Cirrus@Austlit

'Margot Baumann has left school to take up her sister's job in the mailroom of a large prison. But this is Germany in 1944, and the prison is Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin.

'Margot is shielded from the camp's brutality as she has no contact with prisoners. But she does handle their mail and, when given a cigarette lighter and told to burn the letters, she is horrified by the callous act she must carry out with her own hands. This is especially painful since her brother was taken prisoner at Stalingrad and her family have had no letters from him. So Margot steals a few letters, intending to send them in secret, only to find herself drawn to their heart-rending words of hope, of despair, and of love.

'This is how Margot comes to know Dieter Kleinschmidt - through the beauty and the passion of his letters to his girlfriend.

'And since his girlfriend is also named Margot, it is like reading love letters written for her.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When his village is attacked, Hauk Johanson has no choice but to step up and lead the young Vikings on a quest for revenge. But there is one problem: the young Vikings have never fought in battle. Can Hauk and his friends master the skills of sword and axe in time? Will the Gods be on their side? And does Hauk have what it takes to lead when the fate of an entire village lies in his hands?' (Publication summary)

''Sometimes you got to show some mongrel. There's mongrel in you, little brother, more than you realise.'

'Everyone thinks they know what Jacob O'Leary can and can't do - and they're not shy about telling him either.

'But no one - not even Jacob - knows what he's truly capable of. And he's desperate for the chance to work it out for himself.

'When a shocking and mystifying crime sends his small country town reeling, and fingers start pointing at the newcomer, Jacob grabs the chance to get out in front of the pack and keep mob rule at bay. He's convinced that the police have accused the wrong guy; that the real villain is still out there. And he's determined to prove it - and himself - to everyone.' (Publication summary)

'Bridget's family has been turned out of their home during the Irish potato famine and their only refuge is the workhouse where living conditions are hard and freezing and the food sparse. There is one chance for Bridget and her sister - to take a ship to a new country and become Australians. But will they survive the journey, let alone the challenges that await them in a far away land?' (Publication summary)

'Do you dare... Stick up for your mates? Ride a horse at breakneak speed? Risk your life for freedom? It's an adventure in history. ' (Publication summary)

'Matt Cooper is twelve, and spends quite a bit of his time honing his magic skills and tricks. He doesn't realise that his great-grandfather, Mattheus Coperneau, was a professional magician whose career came to a disastrous end when a trick he performed backfired spectacularly. What neither Matt nor Mattheus realise is that there's an even older story behind the failure of Mattheus's 'disappearing trick' and a tragic romance is at the bottom of it all.

'In 1889, Joachim Tannislaus is a young scientist with a stellar career in front of him and half the girls in the small principality of Montilagus pursuing him. But Joachim loves Princess Agneta, who is also studying at the university. When he and Agneta are caught in an embrace, he is thrown into prison to perish, but Agneta gives him a dose of the potion they have been working on in secret, little knowing that the elixir has given him the possibility of eternal life.

'When Matt and his family return to Montilagus to clear his great-grandfather's name, Matt discovers that there's more to magic than meets the eye.' (Publication summary)

'Silvermay Hawker has crammed more adventure into her seventeenth year than others manage in a lifetime. She has also found Tamlyn, the man she wants to spend the rest of her lifetime with, but first the pair must fulfill the promise they made to a dear friend.

Young Lucien, the little boy Silvermay has raised as her own, must be freed of his Wyrdborn magic, and it′s not just for him she must see this done. Lucien might yet destroy whole kingdoms.

And so the three travel to Erebis Felan where the terrible power in Lucien changes him in a way no one could possibly imagine. Now Silvermay′s love is challenged like never before, as it is the kind of love Lucien now wants from her that may determine the fate of everyone she cares for. ' (Publisher's blurb)

' Brisbane, 1971. Susan Kinnane, precocious daughter of conservative parents, spurns the attention of fellow university student Mike Riley in favour of a passionate romance with activist Terry Stoddard. When the South African Rugby team tours, Terry, Susan and Mike join the anti-apartheid demonstrations outside the Springbok's hotel near the iconic Tower Mill. Late in the night, the riot police charge, and the terrified students are hunted into the darkened park below.

What happens next changes each of their lives forever. Eight months on, Susan gives birth to a son, Tom, whose destiny is shaped by a man who is not his father, and by the events of that shocking night. As a lawyer working in London decades later, Tom must return to make peace with the past. The Tower Mill is a gripping family drama that plays out against a turbulent and controversial political era' Source: www.uqp.com.au/ (Sighted 02/07/2012).

'Three years have passed since Marcel defeated Mortregis, the great dragon of war, and more than a year since the Battle of Cadell. On a mountainside in Elster, Bea, who has lived among the elves all this time, longs to see her human friends again. When strange creatures disturb the tranquillity of the mountain forests and her grandfather disappears, she calls for Marcel's help. Together with his cousin, Fergus, they travel into the forbidden underground world of Baden Dark on a rescue mission. But Marcel senses an ancient evil in Baden Dark and becomes determined to free all of Elster from its threat. Forever. The challenge will test his growing power as a sorcerer and even success may come at a terrible price. Bea is not convinced by his ambitions and when Marcel betrays her with his magic, he makes a decision that may keep them apart forever. Fast-paced and completely enthralling, the compelling conclusion to this trilogy is guaranteed to have readers unable to turn the pages fast enough! Ages 9 - 12' (Publisher's blurb)