Cirrus@Austlit

'It’s 1993. Beth McMaugh is eleven years old and about to start her final year of middle school. Her best friend since kindergarten is Ashlee, but Ashlee is changing. She wears surf brand clothes now, and watches teenage TV and knows all the words to all the songs by Girlfriend and Peter Andre. Beth is terrified of losing her when they get to senior school, but Ashlee assures her that grade six is going to be the best year ever.

'On the first day, though, Beth enters her new homeroom to find Ashlee sitting with Kristy, Abbi and Nikki – the popular girls. The mean girls. What is Beth going to do? Ashlee can’t really want to be one of them. They must have trapped her into being part of their group, through some sort of heinous bribery. Beth has to save Ashlee, but how? 

'Further complicating matters, there is a new kid in class – a strange, loud, smart kid from Brisbane, called Jools, who listens to Queen and is obsessed with science fiction and all things nerdy. So obsessed that, on her first day at her new school, she starts the Cooee Middle School Nerd Club and she wants Beth to be her first member – despite the fact that Beth has never even seen Star Wars!

'Behind all of this – behind everything – is a secret from Beth’s past, a secret so terrible it stays with her, every day, whispering in her ear: Wash your hands.

'Behind everything is that day at the beach, when Kristy saw her in her worst moment. Is that why Ashlee doesn’t want to be friends with Beth anymore? Is that why her mother doesn’t want to be near her? Has Beth ruined everything? And if she has, can a nerdy girl with mismatched socks, a rebellious punk, a popular boy and a science fiction movie trilogy set it all to right?

'Real Friends, by Shannon Hale, meets Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, meets The Friendship Matchmaker, by Randa Abdel Fattah, this is a story of growing up, of friendship, of finding your tribe and unlocking your hidden talents ... plus Star Wars.'  (Publication summary)

'From acclaimed authors Kate Foster and Kate Gordon, a special story about being kind to others... and yourself.

'There are people everywhere who need help, who might seem okay on the outside but aren’t on the inside. People whose whole entire day can be changed ...

'Josh wants a friend but he doesn’t know how to find somewhere to belong …

'Ollie wants to express herself but doesn’t want to be noticed …

'Small Acts introduces two kids with great hearts who know that helping others can start with one small act of kindness. Josh has a plan to start with just that. So does Ollie. What Josh and Ollie don’t know yet is that they need each other to make their plans work.' (Publication summary)

(Publication summary)

'Finch and Wren were as close as a brother and sister can be. When he vanished, when they were nine years old, her world cracked in two. Finch was never found. On the same day that Finch disappeared, another girl was lost, too. Her name was Ava. Her parents were rich tourists, from Sydney. Ava’s story got all the media attention. And Finch was forgotten. But not by Wren. Never by Wren. Three years on, Finch is still with her, whispering in her ear, guiding her through life. As Wren begins high school and forms a new, bewildering friendship with a mysterious girl called Freddie, Finch is there, urging her on. To go bolder. To go braver. To grab life with two hands. When another girl goes missing – a strange girl called Johanna – Wren feels compelled to search for her. To her surprise, Freddie does, too. The two of them try and piece together who Johanna is and why she ran away. Or did she run away? Was the truth more awful? And was it all tied together with what happened to Finch and Ava? My Brother, Finch, is a story of family, of loss, of friendship and of grief, and of what it truly means to let go and move on.' (Publication summary)

'Esme doesn’t like the girl she sees in the mirror. Not pretty enough. Not thin enough. Not smart enough or talented enough. Nothing at all like her big sister, Ro.
Then, a new friend comes into her life—a friend who wants Esme to be exactly who she is, or so Esme thinks.

'For a while, Esme likes who she sees in the mirror—even if it never really feels like her. But then, she messes up. Her friend goes away, leaving her alone. There’s no-one to help cover up the fact that she is a talentless nobody whose only real dream is to work in a milk bar—which will never be good enough for her controlling mother.
When two new friends try to help her see the real Esme again, she can’t risk it happening all over again. She can’t be their friend. And she definitely can’t let them convince her to be in the school play …

'School plays are for girls like Ro. So, of course she gets a part. Because she is perfect. But what if Ro wasn’t as perfect as she seems? What if she needs Esme’s help?

'And what if the real Esme Rogers is nothing like who anybody says she is, but a creature of her own making, who can be more than any of them imagine … even if it makes her mother mad.

'A book about finding friendship in unlikely places and finding yourself in even stranger ones …

'And, most importantly … ice cream.' (Publication summary)

'Temora Tempest is in Writungeard, a student at Lyfthelm Tower, but things aren’t as well as the Literi would have them believe. Because Rider Marr is on the loose and it’s up to Temora and her friends to uncover his sinister plans and protect the realm and the Dreamers.' (Publication summary)

'Temora Murphy is eleven years old. She lives in an immaculate house, with a mother who wishes to control and mould her. The only other children she sees are the “shiny” girls her mother selects for her as friends. Girls who tease her for her size and shyness. Girls who call her “Puddingface”. Temora wants more.

'Temora loves reading, books about adventure and magic. She finds these books in a black pearl box at the bottom of the garden, beneath the Bloodwood tree. She does not know how they come to be there or who sends them, and every time she thinks too hard about it, some strange impulse in her mind compels her to stop.

'The books help her to escape. But only so much. Then, at a party for her twelfth birthday, Temora Murphy makes another wish. And with that wish, Temora Tempest’s life alters forever.

'Temora and the Wordsnatcher is a literary children’s story; a portal fantasy work, featuring characters from multiple backgrounds and a protagonist who does not conform to societal standards of beauty, and who wishes to push against the constructs of what it means to be “feminine”.'

'Two of Australia’s most acclaimed and high profile writers co-author a sensitive and ultimately hopeful story about our growing climate crisis.

'With sea-levels rising, and the land deforested, over-mined and affected by bushfires and drought – Tasmania is increasingly marooned, its people abandoned. Nyx’s father wants them to leave while they still can but, for Nyx, West Hobart is all she’s ever known, and where her mother is buried. She seeks solace in the single surviving tree near her home - an 80-foot pine that has defied all odds. Bea, too, finds solace in the tree, and facing a move to the mainland herself, leaves a despairing note, wedged into a hole in its trunk. Nyx finds the note, and writes back. But Nyx and Bea don’t realise how special their tree truly is …' (Publication summary)

'"We are the storm and the stillness." Indigo Michael isn't like other kids. And her mum isn't like other mums. Life for people like them isn't meant to have meaning- it's just something to survive in whatever way you can. When her mum abandons her, Aster's Aunt Noni becomes her foster parent. Suddenly Indigo has a new 'family'-one she didn't ask for and isn't even sure she wants. Then she meets Liam. He graffiti's revolutionary words across the world, words that make Indigo want to run towards something, build something, be something. For the first time in a long time, Indigo feels she has made a genuine friend, which makes it even harder when that friendship is betrayed ... This poignant companion novel to the CBCA Award winning Aster's Good, Right Things explores the different shapes of friendship and family, and how a girl who longs for all she's never had, learns what it means to truly belong.' (Publication summary)

'"There is no now and no then, only in between and always Open the box. Come and see." Aberdeen Knopwood wants to make a difference - to help save the planet and express the passion for the environment that burns underneath her skin. But how can a girl who is too scared to stand out actually do something meaningful? Aberdeen's family has been woven into the fabric of Hobart for generations. When her journalist father gifts her an antique chronometer, it leads her to another girl who also knows and loves Hobart. But the Hobart this girl knows is very different to the one Aberdeen grew up in - a newer Hobart, where the stone buildings aren't yet mellowed to soft golds, sea shanties echo from tall sailing ships, and men armed with harpoons hunt whales in the harbour. This girl knows something that Aberdeen is yet to discover: one person really can make a difference. CBCA Award-winning author Kate Gordon invites you to walk the cobbled streets of Hobart in the early 19th century, exploring our desire to change our world for the better, and the enduring legacy--both good and bad--of those who came before...' (Publication summary)

'Aster attends a school for gifted kids, but she doesn’t think she’s special at all. If she was, her mother wouldn’t have left. Each day Aster must do a good, right thing—a challenge she sets herself, to make someone else’s life better. Nobody can know about her ‘things’, because then they won’t count. And if she doesn’t do them, she's sure everything will go wrong. Then she meets Xavier. He has his own kind of special missions to make life better. When they do these missions together, Aster feels free, but if she stops doing her good, right things will everything fall apart?' (Publication summary)

'An evocative story about one odd boy searching for his place in the world, perfect for anyone who has ever wondered where their path might lead.

'When Jackdaw Hollow is orphaned by a lightning strike, he is taken in by the headmistress of Direleafe Hall. Even though he grows up with her love and care, he feels undeserving, as if the universe made a mistake in sparing him. As he searches for the reason he survived the storm, he befriends Angeline, a wildling girl who knows where her destiny lies - the circus. But when he goes too far in trying to find his own calling, he loses sight of what's most important.

'The Calling of Jackdaw Hollow is a spirited tale of destiny, self-worth and accepting that if you love something, you must set it free.' (Publication summary)

'Amira's Magpie is a story of friendship, family and escape; of bravery and resilience in the face of hardship. It is the story of hope we find in small happinesses, even when it seems like all hope is lost. In the evocative and primarily monochrome illustrations, we see Amira living in some kind of compound. Her beloved grandfather lives a long way away, and as she remembers him, Amira imagines her magpie flying backwards and forwards between them, bringing news of home. In a beautifully lyrical way, this gentle yet powerful story reminds us of asylum seekers and anyone who longs for home. An outstanding book for older picture book readers and for education and awareness in schools.' (Publication summary)

'A DISASTER HAS ACTUALLY HAPPENED...THE SCHOOL HAS CLOSED.

'Not Muttonbird Bay Primary, of course, but their neighbour Pademelon Point. When five new kids join Juno Jones' class, Juno must do whatever she can to keep her title as the school's 'Super Reader.' Her greatest rival: Tess Golightly—a warrior maiden and ace reader with a pet Gryphon. Everyone wants to be friends with Tess, but Juno thinks nobody can be that awesome unless they have something to hide...

'Author Kate Gordon (Aster's Good, Right Things) and illustrator Sandy Flett (Edie's Experiments) are back with another hilarious entry in the Juno Jones series.' (Publication summary)

'A heartfelt story of one girl’s determination to save her beloved home and the lyrical companion tale to The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn.

'When Melodie Rose is abandoned on the doorstep of Direleafe Hall, she realises she must be a ghost. Strangely, she is not sad. With the three other ghostly girls who haunt the school and a gloomy crow on her shoulder, Melodie has never felt more at peace. Finally there is a place for her to call home.

'So when a lady in white arrives with plans to flatten her beloved school, Melodie Rose must act fast to save all she holds dear. But what can one powerless ghost do?

'The Ballad of Melodie Rose is a life-affirming tale of belonging, being brave and being seen.' (Publication summary)