Cirrus@Austlit

'Have you ever had a bad week? Justin Chase sure has and this is it! Monday was mortifying, Tuesday was tumultuous Wednesday was wild, but now it's ... Thursday! Justin's utterly unwanted celebrity status sees his most embarrassing moments being beamed around the globe! But it's a case of mistaken identity, creating a kidnapping kerfuffle, that will truly test our hapless hero to his limits.'(Publication summary)

'Justin Chase sure has, and this is it! Monday really socked, Tuesday blew up, but now it's ... Wednesday! His cat is still mysteriously missing. He's an unintentional internet sensation. And right now sharks are circling as he's stranded in a heart-stopping, skin-crawling, jaw-dropping, seriously shocking S.O.S situation with his unbelievably annoying arch-enemy!' (Publication summary)

'Have you ever had a bad week? Justin Chase sure has. And this is it! He barely made it through Monday, but now it's ... Tuesday! His cat is still missing, probably abducted by aliens. His dad is more embarrassing than ever. He's unexpectedly gone viral online in the worst possible way. And when school photo day collides with the Super Science Spectacular, it's destined to blow up into a hair-raising, teeth-shattering disaster of epic proportions!' (Publication summary)

'Andy and Terry have added 13 new levels to their treehouse and now it's even more out of this world than before!

'There's a soap bubble blaster, a GRABINATOR (it can grab anything from anywhere at any time), a time-wasting level, a toilet paper factory (because you can never have too much toilet paper), a room full of mechanical grandparents, a super long legs level, an extraterrestrial observation centre and the best bookshop-in-a-treehouse-in-a-tree-in-a-forest-in-a-book in the whole world!

'Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up!' (Publication summary)

'Andy and Terry's treehouse now has 13 new storeys, including a tiny-horse level, a pyjama-party room, an Underpants Museum, a photo-bombing booth, a waiting room, a Door of Doom, a circus, a giant-robot-fighting arena, a traffic school, a water-ski park filled with flesh-eating piranhas and a treehouse visitor centre with a 24-hour information desk, a penguin-powered flying treehouse tour bus and a gift shop.

Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The 104-Storey Treehouse is the eighth book of Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton’s wacky treehouse adventures, where the laugh-out-loud story is told through a combination of text and fantastic cartoon-style illustrations.

'Join Andy and Terry in their now 104-storey spectacular treehouse. They’ve added thirteen new levels, including a never-ending staircase, a burp bank, and even a mighty fortress. But Andy and Terry are in a race against time to find a funny story for their next book – will the tooth fairy, the two-million-dollar shop or even the riddles of the deep-thoughts thinking room be able to help?

'Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up!' (Publication summary)

'Andy and Terry's amazing treehouse has 13 new levels including a chocolate waterfall, a non-erupting active volcano, an opera house, a baby-dinosaur petting zoo, Andy and Terry's Believe it or Else! museum, a not-very-merry merry-go-round, a boxing elephant called the Trunkinator, an X-Ray room, a disco with light-up dance floor, the world's scariest roller-coaster and a top secret 39th level that hasn't even been finished yet! Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up!' (Publisher's blurb)

'In 1920s Glasgow, Beattie Blaxland falls pregnant to her married lover Henry just before her nineteenth birthday. Abandoned by her family, Beattie and Henry set sail for a new life in Australia. But life is not about to follow the plan that Beattie had hoped for and fate will play her a cruel hand...

'In 2009, London, prima ballerina Lydia Blaxland-Hunter is also discovering that life can also have its ups and downs. Unable to dance again after a fall, Lydia returns home to Australia to recuperate. But on arrival she is presented with some surprising news - her recently deceased and much-loved grandmother Beattie Blaxland has left her Tasmanian property to Lydia.

'Told through the eyes of a young Beattie Blaxland and a contemporary Lydia Blaxland-Hunter, this is an emotionally charged, seductive tale of self-discovery, secrets and surprises.' (From the publisher's website.)

'It is 1905 and brothers Yung and Shun eke out a living as green grocers near Wellington's bustling Chinatown. The pair work to support their families back in China, but know they must adapt if they are to survive and prosper in their adopted home.

'Nearby, Katherine McKechnie struggles to raise her rebellious son and daughter following the death of her husband Donald. A strident right-wing newspaperman, Donald terrorised his family, though was idolised by his son.

'Chancing upon Yung's grocery store one day, Katherine is touched by the Chinaman's unexpected generosity. In time, a clandestine relationship develops between the immigrant and the widow, a relationship Katherine's son Robbie cannot abide...

'As World War I rolls on, and young men are swept up on a tide of macho patriotism, Robbie takes his family's honour into his own hands. In doing so, he places his mother at the heart of a tragedy that will affect everyone and everything she holds dear.'

When Elisabeth becomes pregnant, she must decided whether to keep the baby or alternative arrangements. This narrative of teenage pregnancy is told through the alternative voices of Libby, who keeps the baby, and Beth, who does not.

'When Delia Bennet - author and domestic advice columnist - is diagnosed with cancer, she knows it's time to get her house in order. After all, she's got to secure the future for her husband, their two daughters and their five beloved chickens. But as she writes lists and makes plans, questions both large and small creep in. Should she divulge her best culinary secrets? Read her favourite novels one last time? Plan her daughters' far-off weddings?

'Complicating her dilemma is the matter of the past, and a remote country town where she fled as a pregnant teenager, only to leave broken-hearted eight years later.

'Researching and writing her final Household Guide, Delia is forced to confront the pieces of herself she left behind. She learns what matters is not the past but the present - that the art of dying is all about truly living.' (Publisher's blurb)

'When Rose creates a blog for an English assignment, she doesn't realize it will change her life forever. An elegant stranger arrives to announce that Rose has an aristocratic French grandfather who would like to meet her. Upon arriving at her grandfather’s magnificent castle, Rose becomes enchanted with her new life, and particularly with Charlie, a charming boy who is equally besotted with Rose. But as Rose begins to delve deeper into her family's past, her fairytale turns into a nightmare as it becomes clear that someone wants her dead!' (Publication summary)

'It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger and her younger brother are being taken by their mother to live with a foster family outside Munich. Liesel's father was taken away on the breath of a single, unfamiliar word - Kommunist - and Liesel sees the fear of a similar fate in her mother's eyes. On the journey, Death visits the young boy, and notices Liesel. It will be the first of many near encounters. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.'

[Source: Libraries Australia. Sighted 30/10/08]