manners.

'Daphne du Bois, Etiquette Queen of the Southern Hemisphere, says children should be seen and not heard. Horace Unthank, Professor of Appalling Behaviour, says children should roll in mud, helter-skelter down hills,chew furiously, spit words while chewing furiously ... 

'With the help of her best friend Katie Skittle, Izzy must beat the Top Ten Ungrateful Girls. And save the world from fibs, nits and rudeness.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.