Cirrus@Austlit

'A secret. A holiday. A summer like never before. Shae knows her parents are keeping something from her and is determined to find out what. But nothing can prepare her for what they are hiding. 17-year-old Shae is learning that relationships, deception, secrets and love can sometimes blend together and change everything. Shae and her family have a holiday of a lifetime planned, until it is cancelled unexpectedly. No warning. No explanation. Nothing. Instead, she is left to spend the summer holidays at her cousins. Shae knows her parents are keeping something from her and she’s determined to find out what. As Shae tries to uncover the mystery, she must also navigate the deteriorating relationship with her favourite cousin, Lexi, who’s been acting differently. To makes things more complicated, Shae meets Callen, the perplexing neighbour who manages to get under her skin every time she sees him. Then, Shae receives a mysterious letter. It includes a photograph of her father and another woman. An anonymous caller claims they sent it and have the answers Shae seeks. But does Shae really want the truth? As Shae fights to keep her world the same, she soon realizes that some things are out of her control. It seems everybody she cares about is hiding something. But nothing can prepare her for the secret her parents are guarding. Shae’s world will never be the same again by summer’s end.' (Publication summary)

'Ionic and covalent bonds are a piece of cake for MJ. But human bonds are a little harder ...

'There are only two things MJ wants in her final year of high school:

'1) Glowing grades and ...

'2) to convince uber-smart, chiselled-jaw Jason they’d be a winning team outside the science lab as well as in.

'Tutoring deadbeat drummer, Luke, isn’t part of the plan. After all, he has average intelligence, takes disorganised notes and looks like a partied-out zombie at their study sessions! Not even his taut biceps will win MJ over.

'But MJ learns that she could be tutored in a few life lessons too: That sometimes there’s good reason to skip chemistry tutorials. That intelligence is so much more than a grade average.

'And that sometimes you can’t beat the chemistry.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When 18 year-old Maya leaves Chicago for a six week Australian home stay, she assumes she's heading to beautiful Barangaroo with its famous Sydney Harbour views—NOT Barangaroo Creek, a stinking hot, fly-ridden, wi-fi dead zone hours from a decent body of water. Add her host brother, Gus, who wishes she landed in someone else's sheep paddock, and Maya is convinced she's in for six weeks of Hicksville hell. Gus has an important trip planned this summer—a trip that does NOT include helping an animal-phobic girl from the States tick off items on her seriously cliched Aussie must-do list.

'So he comes up with a list of his own-one guaranteed to send Maya back across the Pacific, leaving him free to enjoy the last of his freedom before he heads off to agricultural college like every generation of his family has. But when Maya doesn't scare that easily, sparks begin to fly. Soon Gus and Maya discover there are hidden depths to cliched bucket-lists and secret summer trips, and that sometimes it takes someone half a world away to remind you of all the reasons you're here.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)