Cirrus@Austlit

'A delightful story about the special bond between a boy and his cat, from the award-winning team, Sonya Hartnett and Lucia Masciullo, celebrating friendship, courage and the value of those we love.

'A delightful story from the award-winning team who brought us Come Down, Cat! that celebrates friendship, courage and the value of those we love.

'When Nicholas finds a silver coin in the garden, he tells his cat,
'I can buy liquorice with this!'
Nicholas loves liquorice more than almost anything.
'Stay home, cat,' he says, and sets out for the shop.
But as Nicholas walks down the street he hears a voice he knows . . .' (Publication summary)

'A gentle exploration of a child’s realisation that it is her individual differences and creativity that make her special, with stunning illustrations by the talented Gabriel Evans that delicately and sensitively convey the child’s emotional journey.

'A young child describes her qualms about going to school and how hard she finds asking the teacher for help, how she feels shy about making friends, not being funny or a fast runner. But through her love of art, a conversation with her mother and her observations about nature she comes to see that being different might not be a bad thing after all.

'I lay down and put my nose in the grass. The grass was dotted with yellow flowers, but blue ones grew there too. I rolled over and looked at the trees and the clouds, and thought about things for a while.

'‘Not all clouds are white,’ I said, and Piccolo looked at me.

'‘Not all trees are tall. Not all birds are brown. Not all cats are tabby like you, Piccolo. Some are black. Some are orange. Some are calico.’

'Piccolo swished his stripy tail. I plucked a flower and showed it to him. ‘This flower isn’t yellow, but it isn’t wrong. It is what it’s supposed to be. No one would want it to be yellow. Everyone would say it’s lovely just the way it is.’

'A beautifully told story about being happy in yourself for who you are from one of Australia's finest writers.' (Publication summary)

'This place doesn't look the way I've expected it to. It's much flatter: in every direction, you can see for miles. It's as flat as a pan, and as dry. The paddocks are yellow and mostly empty, although there is the occasional herd of cows and some sheep. The open ground that hems the road is greener and more densely treed than I'd imagined, with massive silver-trunked eucalypts that have stood here a hundred years and more. The dirt they grow in is rocky, coloured ochre. The sky is huge, brilliantly blue, and uncrossed by birds. It is bakingly hot, and, at midday, shadowless. I don't see any roadkill on the rubbly verge. The train line snakes alongside the farm fences, a scalding, greasy, burgundy vein. The pale grass growing beside it stands as high as the paddock posts.' (Introduction)
 

'From acclaimed Australian children's picture-book partnership Sonya Hartnett and Lucia Masciullo comes a celebration of the wonders of childhood, the beauty of nature and the wild one who lives in us all. Here is a story about growing up that will stay with readers forever.

'Charlie met the wild one when he was young. Together they caught tadpoles, chased butterflies, and watched spiders weave their webs. But as the sun rose and fell, and the moon circle the earth, Charlie began to forget about the magic of the wild one - until it was almost too late to remember...' (Publication summary)

'Sonya Hartnett's third novel for adults is perfectly formed and utterly compelling, an unflinching and disquieting work from one of Australia's finest writers.

'Colt Jenson and his younger brother Bastian live in a world of shiny, new things – skateboards, slot cars, train sets and even the latest BMX. Their affluent father, Rex, has made sure that they'll be the envy of the new, working-class suburb they've moved to. But underneath the surface of the perfect family, is there something unsettling about the Jensons? To the local kids, Rex becomes a kind of hero, but Colt senses there's something in his father that could destroy their fragile new lives.' (Publication summary)

'The internationally celebrated writer Sonya Hartnett is firmly Melburnian but has restlessly moved from suburb to suburb in her search for the 'Last House' – that special corner of the world in which to settle and find contentment. Viewing her life and work through the lens of real estate, she vividly recalls the places she has passed through on her way to finding home.

Expanding on her 2010 Redmond Barry lecture, this short memoir is a beautifully atmospheric exploration of the idea of home and what it means to be a writer in a City of Literature.' (Publisher's blurb)